In China, homosexuality was removed from the list of mental illnesses only in 2001. Since then, despite the local LGBT community feeling more comfortable expressing their sexuality, young people still face strong family pressure.
Only children, for example, end up getting married to give their parents a grandchild. That's why among the Chinese, so-called "conversion therapies" are increasingly popular.
In a report to AFP, 25-year-old Zhang recounted his sad experience in a clinic whose "gay cure" method is considered one of the most extreme among those used in China.
Zang subjected himself to electric shocks to his genitals while watching gay pornographic films as a "treatment" for homosexuality.
"When I reacted to the images, I got an electric shock", recalls the boy, who paid for the sessions because he was afraid of admitting his sexuality to his parents.
In Beijing, another clinic with similar treatment states, on a website, that "after each shock, the patient stops his thoughts and distances himself from his ghosts",
According to the local LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) Center, these treatments cause "serious harm to physical and mental health, and worsen a lack of self-esteem."
Beijing activists protest outside clinic offering 'sexual readjustment'
In Zhang's case, treatment with electric shocks, applied for three years, caused the young man to lose his libido and suffer deep depression. "He had a headache, he couldn't take it anymore, he just wanted to die, for it all to end at once", he declared.
During the campaign, two activists linked to the LGBT Center protested in front of a clinic in Beijing with a sign that read: "Homosexuality is not a disease." The aim of the protest is to pressure the authorities to revoke the licenses of these "medical" centers.
Today, Zhang claims that he has accepted his sexual orientation and decided to tell his story to warn about the dangers of supposed "sexual conversion".
