The “conversion therapy” ban still makes for bad law
by Michael Foran, Artillery Row:
Recent amendments have failed to answer serious concerns about its implications.
The Government’s deliberations on whether to legislate against conversion practices have been rumbling on for years, and it may be that its hand will be forced. Conservative MPs Alicia Kearns and Elliot Colburn have both added amendments to ban conversion practices to the Government’s flagship Criminal Justice Bill. This puts new pressure on the Government to confront the problem: either by voting down the amendments (if it can muster the numbers), accepting the amendments, or agreeing to bring back alternatives in the hope that this will placate signatories.
These amendments follow two private members Bills before Parliament, one in each House, seeking to introduce a ban on conversion practices aimed at changing or suppressing someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity. The Government has previously committed to banning such practices but has repeatedly delayed introducing a Bill, citing complexities in the interaction between sexual orientation and gender identity and concerns over the criminalisation of parents, teachers or counsellors having exploratory conversations, including in the context of therapy that is vitally important for gender distressed children and adults.
Central to these concerns is the difficulty of providing a precisely targeted criminal law framework that is clear and proportionate. The creation of new criminal offences should not be done lightly and should be narrowly tailored to meet an identified need that warrants the intervention of the criminal law. None of the amendments or Bills tabled to date meet this demanding test
The Bills and amendments vary, but the Kearns amendment has to date attracted the highest profile supporters, and it is this that will be putting most pressure on the Government. It seeks to prohibit conversion practices, defined as:
… any conduct or activities carried out with intent to change, replace, suppress, or negate an individual’s actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity (or lack thereof).
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