Boris Johnson has been accused of throwing trans people “under the bus” in a chaotic double U-turn over so-called conversion therapy.
Anger erupted last night when a leak revealed he’d abandon the Tories’ 2018 pledge to ban trying to “cure” people of their sexuality.
After campaigners said the move “betrayed” LGBT people and Tory MPs branded it “fundamentally wrong” and “nuts”, sources told ITV News Mr Johnson was U-turning on his U-turn.
Sources said he had “changed his mind” and would include a ban in the May 2022 Queen’s Speech after all.
But ITV reported the proposed law would cover "only gay conversion therapy, not trans" to avoid “unintended consequences”.
Mr Johnson had also already promised to ban conversion therapy in last year’s Queen’s Speech, and failed to follow through.
It came days after a Tory MP, Jamie Wallis, became the first in UK history to announce they are trans.
Tory MP Alicia Kearns, who has campaigned against conversion therapy, tweeted: “If true, I'm pleased the Prime Minister has listened to our colleagues. However we cannot exclude our trans friends.
“Why should quacks and charlatans be allowed to continue to cause life-long harm to them?”
Campaigner Peter Tatchell said: "He’s throwing trans people under the bus. It looks like a bid to stoke trans culture wars for political gain in the run-up to the next election.”
Patrick Strudwick, a journalist covering LGBT issues, said: “Trans people are thrown under the bus. Yet again. This is an astonishing mess. Conversion therapy will now only be banned against gay people, not trans. Shameful.”
There was no immediate official response from Downing Street - although there was no attempt to suggest the latest report was incorrect.
The "U-turn on the U-turn" came just a day after Equalities Minister Mike Freer had assured MPs that the Government was "wholly committed" to legislation.
Labour MP Luke Pollard tweeted: “So now we know the PM wanted to drop his promise on banning conversion therapy but has been shamed out of it. He wanted to betray all LGBT people and still plans to exclude trans people.
“When people show you who they are, believe them. You can’t trust the Tories on equality.”
It followed the leak of a Downing Street briefing paper seen by ITV News which said "the PM has agreed we should not move forward with legislation" to outlaw the practice.
The government’s LGBT Action Plan in July 2018 pledged to “end the practice of conversion therapy in the UK” - which tries to supposedly “cure” people of their sexuality.
The Stonewall charity claimed 5% of LGBT people have been pressured to take part in the “dangerous” practice.
Some senior Tories supported the decision to abandon a ban on conversion therapy. Lord Frost tweeted: “It's a courageous but correct decision. Well done HMG.
“It would have been a hugely controversial legislative and process minefield which it's just not necessary to get into at the moment.”
But the briefing paper said Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, who is also Equalities Minister, had not been told of the decision not to go ahead, and Equalities Minister Mike Freer could now resign.
Trans rights, and how to describe trans people, have become a topic of bitter debate in Westminster.
In 2020, ministers scrapped plans to make it easier for trans people to change their legal gender after campaigners raised concerns about biological sex and the preservation of "women-only" spaces.
Labour MP Charlotte Nichols tweeted before the U-turn: “Let's not pretend that this whole media/right wing row around trans rights hasn't been cynically whipped up to achieve exactly these ends by using it as a wedge, throwing all LGBT+ people under the bus.
“Even the most obscene language can't capture my fury and upset right now.”
Jayne Ozanne, a former government LGBT adviser who survived 20 years of conversion therapy, had said before the U-turn that vulnerable people were being "thrown under the bus".
"This is the Prime Minister's decision and the Prime Minister has shown his true colours with regard to the LGBT community," she told the PA news agency.
Before the U-turn, a Government spokesman had confirmed they were looking instead at ways of preventing it through existing law and "other non-legislative measures".
After Mr Johnson reportedly U-turned last night, ITV News reported he had removed trans conversion therapy from the equation, insisting any bill must not have “unintended consequences”. It’s claimed these could, for example, include fears of criminalising parents who try to persuade their offspring not to take hormone blockers.
Green MP Caroline Lucas tweeted: “So actually *not* a full U-turn if trans people aren't protected - so the campaign continues.”
Labour MP Nadia Whittome said: “It’s still not good enough. LGB comes with the T, and the Tories are not on our side.”
Labour MP Olivia Blake tweeted: “You've got to be kididng me. On #TransDayOfVisibility?! Real Classy.”
