In what may be a legal precedent, a gay man has been awarded a five-figure sum in damages by a church after claiming to experience emotional harm and distress caused by 'conversion therapy'.
Matthew Drapper, 37, was a volunteer at St Thomas Philadelphia church in Sheffield. In 2014 he attended an “Encounter God Weekend”, during which he says he was told that “sexual impurity” had allowed demons access to his body.
He claims that a married couple who were prayer leaders attempted to perform an "exorcism" on him.
The attempt, however, was apparently unsuccessful as it failed to turn him away from homosexuality, resulted in him leaving Christianity. He says it even left him feeling suicidal.
Speaking to The Times, Drapper said, “Looking back it seems like something out of a horror movie — for someone to be standing over you saying they can see the demons leaving your body is quite terrifying. But when you are deeply tied into the church, as I was at that time, it is easy to believe anything they tell you.”
Two years after the incident Drapper left the church, and in 2019 he submitted a formal complaint.
The church initially responded by saying there was “no evidence to substantiate” Drapper’s claims. Drapper responded by taking the issue up with the Diocese of Sheffield, who commissioned an independent investigation by the charity Barnado’s.
Last year the charity concluded that Drapper’s version of events was accurate.
“From the evidence available to us it is our view that the session took place as described by [Drapper] and prayers were administered with the intention of changing his sexual identity," it said.
Following the review, Drapper made a claim against St Thomas Philadelphia church, reaching an out-of-court settlement that resulted in him receiving a five-figure sum in damages.
St Thomas Philadelphia church said in a statement that the settlement was "made specifically in recognition of [ ... ] failings in how his 2019 safeguarding complaint was handled". It denies engaging in conversion therapy.
It said, "St Thomas Philadelphia takes safeguarding, pastoral care, and spiritual wellbeing extremely seriously. The church always maintained that evidence that conversion therapy happened was unsubstantiated rather than ever denying it happened.
"However, we recognise that Matthew’s formal complaint in 2019 was not managed well by the church and so the church was not in an informed position to make this claim.
"We regret the shortcomings in that process, including the lack of a proper investigation and failure to engage directly with Matthew or key individuals involved in order to obtain the necessary evidence. These failings meant the complaint was not dealt with in line with the standards expected of a safeguarding response, and for this, we are sorry."
It continued, "We do not practise or support so-called 'conversion therapy,' and we reject any coercive or controlling use of prayer. We also want to affirm that St Thomas Philadelphia welcomes all people.
"We are a diverse church community, and while as a church we hold to a traditional understanding of Christian teaching on sexuality, we are committed to walking together with grace humility and love.
"We acknowledge that some people, including Matthew, may disagree with our theology. We respect that, and we believe everyone should be able to make informed decisions about the communities they engage with. We affirm the dignity and worth of every individual as made in the image of God, and we grieve where people have been hurt by the Church."
The case is likely to be used by campaigners who are seeking to ban so-called 'conversion therapy'. Advocates for a ban say they wish to protect people from abuse, however opponents say that cases of abuse are extremely rare and that existing law already criminalises harmful practices.
