BELGIUM: Man Seeks Euthanasia Because 17 Years Of Ex-Gay Torture Hasn’t Cured His Homosexuality

The BBC reports:

A gay man in Belgium is trying to end his life because he cannot accept his sexuality. He told the Victoria Derbyshire programme he wanted to be granted euthanasia on the grounds of extreme psychological suffering. Sébastien has thought carefully about the moment he hopes his life will come to an end.

“The moment when they put the drip in my arm – I’m not worried about that,” the 39-year-old explains. “For me, it’s just a kind of anaesthesia.” Sébastien, whose name we have changed to protect his identity, is from Belgium – where euthanasia has been legal since 2002.

There were 1,807 confirmed cases of euthanasia in 2013, the most recent year for which figures are available. The majority of cases are elderly people suffering from terminal illnesses including cancer – only 4% were suffering from psychiatric disorders.

Sébastien has undergone 17 years of therapy, counselling and medication and believes he has no other option. He claims to be attracted to young men and adolescent boys and is scarred from a difficult childhood; his mother was ill and there was a strict Catholic ethos.

Under Belgian law, euthanasia requests made on psychiatric grounds must be approved by three psychiatrists and the applicant must display “incurable, constant and unbearable mental suffering.” (Tipped by JMG reader Nancy)