Conversion therapy in Singapore

Conversion therapy, which is the pseudoscientific practice of turning homosexuals straight or, at least, encouraging them to abstain from gay sex while living as a heterosexual person would, is a major focus of the ex-gay movement in Singapore.

It began with the establishment of the Choices ministry at the Church of Our Saviour by a charismatic American ex-gay pastor, Sy Rogers, in 1991. Since then, the church has used its influence to promote its ex-gay message in the press and on television, and to affect government policy in concert with Focus on the Family.

Conversion therapy received much tacit support from the Singapore government in the first few decades following the arrival of HIV in Singapore in 1985.

Despite a worldwide movement to ban conversion therapy which has snowballed since the mid-2010s, the practice remains legal in Singapore.

=Early attitudes towards conversion therapy in Singapore=
 * Main article: Singapore's first newspaper articles on the LGBT community

The general public, religious organisations (especially churches) and, indeed, many isolated gay individuals themselves were made aware of the existence of a sizeable LGBT community in Singapore after the publication of a groundbreaking 4-part feature by the evening tabloid, New Nation, entitled "They are different..." on 4 consecutive days from Monday, 24 July to Thursday, 27 July 1972. A single-article sequel to the series was published the following week, on Monday, 31 July 1972.



The articles revealed that gay Singaporeans could turn to an organisation called the Churches Counselling Centre for help:

"So, who else can homosexuals here turn to when they want to reach out and discuss their problems and dispel their anxieties?

Few of them bring their problems to the church. This is partly because such a small proportion of the population are Christian, and probably also because the church here has always been known to come down severely on homosexual practices.

But the attitude of the church has changed. It does not condone homosexuality, but it has come to take a more sympathetic view.

Some homosexuals have gone to the Churches Counselling Centre for help.

Comforting those in desperate need.

The Churches Counselling Centre and the Samaritans of Singapore service probably have more experience in helping homosexuals here than anyone else with the exception of a few psychiatrists.

But their experience Is limited to several cases mainly male homosexuals plus a few lesbians.

Some homosexuals have approached the Churches Counselling Centre direct but more usually they ring up the SOS service.

The counselors at the SOS will talk things over with distressed callers and invite them to the office for further discussion of their problems.

After they have been to the SOS office they may be referred to the service's own counseller or to the Churches Counselling Centre.

A spokesman for the Churches Counselling Centre, an inter-denominational organisation, said that most of the homosexuals they encountered were latent male homosexuals whose main problem was relating to members of the opposite sex.

According to him, these homosexuals are overawed by women. Women frighten them because they feel Inadequate and uncomfortable In their presence. They do not know how to act or behave and so fail totally in forging warm and close relations with any woman.

On the other hand, the latent homosexual does not have any compensating relationship with a man either.

This inability to relate to anybody man or woman is extremely bewildering and frightening.

PAINFUL

We do not know how many latent homosexuals there are In Singapore, much less how many suffer such agonising trauma. What we know is that a few, desperate for help, have gone to the Counselling Centre.

The overt homosexual Is not without his problems either though they are probably less painful and terrifying than the latent homosexual's.

Still, the Counselling Centre has encountered a few of them.

Though the practising homosexual can relate with his own sex, he feels that society has let him down. He feels that people do not approve of him and he is constantly living in the shadows, afraid of detection.

Among the encounters the Counselling Centre has had with practising homosexuals is the fairly typical problem of the homosexual and his partner breaking up.

This normally happens after a quarrel and for any of the reasons which cause heterosexual relationships to split.

A spokesman for the Counselling Centre said: "The homosexual I talked to was frantic because his partner was moving to another city. He was, emotionally, completely dependent on the partner."

These relationships are often closer than that between a man and a woman because homosexuals tend to feel that society is hostile to them so they cling to one another for security.

The Counselling Centre has also observed that lesbians here from the few who have approached it for help are not so emotionally dependent on their partners as the males.

This is probably because lesbians can live together with no suspicion whatsoever of their sexual inclinations.

And, without the pressure or censure of society, there is less need to cling together.

So far the majority of those who have appealed to the Counselling Centre for help have been the English-educated, ranging from the lower-middle to the upper-middle class.

This does not mean that most of the homosexuals in Singapore fall into this category. What is probable is that the image of the Counselling Centre, its association with the church, "attracts" a particular section of the population.

However, its approach to the problem is radically different from that of pastors and priests.

It does not believe in "reforming" the homosexual or making him give up his homosexual practices.

TRUST

Neither does it believe in just playing Freud and holding sessions to delve Into the homosexual's past and uncovering whatever deep emotional traumas afflicted him.

The spokesman said: I would spend many sessions with a latent homosexual, helping to restore his trust in people, starting with myself.

"I would be willing to talk with him on any of his thoughts or fantasies, and would be able to accept whatever he says without laughing, criticising or judging.

"Then I would help him to decide on ways in which he could improve his relations with people. I would make him face up to what he Is but I would never set the goals for him.

"What I would do is sit with him and examine the various choices open to him and what would happen to him if he accepted one of the various options.

"But I would never make decision for him. It is entirely up to him. I believe in making people more responsible for their own lives."

The Counselling Centre feels that this is one of the most difficult problems it is called upon to solve.

Although there are various theories on what makes a person homosexual, the spokesman said that in Singapore environmental factors play an important part.

It is not uncommon for families here to dress up and treat a girl as a boy and vice versa. One case the spokesman knows of personally concerns an Indian family who had twin boys.

This was considered bad luck so one of the boys was brought up as a girl until adolescence.

He is now a teenager and the spokesman is convinced that he will encounter problems of sexual identity and relationships.

Once a person has grown up under such environmental conditions it is unfortunately very difficult for the Counselling Centre or the psychiatrists to sort him or her out.

First mention of conversion therapy
"Some New Nation readers were shocked and dismayed to learn of the extent of homosexuality here. While many advocate greater understanding and more liberal laws and attitudes towards homosexuals, others feel something should be done to "bring them to heel."

One suggests electric shock therapy to condition homosexuals to a heterosexual orientation.

One psychologist, however, thinks differently. He advocates one method of treatment, Operant Conditioning, considered crude and cruel by many, to convert a homosexual.

By this method a man or a woman is punished for his or her homosexual tendencies by the application of electric shocks.

"In treatment, a picture of a nude male is flashed on the screen. When the patient sees this, he is given a nasty shock. On the other hand, when a female is shown he will be given a pleasurable feeling. He is thus conditioned to associate unpleasantness with his homosexual tendency."

The sex of the figure is reversed for a woman. This method has been used in Australia and England.

The psychologist said: "I realise that this method is considered by many to be cruel. Apart from this method, however, there is no real treatment.

"My opinion is that counselling is insufficient, and cannot help change the homosexual as his problem is far more deep-rooted."" 

=Church Of Our Saviour invites Sy Rogers to institute conversion therapy=
 * Main article: Sy Rogers
 * Main article: Choices

Conversion therapy did not exist as a structured programme until it emerged following a series of events beginning with the announcement of the first cases of HIV infection in Singapore in April 1985 and the first death from full blown AIDS in 1987 (see main article: Earliest cases of HIV/AIDS in Singapore).

In the years following the general panic that ensued, the Church Of Our Saviour (COOS) invited charismatic American ex-gay Christian pastor, Sy Rogers, to Singapore in 1991 to start an ex-gay movement locally. Rogers set up Choices at COOS, the first ex-gay Christian ministry in Singapore, as well as a conversion therapy programme. The name ‘Choices’ was Rogers' brainchild. Clients who attended his 14-week lecture series, divided into three modules, realised its significance and pertinence when they were clearly told that regardless of the situation that led them to be gay, they could now make a choice to say ‘No’ to it. It was also Rogers who came up with the cliche, ‘Freedom is when you are able to say “No”’. He had the blessing of the Government who probably thought this was a good way to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS. It commandeered the press to give publicity to Rogers as well as Focus On The Family and their efforts to turn unhappy homosexuals straight.

In the 1990s and 2000s, the Choices ministry would periodically hang gigantic banners with anti-gay slogans on the exterior facade of the Church of Our Saviour, eminently visible to passers-by or anyone travelling on the above-ground MRT which skirted the building. Two of these messages which caused an outrage in the gay community were, "Homosexuals can change" and "Gay but not happy? Call CHOICES." 

As part of the official campaign to encourage gay Singaporeans to turn straight, a television programme was produced in Mandarin and broadcast in May 2003. It portrayed a young adult man who was "successfully'" converted through counselling from a dissatisfied, unfulfilled homosexual to one happily married to a female spouse and who begot a son. The docudrama was made in consultation with Choices, whose spokesman delivered some advice at the end of the film,be/-RoqTYVLYIQ],be/2qLFZMAXQGQ] (see also: Singapore gay documentaries).  

=Patrick Lee describes traumatic experience of conversion therapy=

A former ex-gay ministry pastor, Patrick Lee, described in detail his traumatic experience of undergoing conversion therapy and surviving the ordeal in a Yawning Bread article entitled, "A proven ministry" dated December 1999 (see main article: Patrick Lee).

Evolution of conversion therapy at Choices
On 27 April 2019, a Twitter user named Vishan posted an excerpt from the Wikipedia article on Choices containing the following information which has since been edited out,,:



The tweet made its way to Reddit where many users were quick to condemn the ministry for conducting conversion therapy.

One incensed Reddit user with the moniker of "y08hci0299" went so far as to telephone the church. He described his conversation: "I actually did some of my own CSI into this programme a few months ago. I called the church number and inquired about this 'ministry', and the lady on the line actually passed me the contact number of the gay conversion therapist herself.

I actually called her and we had an hour long conversation about what she does. It was enlightening(in the worst way possible) and here are some key takeaways:

I asked her about the demographics of the people she sees. She told me most of her 'patients' are young gay men in their late teens and early twenties. Most of them come from Christian backgrounds and attend church and were referred to her via word of mouth.

I actually asked her if she saw more gays or lesbians. Interestingly, she told me that the people who see her don't call themselves/identify as gay or lesbian, they refer to themselves as 'struggling with same-sex attraction'. She told me that people who identify as 'gay' or 'lesbian' don't go for conversion therapy.

I asked her to tell me more about herself, her age, qualification etc. She is in her thirties, with a bachelor's in psychology from SIM, and received further training from Counselling and Care Centre (CCC). The CCC is a non-profit organisation providing counseling services that is affiliated with the National Council of Social Service (NCSS) which is a governmental organisation. This was shocking as counsellors/therapists if I'm not wrong need at least a master's degree to legally practice as counsellors or psychologists. So the gay conversion therapist was unqualified.

I asked her about the success rates. She said that turning them straight isn't actually the goal, and that most don't 'become straight' afterwards. Bingo. Straight from the horse's mouth. She said it's more about 'managing' the desires and feelings.

I asked her about how she she goes about doing it. Basically it was religious talk therapy with bible reading and prayer thrown in.

I asked her about her views on homosexuality. She said "Well obviously the bible doesn't approve of it, and that there's been no proof that homosexuality is an inborn biological trait"." From the exchange, one can surmise that the church's female "conversion therapist" agrees that someone who is attracted to members of the same sex cannot be ‘converted’ to being ‘straight’. Choices' programmes have therefore evolved from ‘conversion’ to ‘management’ based on a new realisation and paradigm that if the ministry cannot stop individuals from being gay, it can at least try to prevent them from acting on their urges.

=TrueLove.Is= TrueLove.Is typifies the reformed face of the ex-gay movement in Singapore. It promulgates a toned down, contemporary version of conversion therapy and is a ministry of 3:16 Church. The latter was started in January 2013 and is led by Senior Pastor Ian Toh.

TrueLove.Is reaches out first and foremost to LGBT Christians, as well as other Christians who want to be equipped with Christian-centric resources on LGBT issues. Their core message is simple: "Don’t just come out, come home".

In an article dated 24 August 2018 on Rice Media written by heterosexual Christian Grace Yeoh, the author opines that anyone who chances upon its Facebook page may initially conclude that the church is truly affirming and welcoming of the LGBT community, which is exactly how the initiative hopes to appear. In fact, Truelove.is is a textbook example of effective and excellent branding. After all, Pastor Norman Ng, the creative director of the ministry, worked in the marketing industry for close to a decade.

Firstly, Truelove.is understands its target audience: Christian millennials who are well-read and well-intentioned. Through high-quality videos and nuanced articles showcasing the intimate stories of several Christians who struggle with “same sex attraction” (SSA) and who claim to have overcome it, the in-house creative team manages to soften the church’s typically hard line stance against the LGBT community.

Secondly, the singular tactic of Truelove.is is foolproof. The initiative makes clear that it comes from a place of ‘love’, it wants to listen to LGBT Christians without passing judgement, it wants the church to be a safe space for LGBT Christians to feel loved and accepted, and it wants LGBT Christians to know that God loves them unconditionally, whatever they choose to do with their SSA. Finally, Truelove.is understands the visual power of renowned symbols. It uses the rainbow flag to draw attention to its cause, aligning the church as allies of the LGBT community. It is effective because it is ‘radical’.

However, detractors of the ministry allege that its approach is pure deception, employing the slickly packaged marketing of an updated form of conversion therapy designed to force LGBT Christians to suppress their sexuality.

Essentially, when Truelove.is tells LGBT Christians to “come home”, they are not saying that it is acceptable to be gay or to have sexual relationships with others of the same gender. They are saying that it is not a sin to have gay desires, nor should anyone be ostracised for having them. However, it would be sinful to act on them in the eyes of the Lord. As such, “coming home” is merely about a commitment to Christ and His ways, which includes not acting on one’s SSA - something straight Christians may see as a perfectly reasonable path.

Truelove.is firmly asserts that the church must win the trust of LGBT people by using the right language and respecting their journey. Its flock is reminded never to harp on whether an LGBT Christian has ‘turned straight’ nor try to ‘fix’ or ‘save’ LGBT Christians. It claims that its approach is not conversion therapy. Embarking on a journey with someone who has SSA is simply about remaining present in their lives and constantly reminding them that because God loves them, He knows what is best for them.

According to both Truelove.is and Choices, the three factors which cause to homosexuality are:
 * a sensitive child as a victim
 * a dominant mother
 * a distant father.

Both ministries preach that if individuals' lives comprise these three elements, they “may get their sexual desires messed up during the course of puberty”. It is grounded in the theory that because sexuality can be altered, homosexuality is caused by sin.

No one at Truelove.is says being gay is “wrong”, but they do not need to. Unlike the Lawrence Khongs of the world, they never make their intolerance explicit. They use soft power, and words like ‘love’, ‘vulnerability’, and ‘safe spaces’, to hide their unspoken rejection. They wholeheartedly believe that “true” love conquers all. But when handled carelessly, the author feels that love is also a form of violence that cannot be undone.

=Anthea Ong queries Health Minister in parliament about conversion therapy=  On 4 May 2020, Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) Anthea Ong queried Minister for Health Gan Kim Yong in Parliament regarding conversion therapy,. She wanted to know whether the Ministry would consider:
 * stating an official position against conversion therapy, as it was not approved by expert bodies in psychology including the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and the British Psychological Society (BPS)
 * disseminating guidelines against conversion therapy to mental healthcare professionals
 * establishing complaint mechanisms for clients who have experienced conversion therapy and
 * pursuing disciplinary action for mental healthcare professionals who practise or refer patients for conversion therapy

Gan replied: "The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th revision (ICD-10), which is the current standardised medical classification list by the World Health Organisation (WHO), states that sexual orientation alone is not to be regarded as a clinical disorder that needs to be cured. Homosexuality has not been considered a psychiatric diagnosis since 1973 (by the American Psychiatric Association Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) and 1977 (by the WHO International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems).

MOH expects doctors and other healthcare professionals to practice according to evidence-based best practice and clinical ethics, and to consider and respect patients’ preferences and circumstances (including sexual orientation) when providing care. For individuals who seek care with a desire to change one’s sexual orientation through clinical means, healthcare professionals should care for and support these individuals with empathy and sensitivity.

Mechanisms for the public to feedback on care provided already exist at public healthcare institutions and members of the public can submit a formal complaint to the Singapore Medical Council (SMC) if a doctor is acting unethically or providing inappropriate treatment.

The SMC takes complaints against doctors seriously and will investigate and impose disciplinary action if the doctor was found guilty of misconduct."

=Counselling of victims of conversion therapy by Oogachaga=

LGBT-affirming counselling agency Oogachaga provides support for people suffering from the trauma of conversion therapy. It can be contacted via:
 * 📧 Email counselling: CARE@oogachaga.com (daily)
 * 📲 Whatsapp counselling: 8592 0609 and
 * https://wa[dot]me/6585920609 (text-based) on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 7pm to 10pm, and on Saturdays from 2pm to 5pm.

=See also=
 * Ex-gay movement in Singapore
 * Choices
 * Sy Rogers
 * Patrick Lee
 * Leslie Lung
 * Singapore anti-LGBT movement
 * Singapore anti-LGBT organisations
 * Archive of the article, “The Choices Ministry” by Patrick Lee

=References=
 * http://www.ricemedia.co/current-affairs-features-brilliant-marketing-truelove-homophobia-rebranded-chance-acceptance/
 * https://www.onlinecitizenasia.com/2019/05/14/conversion-therapy-in-singapore-has-evolved-from-conversion-to-a-more-sanitised-version-of-desire-management/
 * https://www.reddit.com/r/singapore/comments/biaa8d/stay_woke_my_friends/
 * https://www.moh.gov.sg/news-highlights/details/government's-stance-on-changing-one's-sexual-orientation-through-conversion-therapy
 * https://medium.com/@antheaindiraong/governments-stance-on-changing-one-s-sexual-orientation-through-conversation-therapy-c6475306c91a
 * https://heckinunicorn.com/blogs/heckin-unicorn-blog/sam-story-of-conversion-therapy-in-singapore-lgbt-rights-in-singapore

=Acknowledgements=

This article was written by Roy Tan.