Conversion 'therapy' has dominated headlines in the press and seen the UK Government come under fierce criticism recently. Whilst the topic has been scrutinised time and time again for being damaging to the entire LGBT+ community, a recent poll has identified that most British people want the archaic treatment gone for good.
According to leading LGBT+ charity Stonewall, conversion therapy refers to: "Any form of treatment or psychotherapy which aims to change a person’s sexual orientation or to suppress a person’s gender identity. It is based on an assumption that being lesbian, gay, bi or trans is a mental illness that can be ‘cured’. These therapies are both unethical and harmful."
Last week the charity condemned the Prime Minister's new plan for conversion therapy, which is not transgender inclusive and announced its withdrawal from the UK Government's Safe To Be Me LGBT+ Conference. Boris Johnson has defended the decision not to include trans people in the Government’s proposed ban on conversion therapy, saying there were “complexities and sensitivities” which needed to be worked through.
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In the UK alone, psychotherapists and counsellors alike have condemned conversion therapy and have concluded its harmful nature. According to a report released by Stonewall, 5% of LGBT+ people have been pressured into accessing services to change, or question, their sexual identity. One in five transgender people, which amounts to 20%, have been pressured to access services aimed at suppressing or changing their gender identity.
A survey, which was released by YouGov on Tuesday, highlighted that most Britons want conversion therapy off the cards for all LGBT+ people. Whilst the government has decided that gender and sexuality conversion therapy should be separated matters, the general public do not think this should be the case.
In an article released by YouGov, two-thirds of British people want to see the archaic practice banned. "Two-thirds of Britons (65%) say conversion therapy where people seek to change someone’s sexual orientation should be banned, while 62% say conversion therapy to change someone’s gender identity should be banned. Only 14% say each practice should not be banned, while 22-23% are unsure," it read.
"According to ITV journalist Paul Brand, government sources have said the removal of the transgender conversion therapy ban from the legislation is an attempt to trap the Labour party into ‘owning’ trans issues. The government’s former LGBT adviser Iain Anderson, who resigned in protest at the decision, has likewise suggested that the government is treating trans people as a 'wedge issue'.
"But if this is the plan then Boris Johnson is going against the wishes of his own supporters. Six in 10 of those who currently intend to vote Conservative (58%) say conversion therapy to change someone’s gender identity should be banned, about the same as the number who say sexual orientation conversion therapy should be banned (63%). Only 19% want to allow gender identity conversion therapy to remain in place."
Earlier this year, WalesOnline spoke to survivor John Sam Jones, who suffered electro shock therapy to try and 'cure' his homosexuality. He said the thinking at the hospital was that John's sexual attraction to men would end if he was repeatedly put through pain while watching gay pornography.
"I was wired up to a wristband that was attached to an electricity source," he said. "I was shown homosexual pornography and when my penis responded, I was given electric shocks to the wristband."
The procedure was administered by a doctor and two nurses. John was naked from the waist down as they monitored his response to the pornography. He felt like "some kind of laboratory rat." John recalls being jolted about 15 to 20 times in each of the sessions, which lasted an hour to 90 minutes. He went through the excruciating therapy every day for about five weeks. You can read more about John's experience here.
According to the information released by YouGov, 58% of voters intending on voting Conservative think conversion therapy to change someone's gender identity should be banned. While the Conservative party goes ahead with dealing with gender and sexuality conversion therapy separately, this goes against the wishes of Conservative voters. You can keep up to date with the latest politics stories by subscribing to our Wales Matters newsletter here.
