Three LGBT+ organisations gave evidence today to the Joint Committee scrutinising the Government’s draft Conversion Practices Bill during the committee’s first public oral evidence session. The committee is also taking written evidence until 16 November 2026, and Humanists UK is urging survivors, professionals, and experts to make sure their voices are heard.
Humanists UK has campaigned for many years for a comprehensive ban on conversion practices. It wants the ban to cover attempts to change or suppress both sexual orientation and gender identity, including practices carried out in religious settings, which is where many survivors say they were harmed.
Kai O’Doherty, Director of Policy and Research at Galop, said:
‘We spoke with a young lesbian woman, Jane, who had experienced conversion practices from her parents, extended families, and the members of her church. So often these involve multiple perpetrators. Upon discovering her sexuality, Jane’s parents forced her to bathe in holy water, and she was taken to another part of the country where the church publicly shamed her, forced her to the floor, and dragged her along it, to change her sexuality.
‘When she refused to go to that church any longer, her parents physically abused her, and said that she was better off dead. At this point, Jane fled from the house, and was sofa surfing for several weeks. And importantly, social workers failed to understand this as conversion practices, advising that she be housed back with her extended family who are part of that community.’
Professor Ilias Trispiotis, Member of the Steering Group of the Ban Conversion Practices Coalition, said:
‘Existing legislation is insufficient to protect people from conversion practices. Coercive control, the offence of controlling or coercive behaviour, is insufficient because it covers only people in former or current intimate relationships and family members, and we know from the evidence that we have that conversion practices do not take place just within these contexts.
‘Hate crime, and the regulation of hate crime, is also insufficient because it would require a basic offence that then is aggravated on the basis of hostility towards someone and again conversion practices very often do not involve an underlying offence. Very often, the motivation might be benevolent, so [it] wouldn’t be captured by hate crime.’
Stephen Kiely, Head of Policy and Public Affairs at Stonewall, said:
‘It’s very hard for statutory authorities to identify conversion practices. You know, conversion practices by their nature are extremely hidden and complex, so it’s very hard to capture data. Much the same as domestic abuse. Often people don’t know they’re going through them for a very long time.
‘Consent is an issue. A law will give clear guidance to statutory authorities, courts, professionals that conversion practices are happening. But also we need to think about the deterrence effect. They are happening. They’re real and they’re present, and anything we can do to pass robust legislation in this place, is really important.’
The draft Bill is now going through pre-legislative scrutiny. The Joint Committee cannot amend the draft Bill. Instead, it will gather evidence and publish recommendations, which the Government will respond to before it introduces the final Bill to Parliament. A separate Bill to ban conversion practices is going through the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Who should submit evidence to the Draft Ban Conversion Practices Joint Bill Committee?
The committee wants to hear from anyone with relevant experience or expertise. Humanists UK encourages evidence from:
- survivors of conversion practices, who can ask for their evidence to be published anonymously or kept confidential
- counsellors, psychotherapists, and clinicians
- lawyers and legal academics, especially on criminal law and human rights
- police, safeguarding, and domestic abuse professionals
- teachers, youth workers, and others who support young LGBT+ people
Submit your evidence through the committee’s online portal by 17:00 on Monday 16 November 2026.
Notes
For further comment or information, media should contact Humanists UK Head of Press and Campaign Communications Nathan Stilwell at press@humanists.uk or phone 020 3675 0959 (media only).
Read more about our work on 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.