A BEIJING court ordered a clinic today to pay compensation to a gay man who sued it for administering electric shocks it claimed would make him heterosexual.

In what is believed to be China’s first case involving so-called conversion therapy, Lawyer Li Duilong said the Haidian District People’s Court had ordered the clinic to pay ¥3,500 (£360) to compensate Yang Teng for costs incurred during the therapy.

The court ruled that there had been no need to administer shocks because homosexuality was not an illness and did not require treatment, Mr Li reported.

Mr Yang said he was “very satisfied with the results, which I didn’t expect. The court sided with me, and it has supported that homosexuality is not a mental disease that requires treatment.”

He said the therapy had included hypnosis and electric shocks that harmed him both physically and emotionally.

Mr Yang said he voluntarily underwent the therapy in February following pressure from his parents to marry and have a child.

He added that said the verdict would help gay rights advocates to stop clinics offering such treatments and persuade parents not to pressure their gay children to undergo therapy.

The suit alleged that the clinic had claimed the electric shock treatment was not dangerous. 

It sought compensation to cover the cost of the therapy, travel and lost earnings, as well as damages for psychological and physical harm. The court did not award damages.

China declassified homosexuality as a mental disorder in 2001.