Aisha Sembhi

MPs and activists have criticised the government’s ‘moral failing’ in delaying the proposed ban on conversion therapy.

An open letter was sent to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Equalities Minister Kemi Badenoch on 17 July, signed by a number of senior politicians, religious leaders, medical professionals, and prominent human rights activists.

Signatories include Caroline Nokes, a Conservative MP and chair of the Women and Equalities Committee. Amongst other prominent names were Ian Anderson, Stonewall’s Chair of Trustees, and Dilwar Hussain, Co-Chair of the Global Interfaith Commission on LGBTQ+ Lives.

“Not only has the delay damaged the lives of countless vulnerable LGBT+ victims, it has also emboldened perpetrators to act with impunity,” part of the letter said. 

“In the five years since the UK government announced its positive intention to end these abusive practices, many other governments around the world have acted swiftly to do so. Why have we not learnt from them, but instead sought to obfuscate and delay?

“Protecting vulnerable people from abuse should be a primary aim of any democracy. We, therefore, urge you to fulfil your promise and publish the long-awaited legislation immediately. It is time to end these unethical, harmful and ineffective practices that have been condemned by religious leaders and by medical, psychiatric, psychological and healthcare professionals worldwide.”

What is conversion therapy?

Conversion therapy is any intervention that seeks to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. The goal is to ‘cure’ individuals from being lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer. 

It is often traumatic for those subjected to it. Conversion therapy can include talking therapy and prayer, but also physical violence, blackmail, deprivation, and exorcism.

The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy refers to practice as ‘unethical and potentially harmful’. 

Conversion therapy originated in the late nineteenth century after some European psychiatrists suggested that same-sex attraction was caused by a curable mental illness. A rise in violent experimental medicine across the continent on the basis of this theory followed. 

The association between homosexuality and mental illness faded throughout the following century. However, some political fringe groups and extreme religious organisations still use conversion therapy as a justification for discrimination.

Does conversion therapy still happen?

The practice is largely condemned in the UK but still occurs in discretion across the nation.

In 2009, scientists at University College London conducted a survey involving over 1,300 psychotherapists to understand whether the practice was still active.

In this study, they found that 17 per cent of the respondents had openly tried to help patients reduce or suppress ‘gay feelings’ at least once in their professional careers. 4 per cent said they would try to help an LGBTQ+-identifying patient ‘convert’ to heterosexuality in future. 

As conversion therapy has received wider social condemnation, it has continued to fade from legitimate medical discourse, however, it still occurs behind closed doors. In 2018, the Liverpool Echo exposed a church in Anfield for offering to ‘cure’ gay people with a three-day starvation programme. 

Figures of those subject to conversion therapy seemed to decrease in the late 2010s. The 2018 National LGBT Survey found that 5 per cent of respondents said they had been offered some sort of conversion therapy, with 2 per cent taking up the offer. 

However, a survey conducted this year by Galop, an LGBTQ+ anti-abuse charity, found that one in five LGBTQ+ people have been subject to attempted conversion. This proportion is much higher than previous estimates and illustrates ‘a full picture’ of targeted abuse towards the LGBTQ+ community, according to Leni Morris, chief executive of Galop.

She told The Guardian: “We do not need to be changed or cured, and we do deserve to be protected.”

What’s the status of the proposed conversion therapy ban?

Since 2018, two UK prime ministers had promised to ban conversion therapy. Five years later, LGBTQ+ communities and allies are still waiting for legislative action. 

Theresa May first proposed a trans-inclusive ban during her premiership. This stance was reiterated by her successor Boris Johnson, who described the practice as ‘absolutely abhorrent’ and having ‘no place in this country’ in July 2022, despite attempting to abandon the pledge altogether in March of that same year.

Under Johnson’s premiership, the promise was amended to exclude transgender people, despite national surveys repeatedly finding that transgender people are often twice as likely to be offered conversion therapy than gay and bisexual people.

This exclusion of transgender people from the ban was again amended in January 2023, when then-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Michelle Donelan, published a written statement confirming a conversion therapy ban to protect “those targeted on the basis of their sexuality, or being transgender.”

Like his predecessor, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has described conversion therapy as ‘abhorrent’. On July 19, he acknowledged the delay during Prime Minister’s Questions and assured the House of regular updates.

What’s next?

A five-year-long consultation ended in June, but some campaigners are still unhappy with the bill. It reportedly now contains a consent clause, meaning those who consent to be subject to conversion therapy would legally be able to do so. 

Described by some as a ‘loophole’, this consent clause first appeared in a 2021 public consultation by the government.

LGBTQ+ activist and conversion therapy survivor, Jayne Ozanne, has criticised the consent clause in a conversation with PinkNews.

She said: “I myself willingly consented to nearly 20 years of ‘conversion therapy’ and it nearly killed me. I am one of the fortunate ones who survived. Others tragically have not.”

ITV News reported that a long-awaited draft bill banning conversion therapy is ready and awaiting a final sign-off from Sunak. However, Summer recess is due to begin on 22 July, and the passage of legislation before this point is unlikely.

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Featured image courtesy of Karollyne Videira Hubert on Unsplash. No changes were made to this image. Image license found here.

Aisha is a BBC Journalism Researcher, covering news, politics, and pop culture (and, wherever possible, the blend between the three!).

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