Labour presses on with controversial plans to ban ‘conversion therapy’

The government has confirmed that it intends to press on with efforts to ban so-called ‘conversion therapy’, a move that critics say will “criminalise” individuals who disagree with LGBT ideology and potentially strange Christian practices like prayer.

Labour had initially planned to proceed with such a law within the last session of Parliament, nonetheless it was unable to accomplish that. As such the promise was repeated at the most recent King’s Speech.

Attempts to herald such a law have to date failed, largely because such a law would either be legally redundant or would involve the infringement of the freedoms of speech and religion.

While supporters claim that a ban on conversion therapy is obligatory to guard patients from abuse, British law already makes it illegal for counsellors and therapists to abuse their patients.

There are concerns that simply offering to wish for somebody who’s wrestling with their sexuality may very well be criminalised if an anti-conversion therapy law ever comes into force.

The previous Conservative government also attempted to herald a ban on conversion therapy, but within the last election abandoned the attempt, saying of their manifesto that “laws around conversion practices is a really complex issue, with existing criminal law already offering robust protections … it is true that we take more time before reaching a final judgement on additional laws on this area”.

Reacting to the news that Labour intends to press on with the problem, The Christian Institute’s Senior Public Affairs Officer, Joanna Timm, said, “This was a chance for the Government to call time on these deeply divisive plans. There is abundant evidence that the LGBTQ+ activists who desire a conversion therapy ban want it to criminalise individuals who disagree with their ideology.”

She continued, “There are already robust protections in law against abuse and coercion. Legal advice is evident that expanding the present law risks criminalising things that ought to never be made illegal – equivalent to a mother urging her gender-confused daughter to not have a double mastectomy, or a church leader praying with a member of their congregation who asks for prayer about sexual temptation.”

Timm pointed to the instance of Victoria, Australia, for example of what to not follow. In the Australian state, it’s illegal to not affirm an individual’s declared gender identity. State authorities also instruct churches on what can and can’t be taught and even how they need to pray.

“At one point, it even said a parent discouraging their child from taking puberty blockers could be guilty of illegal conversion therapy,” she said.