‘This is people’s lives’: Government slammed over delays to banning LGBTQ+ conversion therapy practices

The government has been slammed for repeatedly delaying the long-promised ban to conversion therapy, with campaigners urging Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to bring in legislation to protect LBGTQ+ people in the UK.

Former Tory PM Theresa May first pledged to ban the “abhorrent” practices - which attempt to change, suppress, or “cure” a person’s sexuality or gender identity - back in July 2018, remarking at the time that she was shocked they still happened in “modern Britain”. But five years later, conversion therapy is still legal in the UK, which campaigners say have allowed the lives of LGBTQ+ people to “continue to be ruined”.

Data from the National LGBT Survey found that 7% of lesbian, gay and bisexual people and 13% of transgender people in the UK have been offered or have undergone conversion therapy. However, experts say this likely does not represent the reality, with anti-abuse charity Galop estimating from its work with victims and survivors that one in five members of the community have been subjected to some form of conversion therapy.

People who have been through these practices frequently suffer from PTSD, low self-esteem, a lack of confidence, and “a loss of trust” in communities and networks, Ibtisam Ahmed, head of research at the LGBT Foundation, told NationalWorld. “This is people’s lives,” he continued. “These are long-lasting impacts. But at the moment, it’s near impossible to detect and prevent these practices because there is no legislation.”

When asked why the legislation is taking so long to pass, Mr Ahmed said: “There are various reasons. We understand that part of it is due to process, but that doesn’t justify the near half-decade delay.”

He explained that one of the hold-ups came during Boris Johnson’s premiership, when, “despite support in Parliament”, there was a lack of support amongst ministers to include trans people in the legislation. Defending the decision at the time, the former Prime Minister said there were “complexities and sensitivities” to be worked through.

“We need air-tight legislation that protects people from sexuality-based conversion therapy and gender identity-based conversion therapy,” Mr Ahmed insisted.

There were also delays when an initial draft of the proposed legislation made conversion therapy illegal for those under the age of 18 -- but allowed adults to “consent” to the practice. “This is a really dangerous precendent to set because we know these practices are coercive, abusive, and manipulative. You can’t consent to abuse.”

Commenting on why, as reported by ITV, a bill that would finally move forward the ban has lingered on Sunak’s desk for several weeks, awaiting his sign-off, Mr Ahmed suggested: “This is all conjecture, of course, but it is an open secret that parties are beginning to get ready for the next election cycle.

“So perhaps the government wants to use banning conversion therapy as a commitment to include in their manifesto. This is frustrating, of course, as it’s a reflection of how a lot of LGBTQ+ legislation can be used as political football.”

To further pressure on the government, Stonewall, the UK’s largest LGBTQ+ charity, recently launched a campaign calling on people to send “postcards” to Prime Minister Sunak, who they say chose to go on holiday even after a bill that “could halt the abuse has sat untouched in his inbox for weeks”.

One postcard design reads, “abuse doesn’t take a summer break”, while another says, “hope you’re having a nice summer holiday, Rishi, but we are still waiting for action.”

Robbie de Santos, director of external affairs at Stonewall, said: ”Summer holidays are where memories are made that last a lifetime – but for many LGBTQ+ people this summer, those memories will be for all the wrong reasons.

“LGBTQ+ people deserve to be safe from psychological harm, and we need the UK government to take decisive action to protect us from damaging practices such as so-called ‘conversion therapy’. The UK government has had five years to halt the abuse which has scarred generations of LGBTQ+ people – yet it continues to play games with our lives.

“California, where the Prime Minister is currently on holiday, has already taken action to ban conversion therapy, as have countries such as New Zealand, Canada, and Ireland – countries that the UK would like to consider its peers on human rights issues. The 1.5 million LGBTQ+ people in England and Wales should not be left looking at these places and thinking ‘I wish I was there’.”

Research from Galop found that around one in five LGBTQ+ people in the UK have been subjected to conversion therapy. People in the trans community are “significantly more likely” to have been exposed to these practices, the data revealed, but white LGBTQ+ people and LGBcontentTQ+ people of colour are “equally likely” to have been exposed to these practices.

The majority of survivors were subjected to conversion therapy by a family member, and most practices take place in a religious setting, the organisation added. Across the UK, the highest proportion of survivors were found in Wales.

Mr Ahmed said: “These places don’t call themselves conversion therapy practices. They might offer to “help you come to terms with your sexuality or gender”, or advertise themselves with endorsements by people who claim to be an “ex-member of the LGBTQ+ community.”

Warning: some readers may find the following content distressing.

Survivor Eli* told Ban Conversion Therapy that teachers at the Jewish comprehensive school he attended in North London “encouraged” him to have conversion therapy. “This happened when I was in Year 10, which was about six years ago.”

He told the organisation that he was sent to a therapist in Golders Green, where he tried to be “open” about his sexuality - but was told it was “not natural or normal” to be gay. “The ‘therapy’ was designed to fix me,” Eli explained.

“He would sit uncomfortably close to me and instruct me to imagine different scenarios: my parents having sex, my mother’s vagina, my experience being molested when I was 15. He would tell me to think about good-looking girls, even though this wasn’t allowed in our religion.”

Later, Eli said he was sent away to a practice. “I don’t know exactly where we were, but the conditions there were bad: we didn’t have much food or water, and the conversion therapy tactics were much more extreme. We were made to watch porn and kicked every time we reacted. We were stripped naked, blindfolded, and sedated. I was there for about six weeks, until I became so ill that they had to send me home.”

He said the experience left him with “deep scars” and PTSD. He suffers from an eating disorder, and struggles with relationships and intimacy. Eli’s parents, who he described as “Orthodox Jewish”, don’t understand why he didn’t want to have conversion therapy - or why it was so damaging.

“The legislation we are looking for is the current international standard,” Mr Ahmed explained. “This means banning ‘practices which are aimed at changing, oppressing, or curing someone’s sexual orientation and/or gender identity with a predetermined outcome’. It has to protect all members of the community and there must be no exceptions for consent. This ban is vital.”

A spokesperson for the government’s equalities office said: “This government is committed to protecting people at risk from conversion therapy practices.

“As part of this we will publish a draft bill setting out our approach, which will be scrutinised by a Joint Committee of both Houses in this parliamentary session. This will allow for in-depth analysis and challenge to test the policy and drafting and ensure we address any risk of unintended impacts.”

*Eli’s name has been changed.

If you have been affected by any of the issues discussed in this article, help is available via the LGBT Foundation’s helpline.