Activists have called for a ban on so-called gay conversion therapy to be brought forward immediately with “no loopholes” five years after the government first promised it would ban the practice.
Stonewall said lives were continuing to be ruined by attempts to “cure” LGBTQ+ people “of being themselves” as Monday marked half a decade since the government vowed it would introduce legislation to outlaw conversion practices.
Sasha Misra, associate director of communications Stonewall, said: “Five years and four prime ministers later and we are still waiting for this ban to come to fruition. In the meantime, lives have continued to be ruined while these damaging attempts to ‘cure’ LGBTQ+ of being themselves remain legal.”
She said the ban “must not contain loopholes that would enable abuse to continue through the back door, whether it be via the idea that people can ‘consent’ to abuse, exemptions for medical settings, or any other carve-outs”.
The charity is calling on the government to publish its draft bill immediately and bring the final bill by the king’s speech in November.
In July 2018 Theresa May, then the prime minister, first vowed to ban conversion practices, describing them as “abhorrent”. “I think it has no place in modern Britain,” she said.
Since then legislation has been beset by years of delays, with the government last saying in January it would “shortly” publish a draft bill that would ban conversion practices for “everyone”, including transgender people.
Michelle Donelan, who was the secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport until February, said ministers recognised the “strength of feeling on the issue of harmful conversion practices”, adding that it was right the issue was tackled “through a dedicated and tailored legislative approach”.
She described it as a “complex area”, adding that the legislation “must not, through a lack of clarity, harm the growing number of children and young adults experiencing gender-related distress, through inadvertently criminalising or chilling legitimate conversations parents or clinicians may have with their children”.
Previously, in March 2022, Boris Johnson dropped plans for legislation and defended a decision not to include trans people by saying there were “complexities and sensitivities” to be worked through.
Jayne Ozanne, from the Ban Conversion Therapy Coalition, accused the government of having “tried every trick in the book to delay and frustrate bringing forward this lifesaving legislation”.
“One can only conclude that they do not want to protect LGBT+ people and that they are only interested in stoking manufactured ‘culture wars’ at the expense of vulnerable people’s lives,” she said. “It is all an absolute disgrace, which the British public will find hard to forgive.”
Research published earlier this year found that more than 400,000 people who are gay, transgender or non-binary have been subjected to someone trying to change, “cure” or suppress their sexual orientation or gender identity, a figure higher than previous estimates.
A spokesperson for the government’s equality hub said: “This government is committed to protecting people at risk from conversion 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.”
