At 23 I was a christian missionary working on a ship, the Logos Hope. One day I got called to see the Personnel Manager.

Someone suspected I was gay and he wanted to talk to me about it.

He asked me to rank on a scale of 1-10 how gay I was

He recounted the story of a gay man and a gay woman who were now married with children living a happy heterosexual life together. God had provided them each other and he could do that for me too. I just had to ask.

Of course I did what scared, ashamed, and closeted gays do best.

I lied through my teeth.

It's only now, 7 years later, as this memory comes back to me that I realise what I experienced in that small office was the very beginning of conversion therapy.

I did not seek help. I did not ask for counsel. He took it upon himself to try and fix me.

Yesterday I've heard of yet another person left suicidal at the hands of a prayer warrior pastor.

How many more lost lives or lucky escapes are needed until the harm of conversion therapy is fully acknowledged by our government?

This abuse is systemic.

#BanConversionTherapy

I should add when I finally did come out, a year later, their solution was for me to publicly repent and go through "counselling." Thankfully I had found complete confidence in my sexuality and said no - sadly this is often not the case for many.

Conversion therapy is abuse.