'Every month that goes by means more LGBTQ+ people abused and exposed to lifelong harm'

On July 3, 2018, the government made a pledge to ban the harmful practice of conversion therapy. However, on the half-a-decade anniversary of the promise, we are still waiting.

Five years and four prime minsters’ later, the BanConversionTherapy campaign group said, ‘nothing has changed and LGBTQ+ people remain at risk of harm’, as they make fresh calls for legislation to be brought through immediately, without delay or loopholes.

Theresa May said the practice was ‘abhorrent’ back in 2018 when plans to ban the practice were brought in under a £4.5 million LGBT action plan to tackle discrimination. Whilst the government has stated that they are, ‘committed to building a society in which conversion therapy no longer takes place’. 

However, campaigners are asking how much longer we will have to wait before the ban is brought in, and have now given the government a new deadline, calling on the Prime Minister to publish a final bill by the King’s Speech in November 2023.

Stonewall CEO, Nancy Kelley, said the delays mean LGBTQ+ people continue to be abused.

“We’ve had 5 years of delays and u-turns from the UK government, and every month that goes by means more LGBTQ+ people abused and exposed to lifelong harm,” said Kelley.

“The impact of these abusive practices is always life-changing. It is simple – no legislation will be workable and effective if it contains loopholes, whether for consent, religious settings or any other carve-outs.”

Activists are concerned the government will add loopholes which would enable abuse to continue by allowing exceptions in the legislation, such as including a ‘consent clause’.

Campaigner Jayne Ozanne said this could render the bill ‘meaningless’  and has accused the government of trying ‘every trick in the book’ to delay bringing forward the legislation.

In 2022 Boris Johnson’s government removed trans conversion therapy from the bill despite a huge backlash for leaving trans people out from the vital protection against conversion therapy. But in January this year, the government unveiled a draft of the new bill which was trans-inclusive.

Campaigners are now calling on the government to publish the draft bill immediately and complete the pre-legislative scrutiny with the publishing of the Committee’s report and recommendations by September 2023, ahead of publishing the final bill.

Statistics from the UK government’s National LGBT survey found 7% of LGBT people have been offered or undergone conversion therapy, along with 10% of asexual people and 13% of trans people.

The process includes medical, psychiatric, psychological, religious, cultural or any other interventions that seek to change or ‘cure’ or suppress someone’s gender identity or sexual orientation.

Sasha Misra, Associate Director of Communications at Stonewall added: “Five years and four prime ministers later and we are still waiting for this ban to come to fruition. In the meantime, lives have continued to be ruined while these damaging attempts to ‘cure’ LGBTQ+ of being themselves remain legal.

“Conversion ‘therapy’ isn’t therapy, it’s abuse. And we need the UK Government to hold up their promise. We’re calling on the UK Government to publish the draft Bill immediately and bring forward the final Bill by the King’s Speech in November.”

Countries where conversion therapy is banned

The UK is an outlier compared to the rest of the world where bans have been enforced, whether in health care settings or in all settings.

Countries where conversion therapy is already banned include trailblazers Brazil, who introduced a ban first in 1999, then Samoa, Fiji, Taiwan, Argentina, Uruguay, Ecuador, Malta, Spain, Australia, India, Germany, Canada and France.

Most recent to join the ban was New Zealand where they introduced two new criminal offences for attempts to change the sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression of anyone under 18.

Hannah Davenport is trade union reporter at Left Foot Forward

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