‘LGBTQ+ lives at risk’ despite therapy ban
GOVERNMENT plans to ban conversion therapy in certain scenarios contain ‘giant loopholes’ and many LGBT people’s lives will remain at risk, critics have said. Legislation to ban conversion therapy that attempts to change someone’s sexual orientation in certain scenarios has been outlined in the Queen’s speech, following a series of U-turns by the government.
The Conversion Therapy Bill will aim to stop ‘abhorrent practices which do not work and cause extensive harm’ and protect people’s freedom to love who they want, the government said.
But due to the ‘complexity of issues and need for further careful thought’, the legislation will not protect transgender people.
The bill will also only ban conversion therapy for over-18s ‘who do not consent and who are coerced or forced to undergo’ the practices. Reacting to the plans, former LGBTQ+ government adviser Jayne Ozanne said it is an ‘utter disgrace’ for trans people to be ‘purposefully omitted’ from the ban, and that it creates a ‘loophole of consent’.
The promise of legislation follows multiple changes in position and comes more than three years after the Conservative party pledged to eradicate conversion therapy. In late March, Boris Johnson dramatically dropped plans for legislation, with a government spokesman saying it would look at how the existing law could be applied more effectively and explore other measures.
Within hours, a furious backlash forced a hasty retreat and a senior government source was quoted as saying legislation would be included in the Queen’s speech.
The prime minister is said to have “changed his mind” after seeing the reaction to the earlier announcement.
But he defended the decision not to include trans people, saying there are ‘complexities and sensitivities’ which need to be worked through.
LGBTQ+Q+ charity Stonewall said the government must “stop playing politics with our lives”.
It said: ‘A ban on conversion practices that doesn’t cover both sexual orientation and gender identity protects nobody.
‘Those who want to erase or suppress LGBTQ+Q+ people from living their lives do not differentiate between the two.’ Downing Street acknowledged that over-18s would be able to undergo conversion therapy despite the government claiming to be planning a ban on “abhorrent practices which do not work and cause extensive harm”. The prime minister’s official spokesman said: ‘This is a difficult area and we need to strike the right balance.
‘I think it’s important to wait for the full details of the bill to be set out.’
The spokesman added:
‘It is obviously abhorrent to force this on anyone, it is a complex area that needs careful management.’ Conversion therapy
‘has no basis in fact in any way, shape or form’, the prime minister’s spokesman said.