Yesterday MPs from across the major political parties called for a ban on conversion therapy and debated a petition that had over 250,000 signatures in support of outlawing the harmful practice. Humanists UK campaigns for an urgent change in the law to ban on this abhorrent practice and briefed MPs in the All-Party Parliamentary Humanist Group (APPHG) to take part in the debate, many of whom then spoke.
Conversion therapy is a discredited and harmful practice, usually rooted in false and often pseudoscientific religious beliefs about what causes people to be lesbian, gay, bisexual, or trans. Despite the massive harm caused by conversion therapy, it remains legal in every part of the UK and the Crown Dependencies. Humanists UK campaigns to change this and welcomed the commitment from the UK Government to ban conversion therapy in 2018. But yesterday’s debate was triggered by the fact that three years later the ban is still not in place.
A number of MPs in the APPHG spoke in the debate including its Chair Crispin Blunt MP, who expressed that any such protection must include trans people; Dame Angela Eagle MP, who raised the harms caused by conversion therapy including ‘breakdown, eating disorders, substance abuse, suicidal thoughts, and suicide attempts’; Hannah Bardell MP, who shared her friend’s devastating experience of conversion therapy; and Kirsten Oswald MP, who questioned why banning conversion therapy was taking so long when there is such significant agreement on the issue.
Humanists UK and its section LGBT Humanists have raised the need for a ban on conversion therapy directly with the UK and Northern Ireland Governments, at the UN Human Rights Council, and has spotlighted issues with conversion therapy in British schools through its Faith Schoolers Anonymous whistleblowing platform.
Humanists UK Director of Public Affairs and Policy Richy Thompson commented:
‘For too long the Government has been dragging its feet on banning conversion therapy. We welcome yesterday’s debate calling on the Government to act now without delay to ban this harmful practice. We urge the Government to listen to MPs.’
Notes:
For further comment or information, please contact Humanists UK Director of Public Affairs and Policy Richy Thompson at press@humanists.uk or phone 020 7324 3072 or 020 3675 0959.
Read the Westminster Hall debate on banning conversion therapy.
Read more about our work on ending conversion therapy.
Humanists UK is the national charity working on behalf of non-religious people. Powered by 100,000 members and supporters, we advance free thinking and promote humanism to create a tolerant society where rational thinking and kindness prevail. We provide ceremonies, pastoral care, education, and support services benefitting over a million people every year and our campaigns advance humanist thinking on ethical issues, human rights, and equal treatment for all.