Theresa May in 2019, Boris Johnson in 2022, Rishi Sunak in 2023 and finally Kier Starmer in 2024 - is it finally time to ban conversion therapy?
For those who are unaware, conversion therapy is the practice that aims to change the sexual orientation or gender identity of a person. This practice has been condemned by numerous human rights groups and even some religious leaders as it is deemed cruel and unnecessary. We know that you cannot change who someone is so why are we trying to do so?
So, why isn’t it banned? In 1999, Brazil became the first country to ban conversion practices with Samoa, Canada, Germany, Mexico, and parts of Australia following suit. The UK was going to follow the lead of these nations with Theresa May announcing that she planned to ban the practice in 2018. With her resignation, the plans were delayed. Boris Johnson’s Government on April 1st 2022 had been found to partially U-turn on plans to ban conversion therapies, by confirming there wasn’t any current intention to ban conversion therapies for trans people, what a cruel joke. Finally, Rishi Sunak in 2023 was going to include a ban on “coercive conversion practices” in his King’s speech but this was eventually taken out due to pressure from his ministers.
Photo by Samuel Regan-Asante on Unsplash
So, will a Labour Government Ban It?
As of the time of writing this, the answer is yes* with a big asterisk next to it. In the King’s Speech on July 17th 2024, the King announced that his government would “ban conversion practices”. This is an amazing thing to hear because activists have spent so much time trying to ban this cruel practice but I would advise that we don’t celebrate yet and proceed with caution because so far we don’t have any details.
As much as I want to encourage trans people and their allies we should remain hopeful, we have been let down countless times by our politics when policy falls short of expectations especially when trans-inclusion in the ban was not mentioned. When we see the draft bill published we should be mindful of certain phrases, I will explain why below:
Coercive Practices - This is the idea that we should only stop people from being converted when they are coerced into it. This is great in concept but a major unfortunate issue with coercion is that the main goal is to trick a person into believing they have made a choice. Voluntary conversion therapies do not work because quite simply, you cannot change someone that is trans even if they want to change themselves.
Exploratory Therapies - This is a tricky one. Many gender-critical people in politics will point out that banning conversion therapy will ban beneficial therapies that help someone explore their identity. However, many so-called “exploratory therapies” target vulnerable people struggling with their identity and often aim to convert transgender people. Many exploratory therapies discourage transition because it is “too much effort” or “too expensive” when in reality, transition may be what this person needs.
Gender Ideology - This promotes the idea that transgender people are natural and that rather than being a personal identity is instead an ideology that people force upon one another.
Photo by Ehimetalor Akhere Unuabona on Unsplash
With Labour’s recent record on transgender rights, I am concerned about the direction of the party and whether this ban will have any substance. Let’s have a look at Labour's recent record (this is over the last month, there is likely more but this is what I could find):
June 24th - Keir Starmer says he is not comfortable with “gender ideology” being taught in schools - an alarming repeat of section 28 rhetoric/
July 1st - Keir Starmer says that transgender women are not welcome in female-only spaces
July 15th - Wes Streeting commits to making the Tory puberty-blocker blanket ban permanent
July 16th - Rosie Duffield MP retweets a post referring to a school “sexualising and indoctrinating children”
As you can see, this is a worrying direction for Labour and the transgender community, so what can we do to fix this?
If you’re a Labour member, LGBT+ Labour has done an awful job at standing up to the leadership with a statement that felt more like political pandering than anything of substance. As a result, many people (myself included) have been searching for alternative campaign groups such as Pride in Labour.
If you’re in a different political party, campaign within their LGBT+ groups to put pressure on the government!
If you’re not in a political party then make sure to write to your MP, an easy tool to do this is writetothem.com which allows you to easily find your local councillors, county councillors and your MP! If you see MPs pushing transphobic rhetoric, report it, most political parties have ways to report misconduct!
However you apply pressure, be proud of your contribution, we will not lay to the side and let our community
Comments