Rishi Sunak Isn't Banning Conversion Therapy

After U-Turn upon U-Turn, Rishi Sunak finally announced on Thursday 19 October 2023 that he will be including a ban on conversion therapies for LGBT+ individuals in the King’s Speech. Initially, this was incredible news but after more reading, his intention is not to ban the practice at all.

To establish context, 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? Well, in 1999 Brazil became the first country to ban conversion practices with Samoa, Canada, Germany, Mexico, and parts of Australia all 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 the conversion therapies, by confirming there wasn’t any current intention to ban conversion therapies for trans people, what a cruel joke.

So, Rishi’s ban, what does it include? Well, all we know is that our Prime Minister is aiming to ban coercive conversion practices. This means that victims of conversion therapy will need to prove that they have been coerced into the procedures for it to be illegal. This is an inherently flawed strategy for supporting and preventing victims of conversion as the primary goal of coercion is to be able to manipulate someone into believing that they have chosen to go through the practice.

This promotes the idea that “voluntary” conversion therapies are okay, they are not. Very few people would choose to be subject to the ingestion of “purifying” substances; corrective rape; and more experiences that many would consider cruel and traumatic to any individual.

Since Rishi has been clear on his stance towards trans people (it is not good), it was strange to see him propose a ban at all. If he was to go forwards with it he can use this against the trans community to state that he is making an effort to help us and dismiss any of our other concerns such as 5+ year waiting lists and a suicide rate never before seen. This is the only reason I personally believe Rishi Sunak would push this ban, his intentions are good on the surface until you consider politics.

In addition to this, many of Sunak’s own ministers have requested that he removes this pledge from the King’s speech and if there is one thing that our Prime Minister does not like, it’s going against his own ministers. He will do whatever he can to preserve the support of his mandate, which if you remember is made up entirely of his own ministers, not the British people.

With everything looking bleak for trans people at the moment, do remember that there are groups working for change, real change. Make sure to support these groups when they host events, demonstrations, or petitions. Do whatever is available to you to push for a real conversion therapy ban, the transgender community need your support.