MLAs are due to debate the Conversion Practices (Criminalisation) Bill, which bans discredited and harmful practices designed to change, suppress, or ‘cure’ a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Northern Ireland Humanists is calling on MLAs to support the legislation that will deliver comprehensive protection for all LGBT+ people.
Northern Ireland Humanists will be outside of Stormont at 10:00 on Tuesday 15 September with placards calling for the ban. MLAs will debate the Bill around 11:00 with a vote around 13:00.
Alliance Party Deputy Leader Eóin Tennyson MLA introduced the Private Members’ Bill to ban conversion practices in the Northern Ireland Assembly. On Tuesday, MLAs will debate the Bill’s general principles and decide whether to agree to it.
Conversion practices, or 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 because of prejudiced assumptions that a particular sexual orientation or gender identity is better than any others. 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.
Northern Ireland Humanists has long called for a ban on conversion practices. In June 2024, we welcomed the Northern Ireland Assembly passing a symbolic motion to ban conversion practices. In December 2024, we responded to the Alliance Party’s consultation on this Bill, calling for a comprehensive ban on conversion practices, including ones aimed at changing a person’s sexuality or gender identity, and we warned against carve-outs or exemptions for religious practices and practices in religious settings.
Northern Ireland Humanists Coordinator Boyd Sleator commented:
‘Conversion practices send a cruel message that someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity is something to be ‘fixed’. Everyone deserves to live with dignity, free from coercion and attempts to change who they are. The idea that you can “pray the gay away” should be cast away forever.
‘We urge MLAs from every party to support the Conversion Practices Bill at Second Stage. This vote is about accepting the principle that people should be protected from these practices and allowing the Bill to proceed to detailed scrutiny.’
Notes
For further comment or information, media should contact Northern Ireland Humanists Coordinator Boyd Sleator at boyd@humanists.uk or phone 07918 975795.
Media can use these photos, attributed to ‘Humanists UK’
Read more about our work to ban conversion practices.
Read our response to the draft Bill in England and Wales.
Read more about LGBT+ Humanists.
Northern Ireland Humanists is part of Humanists UK, working with the Humanist Association of Ireland. 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.