--- title: "At last! Conversion practices ban draft Bill published" date: "2026-06-25T09:35:45+01:00" modified: "2026-06-25T11:27:52+01:00" url: "https://humanists.uk/2026/06/25/at-last-conversion-practices-ban-draft-bill-published/" post_id: 193051 categories: ["LGBT Humanists", "News"] --- # At last! Conversion practices ban draft Bill published ![](https://i0.wp.com/humanists.uk/wp-content/uploads/Pride2024-6771.jpg?resize=1200%2C675&ssl=1)The long-awaited draft Bill to ban conversion practices in England and Wales has been [published](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a3bde09eaee00074150f395/E03633248_CP_1604_Draft_Conversion_Practices_Bill_Accessible__1_.pdf). Humanists UK welcomes this historic step as the beginning of a process that it hopes will lead to comprehensive protection for all LGBT+ people without loopholes for religion or supposed ‘consent’. It will now take the time to analyse the details of the Bill and looks forward to engaging constructively with upcoming consultation. Conversion practices, sometimes so-called ‘conversion therapy’, are discredited and harmful practices that have a predetermined purpose to change, suppress, or ‘cure’ a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. They can include pseudo-psychological interventions, coercive counselling, forced prayer, exorcisms, and other forms of pressure or abuse, often directed at young and vulnerable people. Humanists UK supports a ban covering both sexual orientation and gender identity, applying to medical and non-medical practices, and excluding loopholes based on religious freedom or claimed consent. It has also been clear that such a ban must not prevent ethical, non-directive counselling or properly informed medical and psychological support that helps people explore their identity without pressure towards any predetermined outcome. ![](https://i0.wp.com/humanists.uk/wp-content/uploads/NICK-2.png?resize=1200%2C628&ssl=1)LGBT+ Humanists Coordinator Nick Baldwin was subjected to conversion practices; he shared his story with us in [an interview in 2023](https://humanists.uk/2023/10/11/finding-freedom-interview-with-lgbt-humanists-coordinator-nick-baldwin/), saying: > ‘As a church member I went to my minister in my thirties and said I thought I might be gay and that I didn’t want to be. He then took me through six or so months of ‘prayer counselling’. This means meeting once a week early in the morning in order to ‘eradicate my homosexual tendencies’. I was told I needed to repent both of gay feelings and of any physical sins. I was told homosexuality was an abominable sin and god hated it and, by implication, me. > > ‘Of course it didn’t work, but in the short term it increased my sense of shame, self-hatred and deeply ingrained guilt as after a while I realised those gay feelings hadn’t gone away. The fact that I willingly submitted to this prayer counselling doesn’t mean it wasn’t abuse. There was no hint of exploring what it might mean to be gay or that being something to be celebrated. It took me many years, as I have said, to understand that there was another way of looking at the world and for me to learn to accept and celebrate being the person I am, gay and proud.’ In 2018, Humanists UK worked with the Ozanne Foundation to produce the [Faith and Sexuality Survey](https://ozanne.foundation/faith-sexuality-survey-2018/) investigating the harms of conversion practices for young people in religious settings and subsequently, the then UK Government[ committed to a ban that very year](https://humanists.uk/2018/07/03/government-commits-to-banning-conversion-therapy-and-other-major-lgbt-protections-in-action-plan/), but repeated promises failed to result in legislation. In 2024, two Private Members’ Bills, including one [introduced by Humanists UK patron Baroness Burt of Solihull](https://humanists.uk/2023/11/21/ban-conversion-therapy-bill-gets-first-reading-in-parliament/), sought to make progress before both fell at the General Election. In 2024, LGBT+ Humanists [submitted](https://humanists.uk/2024/04/09/end-conversion-practices-un-tells-uk/) evidence on conversion practices to the UN Human Rights Committee. Its [Concluding Observations](https://humanists.uk/wp-content/uploads/CCPR-UK-8th-cycle-concluding-observations.pdf) called on the UK to prohibit conversion practices. Humanists UK has repeatedly raised the need to ban conversion practices to the UN Human Rights Council with interventions on [religious harms caused to LGBT+ people](https://humanists.uk/2023/06/23/humanists-uk-and-the-ozanne-foundation-urge-un-to-address-religious-harms/), the [use of forced marriage as a means of conversion](https://humanists.uk/2023/06/23/humanists-uk-calls-for-un-resolution-against-forced-marriage-to-address-religious-coercion/), and – just this month – as part of a wider pattern of [gender-based violence against lesbian, bisexual and trans women](https://humanists.uk/2026/06/24/humanists-uk-at-un-religious-freedom-does-not-justify-conversion-practices/). Last year, Amnesty International UK [investigated](https://humanists.uk/2025/07/31/funding-to-promote-anti-lgbt-conversion-practices-surges/) 12 groups promoting so-called ‘conversion therapy’ and found that the income of four of these organisations, all Christian charities, has surged by 165%, amounting to nearly £2 million between 2019 and 2023. This offers concrete evidence that conversion practices remain an acute and growing problem in the UK. #### **LGBT+ Humanists Coordinator Nick Baldwin commented:** > ‘This draft Bill has been a very long time coming. For years, LGBT+ people have heard promise after promise that these abusive practices would be banned, while people continued to be harmed. We have a moment to celebrate this historic step, but there is still a long way before a ban becomes an effective and enforceable law. > > ‘Religious freedom cannot be used as a shield for abuse. Conversion practices are not therapy. They are rooted in shame, stigma, and the false belief that being lesbian, gay, bisexual, or trans is something to be cured. We welcome the publication of this draft Bill, and we urge the Government and Parliament to make sure it is strong, trans-inclusive, and free from loopholes.’ #### **Andrew Copson, Chief Executive of Humanists UK, said:** > ‘This is hugely welcome news for LGBT+ people in the UK, and for Humanists UK which has been campaigning on this issue for over thirty years. Attempting to force LGBT+ people to change who they are and who they love, is barbaric and belongs in the past. We look forward to working with the Government to make this the best Bill it can possibly be.’ #### Notes For further comment or information, media should contact Humanists UK Head of Press and Campaign Communications Nathan Stilwell at or phone 0203 675 0959 (media only). Media [can use these photos](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1KYJm2YNGS9BjRujHzQcxrlqkZvgleTAY?usp=drive_link), attributed to ‘Humanists UK’ Read more about [LGBT Humanists](https://humanists.uk/community/lgbt-humanists/). Read more about [our work to ban conversion practices](https://humanists.uk/campaigns/policy-unit/banning-conversion-practices/). Humanists UK is the national charity working on behalf of non-religious people. Powered by over 150,000 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.