Ecuador shocked by inhumane practices at gay conversion clinics

[Judi Lynn]

Ecuador shocked by inhumane practices at gay conversion clinics
by Hector Velasco
July 28, 2013

Sent to a center offering to "cure" her attraction to women, Denisse Freire was raped and tortured—in a practice Ecuadoran authorities admit has been tolerated for too long.

The country of 15.8 million people has at least 80 unlicensed drug and alcohol rehab clinics, many that are also used for anti-gay conversion therapy, Health Minister Carina Vance, who is openly gay, said.

Two people, admitted for addiction issues, died last year at the clandestine centers, she told foreign reporters at a press conference, adding that authorities have begun to crack down.

At these centers, "we have reports of physical attacks, the use of ice water on inmates," Vance said.

"We have lesbians who have reported what the clinics called 'sex therapy,' but which consists of being raped by men," the minister said.

More:
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-07-ecuador-inhumane-gay-conversion-clinics.html

[MADem]

1. Gee. they've been in the news lately, haven't they?

Can't understand why people think they're all about liberty, equality and all that swell stuff....particularly when the government is complicit and politicians are making money off of torturing people for being gay.

There, Freire said, "they tortured me with electric shocks, didn't let me bathe for three days, gave me almost nothing to eat, hit me a lot, hung me by my feet.
"They told me it was for my own good."
There were also sexual punishments, all aimed at ridding the young girl of her homosexuality.

.......

Her case was not an isolated one. Authorities say the inhumane practice is a wide-ranging problem that has ensnared even government officials—such as the health ministry official who was recently subject of a criminal complaint after it emerged she owned a clandestine clinic offering therapy against homosexuality.
"We are talking here about a mafia, a network that operates nationally in each of the provinces, which are violating human rights," Health Minister Vance said.

[Judi Lynn]

2. The article states these clinics are clandestine,

acting criminally against the clients without the permission of the country's government. It takes only a split second to recognize the one official mentioned was also doing this without official sanction, was operating illegally, entirely for her own material gain from it. A criminal, not a representative of a criminal government.

Clearly efforts are being pursued to clean this crap out of Ecuador:

Since March 2012, authorities have closed 18 rehab clinics: 15 for human rights violations and three for violations of health standards, the ministry said.

There is NOTHING there to indicate Correa's government had ever approved or allowed these atrocities, and there is every indication that knowing about it now has moved them to start rooting them out.

[MADem]

3. And some of them are owned by..... politicians.

Gee, how does El Presidente feel about the subject of los homosexuales, I wonder?

Presidente de Ecuador expresó desacuerdo con bodas entre parejas del mismo sexo.

Señaló que no avalará reformas que abran el camino a las bodas gay durante su segundo mandato que comenzará este viernes.
"Yo tengo en el gabinete a personas de los grupos LGTBI (lesbianas, gays, transexuales, bisexuales e intersexuales). Se ha rescatado mucho el respeto a estos grupos, pero no creo en el matrimonio gay", dijo el mandatario en una entrevista difundida el jueves por el canal privado RTS.
Correa, quien se declara un católico de izquierda, afirmó ser "muy progresista en la parte económica y social, pero bastante conservador en cuestiones morales", y aclaró que no pretende transmitir sus valores y principios, aún cuando tenga "todo el derecho" de hacerlo y haya sido reelecto también por sus creencias.
"No es que uno puede llevarse por las tendencias, tiene que llevarse por principios, valores, creencias", enfatizó el gobernante, un economista de 50 años educado en Estados Unidos y Europa, y subrayó que para él "la familia es el fundamento de la sociedad".

http://www.eltiempo.com/mundo/latinoamerica/ARTICULO-WEB-NEW_NOTA_INTERIOR-12818745.html

Ah, yes...morals! Family values! Beliefs! Religion! That's the ticket...! But he has gays in his cabinet, so why are they complaining? These remarks were, of course, given after he won reelection, and after he was forced to apologize for using a homosexual slur during his campaign....but hey, whatever. IOKIYAFSA...."It's OK if you are from South America."

for the irony impaired...

Correa doesn't deserve the Good Boy Prize for finally halting torture and rape in a clinical setting. The disgrace is that he allowed it to go on for so long, and appointing a gay woman to a marginal cabinet post doesn't solve the "Separate but not equal" problem that remains under his nose and that he vows to fight on to maintain.