King’s Speech promises draft Bill on conversion practices

By James Kennedy

The Westminster Government has committed to producing a ‘draft conversion practices Bill’ for England and Wales.

The policy was confirmed in the King’s Speech earlier this week, which marks the official opening of Parliament and sets out the Government’s agenda for the upcoming parliamentary session.

Ahead of the election, the Labour Party promised in its manifesto to “deliver a full trans-inclusive ban on conversion practices”.

The promise that a ‘draft’ of the legislation will be published for scrutiny is significant. This will ensure there is more time to raise critical concerns about the Bill before a final version is voted on by politicians. Consultation and scrutiny from MPs and Peers can now be expected.

In briefing notes on the King’s Speech, the new Government says:

“The Government wants to ensure that the criminal law offers protection from these abusive practices”.

“We are clear that any ban … must also respect the important role that teachers, religious leaders, parents and carers can have in supporting those exploring their sexual orientation or gender identity.”

“…the ban will be fully trans-inclusive”.

“The Bill will extend and apply to England and Wales.”

Previous attempts to legislate on ‘conversion therapy’ in Westminster have all failed. The most recent attempts have seen MPs and Peers across the political spectrum insist that abuse is already illegal.

This is a key point that the Government doesn’t yet seem to have understood. If a new law goes beyond the current law, it is very likely to capture the very conversations of teachers, religious leaders and parents it says must be respected.

Let Us Pray’s Simon Calvert was quoted in the Daily Mail:

“Gay and trans people are protected by existing law from abuse. But extending the law to criminalise casual conversations – as anti-conversion therapy activists have demanded - would punish the innocent, not the guilty.”

The longer people look at the proposals, the more they dislike them. Under even the slightest scrutiny the complexities become apparent and the misleading claims and statistics become apparent.

The Government’s plan to ensure the new law is ‘trans-inclusive’ has raised alarm bells for many who are not religious. Parents seeking to guide their children away from harmful gender ideology are directly in the firing line.

LGBT campaigners had been hopeful that a new law would be brought forward at pace. Ahead of the election, the Labour Party was seen as offering their best chance at getting a broad law in place. Now they are having to face up to the reality that the legislation will not be rushed through.

Even the ITV’s Paul Brand, himself an LGBT campaigner, has admitted that there are complexities which will continue to delay the Bill’s passage. “A ban remains some way off”, he says, since "drawing careful parameters in law could be difficult”.

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See also: Church leaders warn Starmer of hostility Christians face on ‘conversion therapy’