UK Government to Include Transgender People in Conversion Therapy Ban

Britain's Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Secretary Michelle Donelan leaves after attending the first cabinet meeting under the new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in 10 Downing Street, in central London, on Oct. 26, 2022. (Niklas Halle'n/AFP via Getty Images)

The government is set to publish draft legislation setting out how it will ban conversion therapy for gay and also transgender people.

On Tuesday the government said that it will “shortly” publish a draft bill detailing its proposed approach to ban conversion practices on the basis of sexuality and gender identity in England and Wales. The government previously said its plans would not cover trans people.

Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan said that the “Bill will protect everyone, including those targeted on the basis of their sexuality, or being transgender.”

However, some campaigners are concerned that the legislation could leave the door open for psychotherapists to be criminalised when treating patients with gender dysphoria.

Tailored Legislative Approach

“We recognise the strength of feeling on the issue of harmful conversion practices and remain committed to protecting people from these practices and making sure they can live their lives free from the threat of harm or abuse,” said Donelan.

She said that it is “right that this issue is tackled through a dedicated and tailored legislative approach.”

“This is a complex area, and pre-legislative scrutiny exists to help ensure that any Bill introduced to parliament does not cause unintended consequences,” she added.

Donelan added 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.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson on holiday in Greece. (Oli Scarff/PA)

Late last March, Boris Johnson dropped plans for legislation, with a government spokesman saying it would look at how the existing law could be applied more effectively and explore other measures.

At the time, Johnson described conversion therapy as “utterly abhorrent” but stressed there are issues that “still need to be worked out” on the matter of banning the practice on trans people.

“We will have a ban on gay conversion therapy, which to me is utterly abhorrent,” Johnson said.

“But there are complexities and sensitivities when you move from the area of sexuality to the question of gender,” he added.

“I’m afraid there are things that I think still need to be worked out.”

Some of the proposed legislation then included the introduction of a new criminal offence alongside sentence uplifts for existing ones.

This included a new potential offence that will target talking conversion therapy for under-18s and the vulnerable, as well making sure that violent acts will be considered by judges as a potential aggravating factor upon sentencing.

Other measures included Conversion Therapy Protection Orders, support for victims, restricting its promotion, removing profit streams, and disqualifying people from holding a senior role in a charity.

Seriously Negative Impact

James Esses is the co-founder of Thoughtful Therapists, a group of psychotherapists and counsellors working in the area of gender dysphoria.

In 2021, Esses was ejected from his psychotherapist training course, three years in, for openly discussing his fears that young children expressing discomfort in their bodies were being actively encouraged to transition.

He told The Epoch Times that the announcement is a “complete U-turn.”

“It’s very clear that they want to give much deeper consideration to the issue of ‘gender identity,’” said Esses.

“So it’s disappointing to see that, but at the same time, I welcome the fact that it’s going to undergo this process of pre-legislative scrutiny,” he added.

Esses said that he hoped that once the concerns and the arguments are aired in parliament and if legislation was to go through, it “will contain proper safeguards for explorative therapy for children.”

“Because there’s a real risk that if this legislation is badly worded, that it could seriously negatively impact on the independence of clinicians and also the well-being of children,” he said.

He added that legislation could also leave therapists o“pen to allegations of malpractice or even criminalisation,” simply by doing talking therapies such as psychotherapy and counseling.

Next General Election

Downing Street indicated the legislation could be passed before the next general election.

“We want to do it in this Parliament, that’s my understanding,” the prime minister’s official spokesman said.

“We want it to go through pre-legislative scrutiny in this parliamentary session because we think that’s important because some of the issues we know are not fully resolved.

“That’s the process that will get underway in the first instance,” he added.

Tory MP Alicia Kearns, who has long campaigned on the issue, said she was glad the ban is “finally happening.”

“We have a timeline, we know it’s going to be a fully inclusive ban and I am really delighted, because it is right that we end this heinous crime that allows charlatans and quacks to prey on some of the most vulnerable members of our society,” she said in a video posted on Twitter.

PA Media contributed to this report.