Scottish Govt will land itself in court over new conversion practices law
from The Christian Institute:
The Scottish Government faces a legal battle in its controversial bid to outlaw so-called conversion practices, The Christian Institute has warned.
As the public consultation on the plans closed, Institute Public Affairs Officer Joanna Cook said the new law risks criminalising churches and parents and reiterated an earlier threat of court action.
The SNP/Green coalition wants to outlaw ‘practices’ that seek to change, suppress or inhibit someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Activists are campaigning for this to cover “casual conversations”, “gentle, non-coercive prayer”, and even “depending on your parents’ ‘consent’” to change gender.
‘Thought crime’
Miss Cook said: “There are already strong laws on the statute book to protect gay and trans people. Existing law thankfully tackles verbal and physical abuse in Scotland today.
“But those campaigning for a conversion practices law aren’t content with that. They want a new speech crime. A thought crime. And, I’m afraid, the Scottish Government’s proposals give them that.
“The Government’s plans to introduce ‘conversion practices protection orders’ are especially alarming. They would hand the courts very broad powers to restrict the free speech of individuals based purely on activists’ speculation about what they might say to gay or trans people.”
She added: “Our solicitors wrote to the Government preparing the ground for judicial review in February 2022. If Parliament passes a law that tramples on basic freedom of speech and religion, we are ready to challenge it all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary.”
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