The Spanish Association against Conversion Therapies has filed a complaint with the Ministry of Equality against a company, various individuals, and seven Spanish dioceses for allegedly organizing and hosting events that offered conversion therapies for members of the LGBTQ+ community. The complaint, consisting of 94 pages, provides documentary and audiovisual evidence of the activities that the company has allegedly been carrying out in Spain for several years. Through the Transformados project, homosexuals and lesbians were encouraged to embark on a conversion journey based on abstinence and religious practices, which the association claims constitutes “very serious” administrative infractions according to the Law 4/2023 for the real and effective equality of trans people and the guarantee of the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals.
Saúl Castro, president of the Association no es terapia and a lawyer specializing in LGBTQ+ rights, attended several events held in various Madrid parishes to observe the activities. Former homosexuals who had embraced chastity were brought in to share their transformation process and how they overcame the wounds that led them to their sexual orientation, crediting their freedom from it to their encounter with Jesus Christ. These testimonies were accompanied by mass, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, a speech by the parish priest, and an open session for attendees to ask questions.
The complaint was filed on December 30th and details the locations where 13 of these talks were held between June 2023 and June 2024, including parishes in Getafe, Ciempozuelos, Barcelona, Madrid, and Guadalajara. The accompanying file contains links to videos recorded by the company at these events, which were later posted on YouTube. In these videos, LGBTQ+ individuals express regret over excessive consumption of homosexual pornography, being bullied in school, family rejection, and feeling immense sadness due to their sexual orientation. One man shared his experience of seeking warmth, affection, and love from other men to compensate for what he did not receive from his father.
Castro is hopeful that the Ministry of Equality will initiate a sanctioning procedure against the organizers of these events and the dioceses involved, in accordance with Law 4/2023, which prohibits and penalizes the promotion of programs or methods aimed at altering the sexual orientation of LGBTQ+ individuals. So far, only the Diocese of Sigüenza-Guadalajara has responded to the complaint. Alfonso Olmos, director of the Diocese’s Information Office, denies awareness of the complaint or the event in question, stating that it was not part of the official 2023 program at the Monastery of Buenafuente de Sistal. The association refutes this claim, citing a promotional poster with the event details and emphasizing that the absence of the activity from the official program does not mean it did not take place.
