A gay man says he was the victim of a church persuading him to take part in an “exorcism” to rid “the demons of homosexuality”.
Matthew Drapper explained that a day of prayer at the St Thomas Philadelphia church in Sheffield was used as a means to ‘convert’ him.
‘Conversion therapy’ is typically defined as any attempt at changing a person’s sexuality or gender identity, often involving techniques such as electroshock therapy or prayer.
It has been widely condemned by health experts all over the world, with some comparing it to torture.
Among these are the National Health Service, World Health Organisation, World Psychiatric Association and the United Nations.
The 33-year-old said he has been suffering ongoing trauma since experiencing the “exorcism” in 2014.
“I had thought about whether it is even worth living if I’m going to be gay. So, it kind of was a last resort really. By that point, I was like, well, I’ll try anything,” he told Yorkshire Live.
He further explained that he had been invited to relive his “deepest fears” during a prayer day, which led to what he views in hindsight to have been similar to an exorcism.
Drapper added: “The whole church environment there was very much of the belief in the supernatural. And they taught a lot of stuff to do with demons.
“So from that place, when he told me that my lifestyle was being run by the demonic it was easy for me to accept that because I was already deeply involved in that community.”
Speaking to BBC Yorkshire, he said the 20-minute session resulted in him “cramping up and struggling to breathe”.
“They told me to speak to the gay part of myself as if speaking to a wild dog coming up to me – and for me to say to ‘leave my body’,” he told the outlet.
“The people I was with told me they could see demons leave me and go out of the window.”
He explained that the practice made him feel “totally empty” in the weeks to come and cited his experience as a reason for so-called ‘conversion therapy’ to be banned in the UK.
“If conversion therapy had been illegal at the time, then hopefully people would have known enough to intervene and I wouldn’t have gone through that trauma and had eight years of recovering from it,” Drapper told the broadcaster.
The government’s consultation on banning ‘conversion therapy’ came to an end on 4 February, with its current proposed legislation suggesting a partial ban will be implemented that could make consenting to the practice possible for those over the age of 18 who are not considered “vulnerable”.
Network Church Sheffield told GAY TIMES: “We are a caring and generous church community which does not engage in conversion therapy.
“We welcome the independent investigation initiated by the diocese into these allegations of 8 years ago and will participate in it.”
Latest
