In France, therapies to "cure" gays and lesbians are closer to being a crime: The bill was passed unanimously in Congress. According to this standard, "changing" therapies to LGTB people will be penalized against hypnosis, exorcism, abstinence, hormone treatments and heterosexual forced marriages. Criminals will have to pay a penalty of two years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to EUR 30,000; if the offence is repeated, they could be sentenced to three years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to EUR 45,000. It will now be the Senate that passes the law, which will have to be passed unanimously.
There are currently other ways of denouncing these "therapies", such as the illegal use of medicine, exclusion, harassment and violence. In any event, they consider that it is necessary to create a concrete infringement that will allow a better analysis of each situation and each case, as well as greater assistance to victims.
The French Minister for Equality, Elisabeth Moreno, recalled that the aim of the law is to "save lives": "You don't have to cure anything. Being oneself is not a crime, we cannot try to change people's identity and/or sexual orientation". The organization specialized in addressing the victims of homophobia, Le Refuge, has warned parliamentarians that they receive a dozen calls a month.
Fuerteventura (Canary Islands), 11 February 1954. The Agricultural Colony of Tefia was launched at the abandoned airport of the island, in the middle of the desert. After the euphemism of the agricultural colony, in practice, Tefia was a concentration camp known mainly for the... [+]