In the middle of a large room (capable of holding more than 100 people), each of the attendees, who were kept incommunicado, recounted details of their sex lives and other intimate details to a crowd of complete strangers. All of this took place in front of a wooden cross with a man hanging from it, his face covered in blood. Using a tack, they hung their "sins" at the foot of the religious image.

Everyone there, except for a few people (two, maybe three), are minors who were deprived of their freedom with written authorization from their parents to be exposed to a system of torture that, among other things, ranges from collective rapes (or corrective coitus as they call it), electroshocks in the genital area, extreme guilt for their sodomite practices under the supposed responsibility of beings from the underworld for that carnal desire that the organizers of this ritual try to exterminate. 

The "assistant," a man wearing a cassock, exclaims loudly in Latin, "May the Holy Spirit descend!" He then proceeds to read the Roman Ritual, the litany used in Catholic rites for exorcisms. All of this occurs under the guise of being a scientific practice; in fact, that's how they advertise . 

This testimony was selected from over four hours of audio interviews with survivors of what these conservative groups call 'reparative therapies' (practices based on the false idea that non-hegemonic sexual orientations, gender identities, and sexual characteristics can be "cured") with the sole purpose of showing the audience that what they call "therapy" are actually practices that violate human rights and seek to repress the sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sexual characteristics of LGBTTTIQ+ people.

Since 2015, the United Nations (UN) and psychiatric associations around the world have named these practices as Efforts to Correct Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (ECOSIG), procedures that they describe as fraudulent, without ethical or scientific basis and equivalent to torture.

Nothing to correct. For Rodolfo Bañuelos, PhD in Human Rights and Peace from ITESO University in Guadalajara, understanding the background of these organizations is the result of years of research with which he tries to demonstrate the implications of Conversion Therapies on the LGBTTTIQ+ population, which he calls: Interventions to Heteronormatively Conform Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation (IHEGOS) .

It's torture, not therapy.

The term “conversion therapy” is used as an umbrella term to refer generically to various pseudo-medical, pseudo-psychotherapeutic, and religious methods and interventions that assume non-normative sexual orientations and gender identities can be “corrected” or “cured.” And in many cases, these methods are first promoted by family members or people in positions of authority.

However, it is important to emphasize that non-normative sexual orientations and gender identities (NSOGI) should not be understood as synonymous with "treatment" or "therapy" to cure any illness, as these are not pathologies. Therefore, there is nothing to correct, nothing to cure, nothing to change.

In 2012, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) determined that 'conversion therapies' lack medical justification and represent " a serious threat to the health and human rights of individuals ." By 2016, the World Psychiatric Association stated that there is no solid scientific evidence indicating that sexual orientation and gender identity can be changed, and noted that " any intervention that purports to treat something that is not a disorder is entirely unethical .

In 2020, the Independent Forensic Expert Group (IFEG) declared that offering 'conversion therapy' "is a form of deception, false advertising, and fraud ." And according to the report by the UN Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, Víctor Madrigal-Borloz, these practices are "cruel, inhuman, and may amount to torture .

The document also points out that these human rights violations occur “very frequently” in Africa and “quite frequently” in Latin America and the Caribbean, and Asia. 

In Mexico, 1 in 10 LGBTI+ people are subjected to torture 

In Mexico, 1 in 10 LGBTQ+ people were forced by their parents to see a psychologist or religious authority in order to "correct" them. This represents 318,791 people from the LGBTQ+ community who were repressed in this way, according to the first National Survey on Sexual and Gender Diversity ( ENDISEG, 2021 ).

Lupita Torres, a psychologist with a cognitive-behavioral approach and a member of the Mexican Association of Psychology and Community Development, told this media outlet that these forms of torture involve "severe" damage to the people who survive these practices.

“There is emotional damage, generating fear, tension, exhaustion, and frustration. It has a psychological impact that can manifest as depression, suicidal tendencies, and psychotic episodes. But it's not just the mental aspect; the spiritual side is also damaged, which is the loss of faith, the loss of God. And at the level of personal relationships, there is also damage within the family. Likewise, sexual and physical damage occurs, and symptoms such as psychosomatic disorders can appear (when physical pain is aggravated by mental factors).”

In addition to the religious and therapeutic spaces where ECOSIG is practiced, in Mexico it has been documented by organizations such as the Center for Support of Trans Identities, the National Observatory of Hate Crimes and recently by the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances, that the crime of disappearance is used to achieve the deprivation of liberty and non-location of LGBTI+ people in order to be repressed by this type of mechanism.

During the last visit to Mexico by the UN Committee against Enforced Disappearances, it was reported that LGBTTTIQ+ people had been disappeared and that these disappearances “had been committed by security forces, or by organized crime with different levels of complicity of the authorities, and in many cases for the purpose of 'social cleansing' or sexual exploitation, frequently after internment in the so-called 'conversion therapy centers'” .

This is how practices to repress people's sexual orientation and gender identity also intersect in the context of widespread violence that began in 2006 with the implementation of the militarized security strategy and that today keeps the country mired in a human rights crisis with more than 111,000 missing persons and the state of Jalisco as one of the territories where the most people disappear. 

The creation of a crime, legal loopholes, and fines paid with torture. 

Agencia Presentes conducted an analysis of initiatives promoted by activists seeking to prohibit and penalize ECOSIG (Educational Conversion Therapy). We reviewed each of the country's Penal Codes where "conversion therapies" are already considered a crime, as well as the extraordinary cases where the Health Law was reformed and these practices are mentioned in the Law to Prevent and Eliminate Discrimination.

We found that 'conversion therapies' are currently criminalized in 13 of the country's local penal codes. However, none of these reforms hold religious leaders accountable.

Furthermore, none of these laws take into account the victims and survivors; they do not establish measures for reparation of damages, nor guarantees of non-repetition, and none of them mentions prevention or a pathway for victims to access justice.

The penalty for each of these reforms is a prison sentence ranging from one to six years or a fine for anyone who " provides, promotes, offers, finances, subjects, or compels" a person to 'conversion therapy'. This fine is subject to the daily value of the Unit of Measurement and Update (UMA).

For example, the law passed in Jalisco does not punish health professionals who perform conversion therapies with jail time, but with community service or an economic fine of 50 to 300 UMA. 

Currently, the daily value of a UMA (Unit of Measurement and Update) is 103.74 pesos, which would be equivalent to a minimum fine of 5,000 pesos and a maximum of 30,000 pesos. This amount could likely be covered by the fines collected for torture. 

On the other hand, at least three states (Hidalgo, Colima and Sonora) have reformed, in addition to the Penal Code, also their Health Law where they stipulate sanctions such as the suspension ex officio up to the cancellation of the professional license of mental health professionals who diagnose based on sexual orientation and gender identity or practice conversion therapies. 

At the federal level, on October 11, 2022, the Senate passed a bill prohibiting conversion therapies. The penalty is one to three years in prison and suspension of professional practice for one to three years. This bill is currently awaiting a vote in the Chamber of Deputies to become law.

Despite the existence of criminal legislation, the Mexican State, at both the federal and local levels, has yet to create mechanisms that consider victims, prevent these types of human rights violations, and sanction religious leaders. 

Services that operate clandestinely 

Conversion therapies in Mexico are not advertised as such; they are camouflaged in secrecy without auditing by health authorities in mental health and substance use rehabilitation centers known as "farms or annexes," and in places promoted as "retreats" from the pulpits of Catholic religious temples. 

In Mexico, one of these businesses that claim to "reverse homosexuality" and "develop heterosexuality" is the VenSer clinic, run by psychologist Everardo Martínez, who currently works in Guadalajara with a federal professional license, even though the College of Psychologists of Jalisco had withdrawn his professional license to practice in the state, according to Dr. Rodolfo Bañuelos. 

Internationally, Mexico is a "chapter" of Courage, an ultraconservative Catholic organization that promotes conversion therapies in at least 117 cities around the world, where they focus their work on people they call "attracted to the same sex" through individual retreats that promote chastity and "accompaniment" to their families.

This organization offers "retreats" in at least 17 cities in Mexico; and according to information on its website, it also has a presence in eight Latin American countries, with four locations in Central America. 

Against a backdrop of services operating under irregular conditions, Ninde MolRe, a lawyer with México Igualitario and Casa Frida , commented in an interview that it is necessary to promote positions that seek the prevention of ECOSIGs and that the Mexican State clarify which organizations will be responsible for supervising and auditing religious and medical institutions that carry out these types of human rights violations.

“I’m very concerned about the issue of these facilities because it intersects with other problems, such as drugs, substance use, and mental illness. I feel that at some point, activists will have to sit down and talk, review again in each state what we need to do to force these authorities to prohibit these centers from existing because, again, these centers can be religious and operate under the laws of religious associations, or they can be doctors operating illegally. That’s the complexity of this whole issue, and the fact that the State isn’t guaranteeing the safety of people in these facilities, much less working on prevention,” the lawyer added.

The conversations that are missing in activism

Attorney Ninde MolRe fears that once ECOSIGs are banned and sanctioned at the federal level, it will be taken for granted "that this is the end of a problem that has capitalized on the pain and testimonies of people to grow an agenda of a problem that is much bigger than just creating a crime," she emphasizes. 

She adds that for her it is vital to talk with other social movements; from those who demand a national care system, families searching for their missing loved ones, people in situations of mobility, LGBTTTIQ+ seniors, and even including LGBTTTIQ+ people who do practice a religion and are linked to religious groups.

“I think we do need to ask ourselves how well creating a crime is working. We need these dialogues because the reality is that the entire penal system in Mexico is failing. And we also need a lot more self-criticism within our movements. I do believe we need transparency and accountability regarding the funds we receive for doing social work, and as such, we need to explain what we are doing and how we are using them ,” she concluded.

The companies of the Roman Ritual

More than fourteen years have passed since these groups were denounced for carrying out torture, primarily against minors who identify as members of the LGBTTTIQ+ community. Many of these victims took their own lives after being subjected to these practices.

However, the political, financial, and religious support is so enduring that they continue to have representation even today, for example in the state of Jalisco and other regions of the country.

For example, for Juan Sandoval Iñiguez, former Cardinal of Jalisco, homosexuality is a moral enemy of the church he represents. In a letter addressed to the Vatican, he comments that, from his point of view, the LGBTQ+ community is immature, egocentric, and narcissistic, which, he says, represents an obstacle to the interests of his congregation.

“We must warn about the increasingly frequent presence of narcissism, which, along with homosexuality, are typical forms of affective and sexual immaturity (cf. OECS 21). Contemporary narcissism goes hand in hand with the emergence of aesthetic-emotional individualism, and perhaps for this reason it has become more widespread in society. This narcissism is characterized, in addition to a misguided love of oneself, by anxiety, as one seeks to find meaning in life since one even doubts one's own identity” (sic).

The Cardinal's statements, the controversy surrounding state funding of these groups, and the revelations of torture cases sparked a strong campaign to protect this vulnerable community. This led the entire country to attempt to legislate and eradicate these practices. However, thanks primarily to business and political connections, these groups continue to operate. 

For example, the University of the Valley of Atemajac (UNIVA Guadalajara campus) awarded Elvira Guadalupe Venegas, founder of the firm Valora Conciencia en los Medios (Value Awareness in the Media), one of the NGOs that received 1.3 million pesos of public funds to "convert homosexual people, " a diploma for family support and counseling. In other words, academia and the state are fostering the proliferation of these practices, which are already categorized as illegal in several states of the country.

This information is relevant because it concerns the same university where, according to researcher Rodolfo Bañuelos, he first encountered the member of IHEGOS who voluntarily submitted to the program to verify the harm these practices inflict on the LGBTQ+ community. As of press time, the university had not responded to this news outlet's interview request.

Just as the government of Emilio González Márquez gave taxpayer money to this religious group or UNIVA certified it with diplomas, the current government of the State of Jalisco, led by Enrique Alfaro Ramírez of the Movimiento Ciudadano party, through the mayor's office of Zapopan, integrated the civil association in charge of promoting ultraconservative Catholic values ​​into the Sumemos por Zapopan program “In favor of the people of Zapopan”, they say on the municipality's website .

Finally, this news outlet was also able to confirm that federal deputy Xavier Azuara Zúñiga of the National Action Party (PAN), originally from San Luis Potosí, identifies himself as a founding member of this civil organization. Furthermore, reports from the Citizen Services Office of the Congress of the Union clearly show that the legislator included this information in his curriculum vitae.

In other words, those members of religious groups linked to the former cardinal, who in the past were accused of allegedly committing crimes such as torture, continue to operate with total impunity, holding public office or forging ties with various universities in the country.

Companies related to IHEGOS and Juan Sandoval Íñiguez, former Cardinal of Jalisco: 

1.- Evaluate AC (Evaluate Radius)

2.- Courage International, Richard Cohen 

3. Courage Latino, Rubén García

4. VenSer Clinic, Everardo Martínez

4. SECON SA de CV Real Estate (Later, the cardinal resigns from the administration and J. Jesús Quiroz Romo takes over)

*This report is part of the project: “The Businesses of Faith,” promoted by the organizations and media outlets PODER, Presentes, and Altavoz LGBTTTIQ+. This investigation aims to explain the origins of the finances of the so-called “conservative lobby” in Mexico.