A petition has been launched to make gay cure therapy illegal in the UK.
It is currently legal to practice the so-called therapy, though it is banned on the NHS.
LGBT activists have called for the practise to be outlawed, but a previous petition on the issue was rejected by the government.
At the time a minister claimed the government is “not aware” of gay cure therapy being carried out in the UK – just a week after a man who practises the debunked therapy was interviewed on Good Morning Britain.
Now an undercover journalist who exposed a church practicing gay cure therapy has launched a new petition to have it banned.
Josh Parry, a Liverpool Echo journalist behind the investigation who launched the petition, said: “Earlier this year the Department of Health acknowledged that conversion therapy is not only ineffective, but also dangerous.
“They also claimed they are already doing enough to make sure it doesn’t happen – however our investigation proved it still goes on today.
“So why haven’t they banned it yet?
“Studies show that those who undergo ‘conversion’ are 8.9x more likely to have suicidal thoughts, and 5.9x more likely to suffer depression.
“They are dangerous and do not work so today we’re calling upon the government to make offering these ‘therapies’ a criminal offence and call an end to these harmful practices once and for all.”