Reisen also witnessed the sexual assault of a girl - a young teen or perhaps even younger - by an instructor who was a retired veteran. Reisen's shoulder-length hair was sheared into a short crop at the facility, where the inmates were taught traditional Chinese values. Last August in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, Reisen was convinced by their father to take a drive with him to collect money for school, but when the pair arrived at their destination, it was a facility "for correction" adorned with military designs.Īware that his "son" was a member of a sexual minority, the father forced Reisen to go through the admission process.
"I noticed I had different feelings toward the opposite sex and my own subjects of interest," Reisen said, adding, "I was afraid to tell my parents about this." But around middle school, Reisen felt "different to other classmates." Reisen grew up as the eldest son of a family in Kunming, Yunnan Province, in the south. With a look of torment, a 23-year-old university student known as Reisen, who prefers the pronouns "they and their," recalled the "conversion therapy" they experienced last summer after being tricked into taking a ride with their father.
29, 2024, in an undisclosed location shows Reisen's silhouette reflected against the pride flag. The victims say some of them have also been sexually abused by officers at the facilities. In what has become a rampant abusive practice, officers at facilities tell inmates that they are "sickening and useless," beat them and have them strip naked in front of others. Many of the inpatients at facilities in Shanghai and other cities and provinces such as Hebei, Hubei and Sichuan are young people in their pre-teens, teens and 20s who say they were more or less forcibly brought to facilities by family members.Įven when they are able to escape for a short while, they are often brought back by police. The leadership "fears that any human rights activism by LGBTQ and other sexual minorities would lead to criticism of the system," Tomoko Ako, a University of Tokyo Graduate School professor specializing in contemporary China, told Kyodo News in a recent interview. While prejudice based on conservative ideas pervasive in Chinese society plays its part, one expert said discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people is being spurred on by the Chinese leadership under President Xi Jinping, who see respecting the rights of sexual minorities as a "Western value." They say inmates are subject to beatings and other violent acts to attempt to "correct" their sexual orientation or gender identities.
The accusation comes from a group of victims and their supporters who in recent interviews revealed that there are some 100 such facilities in the country, including hospitals and private institutions. As gender diversity spreads around the world, the position of sexual minorities in Chinese society is deteriorating, with many sent to correctional facilities where they undergo brutal treatment in the name of "conversion therapy."