‘Shock Treatment’: BBC documentary reveals dark past of LGBTQ+ 'conversion practices'

Tomorrow (5 December) evening, the BBC will broadcast Shock Treatment, a documentary uncovering the use of electric shock aversion therapy to try to change the sexuality or gender identity of gay and trans people.

While the programme focuses on historic practices, the reality is that LGBTQ+ people in the UK are still being subjected to damaging 'conversion practices' today. Despite repeated promises from successive governments, there is still no ban on these interventions.

Stonewall, as part of the Ban Conversion Practices Coalition, is calling on the Government to publish the long-promised draft bill to outlaw conversion practices as a matter of urgency.

Simon Blake, Chief Executive of Stonewall, said: “Although we often think of conversion practices as something of the past, the shocking fact is that these harmful practices are still taking place in 21st-century Britain. The Trevor Project (2024) found that nearly one in six LGBTQ+ young people in the UK reported being threatened with or subjected to conversion practices.

"Despite many years of campaigning, and assurances from the last four Prime Ministers, the draft bill that will make conversion practices illegal in the UK has still not been published.

"We continue to urge the Government to honour its commitment and introduce a fully inclusive ban, without loopholes, that will protect all LGBTQ+ communities before the end of this Parliament.”

I was indoctrinated for so long that it is hard not to be disposed to these ideas sometimes.

Dr Glenn Miles, a survivor of conversion practices, shared his experience: “Although I am in a better place now, the impact of conversion practices stays with me. It has taken years of counselling and support for me to understand that there is nothing wrong with who I am. Even now, in my worst moments, I worry I am making up my sexuality. I was indoctrinated for so long that it is hard not to be disposed to these ideas sometimes.”

Shock Treatment airs on BBC One tomorrow, Friday, 5 December at 8pm, and will be available on BBC iPlayer from the same date. Presented by Hayley Hassall, the investigation reveals one of the darkest chapters in British medical history: the use of electric shock aversion therapy on young LGBTQ+ people in NHS hospitals during the late 1960s and 70s.

For the first time, the BBC reports that at least 254 people were subjected to this treatment between 1965 and 1972, though experts believe the true figure could be closer to 1,000. Patients - many of them children - were strapped to chairs, wired to machines, and shown images of men or women before being shocked with painful electric currents to condition their responses. Many were referred by GPs, teachers, or clergy, often without informed consent.