The ban will not apply to adults who \u201cconsent\u201d to conversion therapy, according to government documents<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The U.K. government has confirmed this week that its already controversial ban on anti-LGBTQ+ conversion therapy will not cover \u201cconsenting\u201d adults. Critics say that limiting the law\u2019s scope to patients to who are \u201cforced\u201d to undergo these treatments could allow conversion therapy to continue in the U.K. virtually unabated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On May 10, Prince Charles delivered the Queen\u2019s Speech on behalf of his mother, Queen Elizabeth, who was unable to deliver the address due to her ill health. In remarks delivered at the opening of Parliament, the royal signalled the Conservative government\u2019s intention to push through a bill this legislative session that would outlaw treatments intended to change an individual\u2019s LGBTQ+ identity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLegislation will also be introduced to ban conversion therapy,\u201d Prince Charles said in the Tuesday speech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although Queen Elizabeth previously pledged to ban conversion therapy<\/a> in her 2011 Queen\u2019s Speech, the proposed law stops short of a full ban. Briefing notes released by the government this week confirmed that the Conversion Therapy Bill will only affect \u201cpractices intended to change sexual orientation,\u201d confirming the Conservative Party\u2019s prior assertion that anti-trans conversion therapy will not be covered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In April, Prime Minister Boris Johnson claimed there were \u201ccomplexities and sensitivities\u201d regarding the subject of banning conversion therapy for trans patients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s reasonable for kids to [make] decisions about their gender or irreversible treatments that they may have,\u201d he told the U.K.\u2019s Channel 4 <\/em>news, despite wide support among the British public<\/a> for a fully inclusive conversion therapy ban. \u201cI think there should be parental involvement at the very least.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n After thousands protested the government\u2019s stance in the streets last month, LGBTQ+ groups again criticized the U.K. government\u2019s proposed ban as flawed and potentially harmful. Around 13 percent of trans respondents to a 2017 government survey<\/a> said they had been subjected to or offered treatments intended to alter their gender identity, nearly twice the number of cisgender respondents who had been exposed to conversion therapy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA ban on conversion practices that doesn\u2019t cover both sexual orientation and gender identity protects nobody,\u201d a spokesperson from Stonewall<\/a>, the U.K.\u2019s largest LGBTQ+ charity, says in an email to Xtra<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But the problems with the U.K.\u2019s ban go deeper: The 140-page document released earlier this week indicates that the law will only affect adults \u201cwho do not consent and who are coerced or forced to undergo conversion therapy practices.\u201d That means conversion therapy will remain legal if it is considered voluntary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Opponents of the government\u2019s position say the blind spot could result in a slippery slope. It offers a potential defence to conversion therapists who can claim that they only offered treatments like shock therapy and aversion techniques\u2014which have been likened to \u201ctorture\u201d by human rights experts with the United Nations\u2014because patients or their families sought them out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Coercion itself is also loosely defined: would a patient who received treatment at the urging of relatives who threatened to disown them unless they underwent conversion therapy be able to claim they were \u201cforced\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBy creating a loophole of consent, the government continues to ignore the advice of legal experts and survivors like myself, who know that this will continue to put many lives at risk.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n \u201cGlobally, all recent bans have covered both, and also made it clear that no one can truly consent to abusive conversion practices,\u201d Stonewall said. \u201cThe U.K. government must stop playing politics with our lives and introduce a ban with no loopholes, that protects all LGBTQ+ people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another possible issue is religious exemptions. Last year, Johnson reportedly wrote a a letter<\/a> to the Evangelical Alliance, a right-wing Christian lobby group based in the U.K., promising that the government would continue to allow adults to receive appropriate pastoral support (including prayer), in churches and other religious settings, in the exploration of their sexual orientation or gender identity.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n While it\u2019s unclear whether the ban includes faith-based conversion therapy, a spokesperson for the government appeared to confirm that it would not target \u201cpray the gay away\u201d treatments.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s important that the freedom to express religious teachings is not affected by the ban,\u201d a spokesperson told press at a briefing held earlier this week, in comments cited by The Guardian<\/em><\/a> <\/em>newspaper. \u201cIndividuals will still be able to access support and counsel from religious leaders should they wish.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The lack of protections for individuals subjected to faith-based conversion therapy could mean that the vast majority of such practices remain unrestricted. In a 2018 U.K. government survey<\/a>, a majority of respondents (51 percent) who said they were survivors of conversion therapy reported that the treatment took place in a religious setting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n