What is conversion therapy and is it banned in the UK?
CONVERSION therapy has been fought against for years by LGBT groups who call for the practice to be banned.
Aiming to force gay people to turn straight, conversion therapy has long been controversial and called a pseudo-scientific practice.
What is gay conversion therapy?
Conversion therapy is any form of treatment or psychotherapy which aims to reduce or stop same-sex attraction.
It is based on an assumption that being lesbian, gay, or bisexual is a mental illness that can be “cured”.
There is also conversion therapy for transgender people to try to stop them transitioning and stay cis-gender - meaning they remain the same gender as what they were assigned at birth.
LGBT campaigners have branded these therapies as both unethical and harmful.
In the UK, all major counselling and psychotherapy bodies, as well as the NHS, have concluded that conversion therapy is dangerous and have condemned it.
The practice is still performed mainly by religious groups and is widespread in America too.
What has the government said it will do?
A ban on conversion therapy has been building for some time with former Prime Minister Theresa May vowing to ban the “abhorrent” practice of trying to turn gay people straight under an action plan to improve the lives of LGBT people.
This was back in 2018 and since then the £4.5million initiative has slowly pushed forward with consultations and combatting abuse of those in the LGBT community.
After a brief u-turn on Thursday, March 31, 2022, leaked by ITV News, showing papers planning to scrap the ban entirely, the government confirmed it would still back banning conversion therapy.
However, this came with the caveat that it would not cover conversion therapy for transgender people.
This would mean that conversion therapy for gay, lesbian, bisexual or any other same-sex oriented person would be illegal but those facing gender dysphoria would not.
It has been met with criticism from MPs and LGBT charities.
A government survey in 2017 found that transgender people are twice as likely to be offered conversion therapy than gay or bisexual people.
Theresa May's original initiative set out 75 steps to help improve the lives of LGBT people, which included measures to end controversial conversion therapies.
Mrs May said at the time: “We can be proud that the UK is a world leader in advancing LGBT rights, but the overwhelming response to our survey has shone a light on the many areas where we can improve the lives of LGBT people.
"I was struck by just how many respondents said they cannot be open about their sexual orientation or avoid holding hands with their partner in public for fear of a negative reaction.
“No one should ever have to hide who they are or who they love.
“This LGBT action plan will set out concrete steps to deliver real and lasting change across society, from health and education to tackling discrimination and addressing the burning injustices that LGBT people face."
Is conversion therapy banned in the UK?
It is currently legal in Wales, Scotland and England to offer conversion therapy.
The proposed ban would outlaw in across the whole of the UK.
Northern Ireland already passed a motion to ban conversion therapy "in all its forms" in April 2021, the first member of the UK to do so.
This ban covers transgender conversion therapy as well as same-sex attraction conversion therapies.
How common is conversion therapy?
In 2018, the world’s largest LGBT Government survey ever carried out showed that more than 2,000 people had undergone “therapy” with at least 5,400 being offered it out of more than 108,000 respondents.
The National LGBT survey found that five per cent had been offered such "treatment," while a further two per cent had experienced it.
The survey also found that those from an ethnic minority background were twice as likely to be affected.
Eight percent of transgender respondents said they had been offered conversion therapy, while four percent had undergone the practice.
Have other countries banned conversion therapy?
Many countries across the world have already banned gay conversion therapy, including Brazil, Ecuador and Malta.
Other countries including the USA, Canada, Chile, Mexico and Germany have all stated their intentions to outlaw the practice.
In February 2022, New Zealand introduced legislation that proposes up to five years in prison for LGBT conversion therapy.
NZ Justice Minister Kris Faafoi said in a statement: "Conversion practices have no place in modern New Zealand.
"They are based on the false belief that any person's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression is broken and in need of fixing," .