The Compromís coalition points the finger at a leader of the diocese of Valencia for having applied “conversion therapies” for homosexuality in affective-sexual orientation courses. The party maintains that the head of orientation, a therapist in charge of training teachers at the San Vicente Mártir Foundation, raises homophobic postulates that fall within this definition. The professional, they say, has trained professionals from more than sixty centers, both private and subsidized, in the province of Valencia.
The Valencians point out that the psychologist ran the association Truth and Freedom, founded by a doctor from Granada and which was investigated by regional organizations and the Public Prosecutor’s Office for homophobic courses that claimed to cure homosexuality. Several courses were taught in Valencian religious centers in municipalities such as Gandía, Godelleta or Siete Aguas. In 2019, the General Directorate of Equality of the Generalitat Valenciana investigated this association for the practices reported by elDiario.es. According to the documentation collected by this newspaper, in the homophobic courses prohibited by the LGTBi law, the “relapses” of young people were punished and it was established that “every straw has a price”. The investigation ended up being archived because none of the people who came to testify endorsed the complaint.
Conversion therapies are based on the premise that sexual orientation and gender identity can be cured or rehabilitated, the parliamentary group points out. These courses talk about reparative therapies to “overcome unwanted sexual and emotional attractions to the same sex” and homosexuality is called “Same-Sex Attraction (SSA)”.
The coalition highlights the “key role” of two Valencian psychologists, including the head of guidance at the diocesan schools, in the pseudotherapies that these young people received. According to the complaints, the psychologist associates homosexuality with stories of pain and trauma. Part of the testimonies of the Truth and Freedom association come from the book by Saúl Castro, a lawyer and LGTBI activist. The therapist states on her website that she has been “a trainer at the San Vicente Mártir Foundation of the Diocesan Schools of Valencia since 2006” and “gives teachers a 75-hour course on the sexual affective project ‘Free for Love – Free to Love’.”
Compromí MP Francesc Roig denounced that conversion therapies “do not guarantee the free development of children’s personalities”, even though those who teach them and “homophobes” speak of “accompaniment, help and support”. “This happens in centres of all types”, the parliamentarian warned. The coalition has created an anonymous complaints portal to collect information on the therapies, sanctioned by the Valencian LGTBI law, and will forward the information to the Ministry of Education and, where appropriate, to the Public Prosecutor’s Office. will forward the information from the therapist to the school of psychologists.
