Scottish Parents Who Try to Stop Children Changing Gender Could Be Jailed for 7 Years

Government proposes law to ban ‘conversion therapy’ but opponents say legislation is unnecessary and could criminalise parents who don’t accept transgenderism.

Members of the Ban Conversion Therapy Coalition during their rally in Westminster, London on Sept. 14, 2023. Aaron Chown/PA Wire

The Scottish Government has launched a consultation on proposals to ban so-called “conversion therapy,” which opponents claim could lead to parents being jailed if they oppose their child’s wish to present as the opposite sex.

There is no universally accepted definition of what constitutes a “conversion practice,” as the document states, but the government’s Expert Advisory Group says it means “any treatment, practice or effort that aims to change, suppress and/or eliminate a person’s sexual orientation, gender identity and/or gender expression.”