Government publishes bill to end LGBT+ conversion therapy
The draft legislation has been welcomed by LGBT+ rights campaigners
The government has published its draft legislation to ban LGBT+ conversion practices in England and Wales.
Conversion therapy refers to medical, psychiatric, psychological, religious, cultural or other attempts which seek to change someone’s gender identity or sexuality.
The government’s proposed ban will set the criminal threshold for conversion practices as conduct that aims to change someone’s sexual orientation or transgender identity through abusive acts that seriously harm the victim.
According to the government, conversion therapy is still happening in England and Wales because of legal loopholes in legislation that covers domestic violence, coercive control and communications.
The new legislation would create new criminal offences of carrying out abusive conversion practices that cause serious harm, alarm or distress to the victim; and encouraging or assisting an abusive practice performed outside England and Wales.
Carrying out abusive conversion practices could see offenders sentenced to up to five years in prison.
On announcing the legislation, Olivia Bailey MP, Minister for Equalities, said: “Legal loopholes have left LGBT+ people vulnerable to these harmful acts which is why we must legislate.
“Conversion practices are driven by the false belief that being LGBT+ is shameful and can be forcibly changed.
“No-one should face abuse just because of who they are. That’s why we are delivering on our manifesto commitment to ban abusive conversion practices.”
The bill has been welcomed by LGBT+ rights campaign group Stonewall. Simon Blake, Stonewall’s CEO said: “People from the LGBTQ+ community are not broken or in need of ‘fixing’. That’s why I’m so pleased the government have published a draft bill to ban conversion practices that attempt to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity. These practices are abuse, and every day without a ban in place leaves people at risk of serious harm.
“This is testament to the hard work of campaigners and survivors who have bravely shared their stories and refused to give up. We look forward to continuing our work with sector partners, Parliament, and government to ensure the legislation is robust and effective.”
Chris Jarvis is head of strategy and development at Left Foot Forward
Image credit: Quinn Dombrowski – Creative Commons
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