The UK Government has today announced its plan to publish a draft bill which will “protect everyone” from conversion therapy.
The exact details of the Conversion Practices Bill remain unclear, however, it is claimed that the legislation will “not cause harm to children and young adults experiencing gender-related distress”.
A government spokesperson said: “We will be publishing a draft bill to ban conversion practices, protecting everyone. The Bill will go through pre-legislative scrutiny in this parliamentary session. We hope to send it to a Joint Committee for scrutiny and will work with the Liaison Committee accordingly.
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“There are clearly issues that are not fully resolved. We are determined that legislation will not cause harm to children and young adults experiencing gender-related distress by inadvertently impacting on legitimate conversations parents or clinicians may have with their children. Pre-legislative scrutiny exists to prevent this, and other unintended consequences, by utilising stakeholder expertise and input from parliamentarians.”
Conversion therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of attempting to change an individual's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. It can include anything from violent electroshock therapy to hypnosis or in the case of The Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministry, which had a branch on Breck Road, Anfield, offering gay people the chance to “cure” themselves of their homosexuality through a relentless prayer session involving three days without food or water.
The British Medical Association has warned conversion therapy can cause “long-lasting psychological harm, substance abuse, or even suicide”, while human rights groups consider it a form of torture.
Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan said in a written statement that the bill would be published shortly and would "protect everyone, including those targeted on the basis of their sexuality, or being transgender".
She penned: “We recognise the strength of feeling on the issue of harmful conversion practices and remain committed to protecting people from these practices and making sure they can live their lives free from the threat of harm or abuse.
“We have had constructive engagement with the Honourable Member for Rutland and Melton on her amendment which seeks to prevent children from seeing harmful online content on conversion practices.
“It is right that this issue is tackled through a dedicated and tailored legislative approach, which is why we are announcing today that the Government will publish a draft Bill which will set out a proposed approach to ban conversion practices, this will apply to England and Wales. The Bill will protect everyone, including those targeted on the basis of their sexuality, or being transgender.
“This is a complex area, and pre-legislative scrutiny exists to help ensure that any Bill introduced to parliament does not cause unintended consequences. It will also ensure that the Bill benefits from stakeholder expertise and input from parliamentarians.
“The legislation must not, through a lack of clarity, harm the growing number of children and young adults experiencing gender-related distress, through inadvertently criminalising or chilling legitimate conversations parents or clinicians may have with their children.”
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The bill comes after years of delays from the UK government. The first promise to ban conversion therapy was made in 2018 by then-Prime Minister Theresa May. Boris Johnson said he would do the same, however, defended the decision not to include trans people in the ban claiming there were "complexities and sensitivities" which needed to be worked through. Now, as it stands, Rishi Sunak is the fourth Prime Minister to say he will end conversion therapy.
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