Council of Europe Assembly Calls for Ban on Gender, Sexual Orientation ‘Conversion Practices’

Opponents say the resolution risks ‘criminal penalties’ for professionals and parents who do not affirm a child’s self-declared gender identity.

The Council of Europe building in Strasbourg, France, on Oct. 1, 2024. Cybulski Mathilde/Hans Lucas via AFP/Getty Images

The Council of Europe, a pan-European human-rights body, has called on its member states to ban gender and sexual orientation “conversion practices.”

Its parliamentary arm, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), voted on Jan. 29 to call on European states to adopt legislation prohibiting conversion practices and to integrate such bans into wider anti-discrimination frameworks.