German Health Minister Jens Spahn said Friday that he will seek to ban so-called conversion therapies that claim to change a person's sexual orientation.

"Homosexuality is not an illness and therefore does not need therapy," Spahn told the Berlin daily die tageszeitung.

Read more: Gay 'conversion therapy' — trauma for LGBTQ teens

Spahn said he hoped a German law banning the practices could be passed by the middle of 2019.

"I do not believe in these therapies, mainly owing to my own homosexuality," said Spahn, who represents the right-wing of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union party (CDU).

Spahn said that "from a legal point of view, these services today can be a form of assault, and not only against minors."

The practices collectively referred to as "conversion therapy" use a range of techniques that claim to change a person's sexual orientation. Some methods involve injections of large doses of testosterone, while others apply electric shocks to people as they view images of homosexual acts.

Ministries need convincing

Spahn told the paper the Health Ministry wanted to commission a study on the legal processes needed to achieve the ban, based on examples from Malta, New York and Australia.

"Based on the findings, we will then decide what we can implement in Germany," Spahn said. "But we also still have to convince colleagues from other ministries."

Read more: Germans tolerant of LGBT neighbors, but not Muslim ones

In the European Union, only Malta and some Spanish regions have banned the practice.

In March 2018, a large majority of European Parliament deputies adopted a nonbinding text that called on member states to outlaw such practices.

Fines not enough

In 2013, Greens representative Volker Beck brought forward a draft law that called for the so-called therapy to be classified as a misdemeanor punishable with a minimum fine of €500 ($565).

But Spahn said he did not find that adequate.

"A misdemeanor charge does not go far enough for me," Spahn said, adding that the fine suggested by the Greens would not provide enough of a deterrent. "The professional law should stipulate that there are consequences for people who offer these therapies."

Countries that have legalized same-sex marriage 2001, The Netherlands The Netherlands was the first country in the world to permit same-sex marriages after the Dutch parliament voted for legalization in 2000. The mayor of Amsterdam, Job Cohen, wedded the first four same-sex couples at midnight on April 1, 2001 when the legislation came into effect. The new law also allowed same-sex couples to adopt children.

Countries that have legalized same-sex marriage 2003, Belgium The Netherlands' neighbor, Belgium, followed the Dutch lead and legalized same-sex marriage two years later. The law gave same-sex partners many of the rights of their heterosexual counterparts. But unlike the Dutch, the Belgians did not initially allow same-sex couples to adopt children. The Belgian parliament passed a bill granting them that right three years later.

Countries that have legalized same-sex marriage 2010, Argentina Argentina became the first Latin American country to legalize same-sex marriages when its Senate voted 33 to 27 in favor of it in July 2010. Argentina thereby became the tenth country in the world to permit gay and lesbian marriages. The South American country was not the only one to do so in 2010. Earlier in the year, Portugal and Iceland also passed same-sex marriage legislation.

Countries that have legalized same-sex marriage 2012, Denmark Denmark's parliament overwhelmingly voted in favor of legalization in June 2012. The small Scandinavian country had made headlines before when it was the first country in the world to recognize civil partnerships for gay and lesbian couples in 1989. Same-sex couples had also enjoyed the right to adopt children since 2009.

Countries that have legalized same-sex marriage 2013, New Zealand New Zealand became the 15th country worldwide and the first Asia-Pacific country to allow gay and lesbian marriages in 2013. The first couples were married on August 19. Lynley Bendall (left) and Ally Wanik (right) were among them when they exchanged vows on board an Air New Zealand flight from Queenstown to Auckland. France legalized same-sex marriage the same year.

Countries that have legalized same-sex marriage 2015, Ireland Ireland made headlines in May 2015 when it became the first country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage through a referendum. Thousands of people celebrated in the streets of Dublin as the results came in showing almost two-thirds of voters opting for the measure.

Countries that have legalized same-sex marriage 2015, USA The White House was alight in the colors of the rainbow flag on June 26, 2015. Earlier, the US Supreme Court ruled 5 to 4 that the constitution guaranteed marriage equality, a verdict that paved the way for same-sex couples to be married across the country. The decision came 12 years after the Supreme Court ruled that laws criminalizing gay sex were unconstitutional.

Countries that have legalized same-sex marriage 2017, Germany Germany became the fifteenth European country to legalize gay and lesbian marriages in June 30, 2017. The bill passed by 393 to 226 in the Bundestag, with four abstentions. German Chancellor Angela Merkel voted against the bill, but paved the way for its passage when she said her party would be allowed to vote freely on the measure only days before the vote took place.

Countries that have legalized same-sex marriage 2017 - 2018, Australia Following a postal survey which showed the majority of Australians were in favor of same-sex marriage, the country's parliament passed a law to legalize it in December 2017. As couples in Australia have to give authorities one month's notice of their nuptials, many of the first weddings took place just after midnight on January 9, 2018 - including that of Craig Burns and Luke Sullivan, pictured.

Countries that have legalized same-sex marriage 2019, Taiwan In May 2019, the island state became the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage. The government survived an attempt by conservative opposition to water down the bill. Gay couples are able to offically register their marriage from May 24 onwards. President Tsai Ing-wen called it "a big step towards true equality."

Countries that have legalized same-sex marriage 2019, Ecuador The Andean state's top court ruled 5-4 to allow two gay couples to marry in June. The decision followed a ruling from the Inter-American Court on Human Rights affirming that countries should allow same-sex couples the right to marry. Author: Alexander Pearson



law/sms (AFP, dpa)

Every evening at 1830 UTC, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here.