Sajid Javid, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (James Manning/PA)
(Picture: PA Wire)The Government needs to be “more careful” about banning conversion therapy for trans people, Health Secretary Sajid Javid said on Monday, after his government made a controversial U-turn on the subject which has received widespread criticism from the LGBT community. The practice, which involves attempting to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity, is being outlawed for lesbian, gay and bisexual individuals but not trans people.
The result has meant that the government has been forced to cancel its own Safe To Be Me conference, which was due to take place in June, due to the backlash from the move and more than 100 organisations saying they would pull out.
Mr Javid told Sky News: “When it comes to conversion therapy it is absolutely right, as the Government has said, that we ban the so-called conversion therapy for LGB people.”
He added: “When it comes to trans I do think that we need to be more careful. As Health Secretary, in my mind, is the recent report by Dr Hilary Cass who is one of the most experienced paediatricians in this country.
“She just published an interim report a few weeks ago and she talked about how children and young people when they say they have gender dysphoria it is right for medical experts to be able to question that and to determine what the cause might be.
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