The government, conversion therapy and continued lack of action

Despite years of government promises and pledges, conversion therapy is still not illegal in the UK. In 2018, former Prime Minister Theresa May first outlined the government’s plans to end the archaic and brutal practice. Similar sentiments were also echoed by PM Boris Johnson, who labelled conversion therapy as “abhorrent.”

Yet as we near the end of 2021, the government has only now launched its consultation into banning conversion therapy, a whole five months after it was initially proposed.

On top of that, a potential loophole has already been discovered. In its consultation document the government outlined that it does “not intend to ban adults from seeking such counselling freely.” This, of course, is a disappointing and controversial move that has sparked dismay from LGBTQA+ and human rights campaigners, legal experts and lawmakers.

This announcement comes alongside the PM calling the banning of conversion therapy “complex” and the revelation that the Equalities Office recently reached out to and met with representatives from Core Issues Trust, one of the “most vocal” lobbying groups for conversion therapy in the UK.

The consultation launches

On 29th October, the government launched its consultation into how the government will ban conversion therapy. The proposals which will be reviewed include:

• A ban on conversion therapy whereby a new criminal offence will be introduced alongside sentence uplifts for existing offences
• A package of support for victims, which will restrict the promotion of conversion therapies while removing profit streams and strengthening the case for disqualification from holding a senior role in a charity
• The introduction of Conversion Therapy Protection Orders which will seek to protect “potential victims” from undergoing the practice, including overseas
• The exploration of further measures which will seek to prevent the promotion and advertisement of conversion therapy

The consultation, which will end at 11:45 pm on 10 December 2021, will reportedly be used to introduce legislation by Spring 2022.

Proposals fail to truly deliver

While, at first glance, these proposals appear promising and do include positive aspects, the consultation document also contains some elements, which critics have highlighted as concerning. The document outlines that “consent requirements” for adults “seeking out talking therapy” will be “robust and stringent,” allowing “consenting” adults to access “professional help and guidance.” Current proposals also permit religious forms of conversion therapy, which is, in fact, the most common form of conversion therapy.

Commenting on this, Jayne Ozanne, the Ban Conversion Therapy coalition founder who left the government’s LGBT advisory panel, said she was: “Deeply concerned about the loophole it creates by allowing adults to consent to these harmful and degrading practices”.

Speaking to The Guardian, she outlined: “The consultation document makes little mention of the harm that religious practices are known to cause, nor does it recognise that the government’s own research has shown that these form the majority of such practices in the UK – instead it focuses on ‘talking therapies’ in clinical settings. This is a grave mistake and will come as a severe blow to all survivors who have bravely shared their stories in the hope that the government will protect others.”

Adding: “We have been saying this to government for years … but sadly few in government want to engage with these facts.”

The Cooper Report, commissioned by the Ozanne Foundation, outlines that going forward, a “two-pronged approach” that utilises both the “criminal and civil law” is needed and that there must be no loophole relating to the issue of “consent.” Moreover, the paper states that it is “not possible to consent to conversion practices in a free and informed manner” and that there should be “no defence” that victims “appeared to have consented.”

The report also outlines that a ban must be human rights compliant and that its own recommendations do comply with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the Human Rights Act. It states that such practices “amount to degrading treatment prohibited by Article 3 ECHR” and “affect the most intimate aspects of private life protected by Article 8,” resulting from the hugely detrimental impact on the victim’s psychological and physical health and wellbeing. Further to this, it is explained that the practice’s “discriminatory nature” also violates Article 3 ECHR. As such, the recommendations made by the report “require limited restrictions on the right to manifest religion and belief and their expression.”

Ozanne, in an article for The Guardian, stated that the reason for the current ‘consent loophole,’ as she believes, is to ensure that the government doesn’t “offend” a “small minority of rightwing evangelicals within its party” who “want to be able to continue these barbaric practices of “praying the gay (and trans) away”.”

Commenting on the need for immediate and effective action, Helena Kennedy QC, chair of the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute, said: “These degrading and inhumane practices are an affront to the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people and must be criminalised in all their forms.”

Adding: “Together we urge the government to implement their promised legislation without delay, ensuring that there are no loopholes – too many lives have already been impacted by this horrific abuse and countless more are still at risk.”

Governments secret meeting with ‘ex-gay’ leaders

Alongside delays and loopholes, a Vice investigation recently revealed that officials from the UK’s Government Equalities Office set up a private, secretive meeting with leaders at Core Issues Trust, a group that facilitates conversion therapy. In the meeting, which was reportedly labelled as “productive,” the government talked with individuals who the Core Issues Trust dubbed as ten “former LGBT people”.

This meeting went ahead despite Facebook, Instagram, and other social media platforms banning the Core Issue Trust’s content and services and Barclays closing their bank account.

The group has also been circulating copies of its new book “X-Out-Loud: Emerging Ex-LGBT Voices” to MPs which contains the “testimonials” of 44 individuals who claim they are “former homosexuals” who have rejected “LGBT lifestyles”. One story referred to lesbianism as a possession from “demonic spirits” and described the individual as “[vomiting] blood and [screaming] like a maniac.”

According to the group, the government “encouraged” members to contribute to the consultation.

A spokesperson from the government’s Equality Hub said: “The government’s values do not align with those of the Core Issues Trust. We believe that conversion therapy is an abhorrent practice and will shortly publish our plans to ban it in this country.” However, it seems bewildering that the government would give a voice to a group that is leading calls for conversion therapy to continue when, by the government’s own account, this ‘therapy’ has been found to be devastating and damaging.

Speaking on this, Ozanne said: “I, therefore, urge the government to use this consultation to listen to the lived experiences of survivors rather than prioritising the needs of would-be perpetrators, particularly those within a religious setting.”

Final thoughts

Progress with the ban of conversion therapy has been painfully slow and seemingly deliberately so. It is disappointing to witness a government, who is fully aware of the pain and suffering endured by many LGBTQA+ individuals at the hands of conversion therapy, continue to delay this incredibly important ban.

Minister for women and equalities, Liz Truss, has said that there “should be no place for the abhorrent practice of coercive conversion therapy in our society” and that the “archaic practise” has “no place in modern life.” Yet, similar statements have been made by other Conservatives in government, and no progress has been made.

Conversion therapy is a disgraceful and harmful practice that should have been eradicated long ago. Excuses and delays can not be justified, and the government must act now to save lives.