The Government has announced it will finally ban so-called conversion therapy in full.
The ban will include any attempts to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
"The Bill will protect everyone, including those targeted on the basis of their sexuality, or being transgender," said Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan in a statement.
Stonewall, the UK’s leading queer right’s charity, describes conversion therapy as ‘any form of treatment or psychotherapy which aims to change a person’s sexual orientation or to suppress a person’s gender identity. It is based on an assumption that being lesbian, gay, bi or trans is a mental illness that can be ‘cured’.’
One in five LGBTQIA+ people in the UK have reportedly been pressured to seek conversion therapy when accessing healthcare, with queer people of colour and disabled queer people facing more pressure (9% and 8%, respectively).
The Tory party originally promised a full ban of the practice - which LGBQTIA+ campaigners have called ‘barbaric’ - back in 2018 whilst Theresa May was at the helm. Last year, Boris Johnson U-turned on the policy, pushing ahead with legislation excluding gender identity – which would have left trans people without protection.
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The Government faced a huge amount of resistance from LGBTQIA+ rights groups over their backtracking, and in April were forced to cancel their first ever LGBTQIA+ conference – the ‘Safe To Be Me’ conference – as over 100 groups vowed to boycott.
“This is absolutely proof that when the LGBTQIA+ community come together and refuse to tolerate mistreatment against any part of us, no matter how big or small that group, we can make real change happen,” Gemma Stone, co-founder of Trans Writes told Cosmopolitan UK about the proposed inclusive ban.
This was not the first time the government had backpaddled on their promised ban. Earlier in 2022, leaked documents suggested the proposed ban was going to be quietly dropped all together. But the government was forced to U-turn following the leak, and a ban covering only sexual orientation was announced in the Queen’s speech.
It is understood that the Prime Minster’s office will be overseeing the new wording of the ban, instead of Equalities Minister Kemi Badenoch – who previously pressed paused on the legislation.
Downing Street is said to be surprised by the level of support it has received for the proposed total ban.
It is yet unclear as to whether the new ban will include conversion therapy that adults consent to or religious practices. Current wording says the bill will ban all forms of conversion therapy, including over-18s "who do not consent and who are coerced or forced to undergo" the practice.
Campaigners supporting a total ban say that often, adults only consent to the practice because they do not fully understand what it is, or the harm it can cause. Groups campaigning against the total ban argue that it will make any discussion about a person’s gender identity illegal.
The UK Council for Psychotherapy refutes this, stating that a full ban would not ‘not deny, discourage or exclude those with uncertain feelings around sexuality or gender identity from seeking qualified and appropriate help.’
Earlier this week, conversion therapy survivor and campaigner, Jayne Ozanne, told PinkNews she is ‘concerned’ that the legislation may still leave ‘large loopholes’ regarding whether someone can consent to religiously-based conversion practices. “The latter is by far the most common form in the UK and must be stopped if LGBT+ lives are to be protected from this horrific abuse,” she added.
“It is vital that a ban on conversion practices goes ahead and that it is wholly inclusive of the entire LGBTQIA+ community. This means not only that it must protect the transgender community, who the Conservatives previously unceremoniously threw under the bus, but also ensure that it protects smaller marginalised groups such as the Asexual community, who are exposed to risks such as corrective rape,” said Trans Activism UK in a statement to Cosmopolitan UK.
The announcement came just after news broke that the government will block Scotland's recently passed bill simplifying access to Gender Recognition Certificates, in an unprecedented use of constitutional powers.
The ban also comes amid a sharp rise in anti-LGBQTIA+ hate crimes in the UK in the last few years. In 2022, the Home Office reported that hate crimes against trans people had risen 56% since 2021, and hate crimes targeting a person’s sexual orientation rose by 41%. The rise in hate crimes against trans individuals could in-part be due to increased attention on the minority group - who make up just 0.5% of the population – it admitted.
It is hoped that the ban will provide new protections for the queer community, allowing people off all identities to live in safety and dignity.
Lois Shearing is Cosmoplitan's Former Senior Sex and Relationship Writer. They have been writing about sex, sexuality, gender, politics, and relationships for almost ten years. Their writing on these topics has appeared in Mashable, The Independent, Metro, The Advocate, and Byline Times, among others. In 2021, they published their first book, Bi the Way with JKP. They are currently working on two other books, set to be published in 2024. In a previous life, they worked as a content marketer and content writer for various tech start-ups. They continue to be interested in the tech sector and its impact on our lives, relationships, and work, with particular regard to the ways AI will shape our relationships in the future. Outside of work, they are deeply passionate about queer community organising, and run the only support resource for bisexual survivors of sexual violence in the UK: the Bi Survivors Network. You can find them on Instagram and X.
