IMAGINE scrolling through social media and coming across an advert which says that who you are is wrong – and that you can somehow be changed.

That is exactly what happened to Daniel Griffiths, a gay 23-year-old from Delamere, as he was browsing Instagram in July and came across an advert for so-called conversion therapy.

In the two months since, more than 25,000 people have backed the Love Can't Be Cured campaign started by Daniel, urging the Government to finally ban the practice – more than two years after it promised it would.

He told the Guardian: "When I saw it I was shocked, I was confused. It was something I thought would have been banned.

"They were saying that what I am does not apply to society, that we don't fit the trend, that we must be feeling sick."

Conversion therapy is a form of psychotherapy offered on the assumption that being lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT+) is something that can be 'cured'.

It has been roundly condemned by the NHS and psychotherapy bodies in the UK, which signed a memorandum of understanding to say this is both incorrect and dangerous.

Daniel said: "Acknowledging you are LGBT+ and coming to terms with it are two different things and it can take time to accept – you can be fighting with yourself.

"When you then see someone saying you could be cured, you see them saying that it is not normal, and that has an impact on mental health."

A Government report looked into conversion therapy in 2017.

Northwich Guardian:

Former Prime Minister Theresa May (Image: PA)

It led to then-Prime Minister Theresa May making a commitment to ban it in July 2018, but the practice still goes on.

The Love Can't Be Cured campaign has won the backing of unions, charities and MPs – as well as the wider community.

It led to a response from Government reaffirming its pledge to tackle the issue, but insisting it wanted to carry out more research first, and Daniel believes no time should be wasted.

He said: "It is something you hear about and you think it only goes on in America or elsewhere, but it is active here and the 2017 report said that is something that is growing.

READ > Cheshire's weekly coronavirus rate more than doubles

"They already have the information. We want to see a change now.

"People are brushing this under the table and it is something that is actually damaging lives – and the longer it goes on the more lives it will damage."