from The Christian Institute
The Government has repeated its pledge to bring forward a draft Bill to ban so-called conversion therapy under its plans for this parliamentary session.
In the State Opening of Parliament, King Charles III announced that a “draft Bill to ban abusive conversion practices” will be brought forward in England and Wales. This was also pledged in the July 2024 King’s Speech, but a Bill was never published.
The Government claimed that its conversion practices proposals, which as a draft Bill would receive pre-legislative scrutiny rather than going through the process of becoming law, are not “intended to interfere with people’s right to religious belief and expression”. But church leaders recently warned that such a law could “make sharing the Gospel with some people illegal”.
‘Criminalise disagreement’
Joanna Timm, Senior Public Affairs Officer at The Christian Institute, commented: “This was an opportunity for the Government to call time on these deeply divisive plans. There is abundant evidence that the LGBTQ+ activists who want a conversion therapy ban want it to criminalise people who disagree with their ideology.
Read also: Will a conversion practices ban be a vote-winner for Labour? from Christian Concern