A priest has issued a plea to the next government after he was offered a “pill” to cure his sexuality.
Augustine Tanner-Ihm, originally from America, moved to the UK filled with excitement and hope.
The 34-year-old was about to start his “Christian gap year” with an internship at a Liverpool church, having spent the previous year fundraising for it.
Eager to explore other ministries, the PHD student quickly realised his sexual orientation was very much at odds with Wavertree’s Frontline Church beliefs. He claims members of the church compared his sexual orientation to having “terminal cancer”.
As the church “controlled” his visa and was nearly 4,000 miles away from family or friends, Augustine felt he had “no choice” but to do what the church proposed.
One proposal, which Augustine recognises to be the pseudoscientific practice of conversion therapy, still impacts him a decade on.
He previously told the ECHO: “I still have deep scars from what happened to me today. It’s why I took so long to speak out about it. For the good part of 10 years, I didn’t look in the mirror. They were a foreign object to me. I was under the impression this was a safe space, but it wasn’t and that still haunts me.”
Augustine worked six days a week and on his Thursdays off, he claims the church had scheduled him for “support” group meetings. The weekly meetings would last two and half hours with those in attendance ranging from university age to 60+. The one thing connecting all the members was they had “demonic and evil spirits” within them, according to the church.
He said: “They said the meetings were like giving you a pill to cure terminal cancer and that I wasn’t taking the pill. The whole experience was very Pentecostal. There were whispers, and then there was shouting. They had their warm hands on you trying to get the spirits out of you and for you to be healed. It was very intense.”
Hebe Ambler, Frontline Church’s children and families pastor, confirmed to the ECHO the church was aware of Augustine’s “concerns” but considered the “matter closed” after apologising.
With a general election looming, Augustine has asked the next government to ban the practice, regardless of who is in power. He told the ECHO: “If you claim to support LGBTQIA+ equality by displaying flags and participating in pride parades, it is imperative that you also uphold the dignity and rights of LGBTQIA+ individuals.
“This includes an unequivocal ban on all conversion therapy practices without exception. All reputable psychological and psychiatric organisations have called for such a ban. Therefore, the UK government formed after the general election must immediately implement this prohibition upon taking office.”
Under the current conservative government, conversion therapy has been promised to be banned on several occasions. First by then-Prime Minister Theresa May in 2018, Boris Johnson then echoed a similar promise, however, then defended the decision not to include trans people in the ban claiming there were "complexities and sensitivities" which needed to be worked through.
Now, as it stands, Rishi Sunak is the fourth Prime Minister to say he will end conversion therapy. Sir Keir Starmer has previously also said if Labour were to win on July 4, the party would introduce a trans-inclusive policy ban.