Conversion therapy

A senior government source said the PM will ban gay - but not trans - conversion therapy, following an exclusive ITV News report. | ITV National News.

Conservative MP Alicia Kearns, who has called for a ban on conversion therapy, told ITV News "people will lose lives" if the government goes ahead with the U-turn. Following the ITV News revelations, a number of Conservative MPs spoke out against plans to scrap the ban on conversion therapy. Earlier on Thursday, ITV News UK Editor Paul Brand revealed a leaked government document that showed government proposals to scrap a promise to ban conversion therapy.

The government changes its mind within hours but transgender people will not be covered by the plans.

The Conservative Party pledged in 2018 to end “conversion” therapies which seek to change someone's sexual orientation or gender identity. But a Downing Street ...

In July 2020, Mr Johnson denounced conversion therapy as “absolutely abhorrent”, said it “has no place in a civilised society” and vowed to bring in a ban. The Conversion Therapy Handling Plan document also says “the LGBT sector will read this decision as a signal the government is uninterested in LGBT issues”. Labour said the “outrageous decision” shows the prime minister could not be taken at his word on LGBT+ rights. Boris Johnson is ditching a plan to ban so-called gay conversion therapy despite his previous promises to end the “abhorrent” practice. Ozanne also warned: “This decision will leave countless LGBT+ people completely undefended from degrading abuse … and will embolden perpetrators to continue their horrific acts with impunity.” But a Downing Street briefing document leaked to the press states: “The PM has agreed we should not move forward with legislation to ban LGBT conversion therapy.”

Conversion therapy is the use of methods, such as aversive stimulation or religious counselling, to change or suppress a person's sexual orientation. It is also ...

But what is the practice, how many people have experienced it, and what is its future in the UK? But what is the practice, how many people have experienced it, and what is its future in the UK? – How many people in the UK have experienced conversion therapy?

The practice has been described by NHS England as "unethical and potentially harmful".

But just hours later - following outrage from LGBT campaigners and health charities - Number 10 U-turned again, with a senior Government source quoted as saying the ban would feature in the next Queen's Speech. However, it was reported that the legislation would cover "only gay conversion therapy, not trans". This is despite the figures showing that trans people are at a greater risk of undergoing conversion therapy. The Government pledged to end conversion therapy in England and Wales in 2018, under Theresa May, but in March 2021, three advisers quit the Government's LGBT advisory panel over worries it was acting too slowly on the ban. Conversion therapy is the use of methods, such as aversive stimulation or religious counselling, to change or suppress a person's sexual orientation.

The government has made a U-turn on its plans to ban conversion therapy, a leaked document seen exclusively by ITV News shows. | ITV National News.

Almost all of the MPs named are straight, with only one known to be openly gay. In another Twitter response to the ITV News revelations, Caroline Nokes, who is chair of the Women and Equalities Committee, asked: "If conversion therapy was "abhorrent" to the Government in December why on the eve of April Fool's Day is it apparently rowing back on a commitment to end it?" Responding to the document, the lead campaigner for a ban on conversion therapy - Jayne Ozanne said the leaked plans were "utterly ridiculous" and the government had broken "every promise it has made" on conversion therapy. Ms Kearns is one of a number of Conservative MPs to speak out about the government's plans to scrap the ban on conversion therapy. On Wednesday in Parliament, Mr Freer said that the government remained "wholly committed" to bringing forward proposals to ban conversion therapy. It goes on to warn: “The LGBT sector will read this decision as a signal the government is uninterested in LGBT issues” and sets out how the fallout could be minimised.

Critics have rounded on the PM, saying the move is 'an utter betrayal of the LGBT+ community'

“This is an utter betrayal of the LGBT+ community.” The move was condemned by the Liberal Democrats as giving a “green light to a form of torture” and an “utter betrayal” of the LGBT community. Liberal Democrat equalities spokeswoman Wera Hobhouse said: “This is not just yet another U-turn from the Tories, but giving the green light to a form of torture in the UK.

ONE EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NO SALES. NO ARCHIVING. NO ALTERING OR MANIPULATING. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has betrayed LGBT people (Photo: PA).

The idea that anything other than the law can attempt to stamp this out is so risible as to mock the common sense of the British people. But as my friend the novelist Armistead Maupin says, LGBT people are the great disposable card in the poker game of politics. They feast on the self-hatred that LGBT people only feel because of endless messages from family, religion or society that they are deviant and worthless. I informed the government of this. This is the u-turn that warrants no understanding, and no forgiveness. There are huge organisations, highly funded, around the world that grow fat off the misery and self-destruction of LGBT people.

Furious backlash was aimed after Johnson appeared to not be following through with his commitment to ban gay conversion therapy.

A Government spokesperson had earlier confirmed that they were looking instead at ways of preventing it through existing law and “other non-legislative measures”. A Government spokesperson had earlier confirmed that they were looking instead at ways of preventing it through existing law and “other non-legislative measures”. Boris Johnson has backtracked on his decision in abandoning plans to ban gay conversion therapy, after furious backlash.

Furious backlash was aimed after Johnson appeared to not be following through with his commitment to ban gay conversion therapy.

A Government spokesperson had earlier confirmed that they were looking instead at ways of preventing it through existing law and “other non-legislative measures”. A Government spokesperson had earlier confirmed that they were looking instead at ways of preventing it through existing law and “other non-legislative measures”. Boris Johnson has backtracked on his decision in abandoning plans to ban gay conversion therapy, after furious backlash.

The decision sparked anger among campaigners against conversion therapy. In a statement, Paul Farmer, chief executive of mental-health charity Mind, said: ' ...

Conversion therapy methods vary widely, with some of the so-called therapies involving psychotherapy or medical practices. MORE : Boris does a U-turn on a U-turn and will ban conversion therapy on gay people A UN study published in June 2020 found that 98% of the 940 persons who reported having undergone some form of conversion therapy testified to having suffered damage as a result.

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LGBT conversion therapy techniques will not be banned yet as the Tories backtrack on plans to outlaw the practice LGBT conversion therapy techniques will not be banned yet as the Tories backtrack on plans to outlaw the practice

Also called cure therapy or reparative therapy, conversion therapy refers to any form of treatment or psychotherapy that aims to change a person's sexual ...

The letter to Ms Truss said: "Legislating against such a bizarrely broad category is clearly not viable and strongly risks criminalising us as we fulfil our compassionate duties as Christian ministers and pastors. The government should just keep to its promises on this." It should be outlawed full stop." But the Christian Institute said the initial reports that the government was to ditch the proposed ban on conversion therapy was "welcome news". While conversion therapy continues, many will only know grief." Human rights charity the Peter Tatchell Foundation said, "a ban on conversion therapy that is not trans-inclusive is not a genuine ban at all".

The Prime Minister was forced to change his position because advisers were shocked by an onslaught of criticism from Conservative backbenchers.

“The PM wants to do this,” a Tory source said – pointing to his public comments in support of trans rights even when other ministers have been more equivocal. MPs wearily noted that this is far from Mr Johnson’s first major policy U-turn. But they welcomed the speed of this one, having expected the Downing Street machine to double down until its position became finally unsustainable. No 10 sources said that gay conversion would indeed be outlawed after all – but trans conversion would not.

"While last night's U-turn on the reprehensible decision to drop the conversion 'therapy' ban is welcome, we are deeply disappointed to see that the UK Government has chosen to exclude trans people from the ban on these harmful practices.

Trans people deserve better. Bans that include trans people have been implemented in other countries. The Government’s own research suggests that trans people are much more likely to have undergone, or been offered, conversion therapy, so this exclusion simply makes no sense.

Against attempts to sow division in our communities, we need to lock arms and refuse to leave each other behind.

With the Government dangling carrots in front of cisgender lesbian, gay and bisexual people by banning the kind of conversion therapy that is most likely to affect them, there is a genuine concern that years of solidarity between cisgender and transgender members of the LGBTQIA community could evaporate. In parallels to today, she delivered it to a crowd of jeers and boos, discussing a lack of solidarity with transgender and working-class gay people from a largely middle-class, white led gay liberation movement. Without sponsors and partners, the Government may have to foot the massive bill itself. It’s not all doom and gloom: a recent survey from Gay Times shows nine in ten respondents think that current media coverage of trans issues is harmful. Also reliant on recycled homophobic rhetoric which has its roots in conversion therapy practice, LGB Alliance even excludes lesbian, gay and bisexual transgender people. As outrage from the LGBTQIA+ community ensued and plans to protest were drawn up, we received a second U-turn: the conversion therapy ban was back on, but only based on sexuality — with transgender people being deliberately left out.

Revealed: Groups linked to anti-trans lobbying met Kemi Badenoch after privately urging equalities minister to drop conversion therapy ban.

Ministers had been pledging to ban it since 2018 – but, last night, ITV News revealed that the government now intends to exempt transgender people from protections. In a separate briefing two months later, the organisation suggested to Badenoch that it should not be considered “conversion therapy” for psychotherapists to “examine” the “reasons” for young people being trans – an apparent precursor to the government’s decision to exempt anti-trans conversion therapy from its ban. The LGB Alliance says it met with government ministers Mike Freer and Baroness Stedman-Scott in January this year to express “concerns” about the outlawing of the practice.