Wanting To Recover From Same-sex Attraction, This Man Was Ordered By A Priest To Watch Straight Couple Porn

JAKARTA - A gay man tells of a moment when a religious psychiatrist told him to watch straight couples porn. This was done by the psychiatrist to cure the man's same-sex attraction.

Abanob Saad, from Melbourne, grew up in a devout Coptic Orthodox Christian family and grew up believing that being gay is "disgusting to God".

She told The Age about her years of failed struggle to rid herself of same-sex desires.

Saad, now 29 and accepting the reality of being gay, spent years battling his sexuality before finally seeking advice from a priest.

The pastor referred him to a senior Coptic psychiatrist, who urged Saad to pray and repent while attending regular sessions.

"I clashed because I had a very strong relationship with God, but during school I was told, day after day, that my impurity and sinfulness as a homosexual was disgusting to God," said Saad.

"It makes you want to get rid of it, whatever it takes."

Psychiatrist Saad tried to link his sexual orientation to childhood trauma in their sessions and asked him to pray alone in his spare time.

The psychiatrist also urged Saad to watch straight couples porn - something he didn't want to do because he thought it was "stupid and immoral".

The psychiatrist's attempts failed - but the experience left Saad with suicidal thoughts and "a feeling of utter helplessness and despair."

A ban on conversion therapy is currently being implemented at the Victorian parliament building, where it passed through the lower house on Dec. 10.

Conversion therapy is widely considered to be a dangerous and dangerous form of pseudoscience spread by religious extremists.