“Homosexuality doesn't need to be cured!” chanted supporters. “Haidian Court, oppose conversion therapy!”

Homosexuality was de-classified as a mental disorder in China in 2001 but widespread intolerance toward gays and lesbians remains, and activists hailed the unprecedented case as a significant step forward.

The plaintiff, who is gay and has given his name only as Xiao Zhen, says the Xinyu Piaoxiang clinic in Chongqing traumatized him when he was electro-shocked after being told to have sexual thoughts involving men.

He is also taking action against China's top Internet search engine, Baidu, for running advertisements by the facility.

Those who come out to friends and family in China often face significant pressure to undergo sexuality “treatment” or marry a partner of the opposite sex.

“It's the first case about anti-conversion therapy in China,” said Xiao Tie, 28, executive director of the Beijing LGBT Center, which is backing the legal action.

“In China, most people who undergo 'conversion therapy' do so because they are pressured by their family. Parents, once they realize their child is gay, urge him or her to go to a psychiatric hospital or undergo treatment,” she said.

Most people who claim that they have been successfully “converted” by the therapy only say so in order to stop the distressing treatments, she added.

Conversion therapy has more than a century of history around the world, but has fallen out of favor with medical authorities.

Nonetheless the lucrative industry persists in countries from Singapore to Britain and the United States — where reports of electro-shock use have added to momentum for a ban.

'Not scientific'

The Beijing court is expected to rule on the case within a month.

Zhang Rui, 21, who is in charge of the Beijing LGBT Center's psychological counseling program, said advocates hope the action will help change Chinese public perceptions of gays as suffering from mental illness.

“We're here to tell even more people that conversion therapy is not scientific,” she said. “Homosexuality can't be 'cured.'”

Homosexuality was a crime in China until 1997, and while attitudes in cities have relaxed in recent years, gay rights advocates walk a tightrope in the country.

Outside the court on Thursday, Beijing police allowed about a dozen protesters to demonstrate unhindered.

But LGBT groups in China are barred from registering as official non-governmental organizations (NGO), and activists often take a low-profile approach to promoting events lest the authorities decide to crack down.

Last May, a 19-year-old gay rights campaigner in the central province of Hunan was arrested for organizing a 100-person protest that police described as “illegal.”

Earlier this year, an advocate in the same province made headlines when he announced he was suing officials for denying his request to establish a gay-rights NGO.

Several participants in Thursday's demonstration told AFP that they had been detained by Beijing authorities in recent months for their actions.

Among those outside the Haidian court was a 60-year-old man surnamed Ling, who flew to the capital from central China's Jiangxi province to attend.

“My son is also gay,” said Ling, who heads a trade union and whose son came out to him four years ago. “It's not an illness ... There's no way to change it. So, we accept him.”

中國法院審理第一個同性戀轉換情況

由費利西亞Sonmez，法新社
2014年8月1日，上午12時45 TWN
推文

北京 - 北京一家法院週四聽到一個里程碑式的案件“同性戀轉換”的待遇，而在法庭外的護士制服活動家跪在患者，揮舞巨型針。
“同性戀不需要治愈！”呼喊支持者。“海淀法院，反對的轉換治療！”

同性戀是脫列為中國精神障礙在2001年，但普遍的不寬容對同性戀者仍然存在，和活動家歡呼前所未有的情況下，作為一個顯著一步。

原告，誰是同性戀，並給了他的名字只作為小禎說，新余瞟向診所在重慶創傷他時，他是電休克被告知有涉及男性性想法之後。

他還採取針對中國的頂級互聯網搜索引擎，百度的行動，由該設施運行廣告。

這些誰站出來給朋友和家人在中國經常面臨顯著壓力進行性行為“治療”或結婚的異性伴侶。

“這是關於反轉換治療在中國尚屬首例，”肖鐵，28日，北京同志中心執行主任，這是支持該訴訟稱。

“在中國，大多數人誰接受”轉化療法“這樣做，因為他們是由他們的家庭壓力。家長，一旦他們意識到自己的孩子是同性戀，敦促他或她去精神病醫院或接受治療，“她說。

大多數人誰聲稱，他們已經成功地“轉化”的療法只能這麼說，為了阻止痛苦的治療，她補充說。

轉換療法已經超過了世界各地的上百年的歷史，但已經失寵的醫療機構。

然而在暴利行業堅持國家從新加坡到英國和美國 - 在那裡的電擊使用情況的報告增加了動量的禁令。

“不科學”

北京法院預計將在一個月內的情況下作出裁決。

張銳，21，誰負責的北京同志中心的心理輔導計劃，稱擁護者希望行動將有助於改變同性戀者的中國公眾所認知患上精神病。

“我們在這裡要告訴更多的人在轉換治療是不科學的，”她說。“同性戀不能”治愈“。”

同性戀在中國犯罪，直到1997年，雖然在城市的態度已經放寬，近年來，同性戀權利倡導者走鋼絲的國家。

上週四在法庭外，北京警方允許十幾名抗議者展示暢通無阻。

但在中國同志群體是從註冊成為正式的非政府組織（NGO）的禁止，並積極分子往往採取低調的做法，以促進活動，以免當局決定打擊。
去年五月，在湖南的中部省份19歲的同性戀權利活動家涉嫌組織，警察描述為一個100人的抗議“非法”。

今年早些時候，在同一個省的倡導者成為頭條新聞時，他已經宣布起訴官員拒絕了他的要求建立了同性戀權利的非政府組織。

一些與會者在週四的演示告訴法新社記者，他們已經在最近幾個月對自己的行為被拘留的北京當局。

在這些海淀法院外是一個60歲的男子姓凌，誰飛到來自中國中部的江西省省會參加。

“我的兒子也是同性戀，”凌，誰負責工會和他的兒子在四年前就出來對他說。“這不是一種疾病......有沒有辦法去改變它。因此，我們接受了他。“