China LGBT rights
Youngsters in China's Hunan province take part in an anti-discrimination parade on the International Day Against Homophobia STR/AFP/Getty

A man from China has been compensated after he was forced to take part in gay conversion therapy.

Only known by the surname Yu, he was taken to a hospital in the town of Zhumadian in Henan province by his wife back in 2015.

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Over a 19-day period, Yu, 38, was forced to have injections and take various medicines.

The hospital had diagnosed with "sexual preference disorder" and a court order told them to issue a public apology in local newspapers.

They were also told to pay Mr Yu £570 as compensation.

The court didn't comment on the reasons behind the treatment in the first place.

After the court hearing, Yu told AP: "It's time for China to enact laws to prohibit forced gay conversion therapy,"

Until 2001, homosexuality was considered a mental disorder in China, but the nation remains highly conservative on LGBT issues.

This however has changed in recent years, with growing gay scenes in the larger cities as well as the introduction of a gay pride celebration in Shanghai last month.

Gay conversion therapy in China involves four different processes according to the Guangdong Higher Education Press.

  1. Loving relationship- The aim is to form a friendship between a man and a woman in the hope that that will crate deeper feelings and they eventually fall in love
  2. Repulsion- Patients are subjected to forced vomiting or electrocution treatments when they think of having a relationship with someone of the same-sex
  3. Relocation- This treatment is known as shock therapy, where you are moved to a new location, isolated from friends and family, forcing you to strike up new relationships
  4. Sexual orientation transfer- When aroused, the patient is told to channel those thoughts to those of the opposite sex
China