Rishi Sunak set to ban 'abhorrent' conversion therapy
PM is expected to ban both homosexual and transgender conversion therapy, reversing Boris Johnson's move to scale back the intervention
A law to ban all conversion therapy will be announced as soon as Monday, as Rishi Sunak reverses Boris Johnson’s decision to scale back the intervention.
Conversion therapy is the practice of attempting to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender. It often takes place in religious settings and has led to accusations of exploitation.
Mr Johnson vowed to ban homosexual conversion therapy when prime minister, but decided not to do the same for transgender conversion therapy.
This week, government ministers are set to make clear that they plan to implement a total ban on both forms of conversion and will make legal changes to enforce the new position.
'Abhorrent practice'
The decision is understood to have been made in principle by No 10, but hoops remain before the announcement is made, including a formal sign-off of the position.
A Government spokesman said: “The Government remains committed to banning conversion practices in this country.
“In order to ensure the ban is as effective as possible, we are currently analysing the responses to our consultation. We will set out our next steps in due course.
“To help ensure that victims of this abhorrent practice have the assistance that they need, we have already established a new victim support service.”
'No place in civilised society'
Mr Johnson had long spoken out against the practice, saying in July 2020: “On the gay conversion therapy thing, I think that's absolutely abhorrent and has no place in a civilised society, and has no place in this country.
“What we are going to do is a study right now on... where is this actually happening, how prevalent is it, and we will then bring forward plans to ban it.”
But he altered his position last spring. Leaked documents suggested the ban was being ditched, triggering a backlash.
Mr Johnson then promised to ban gay conversion therapy, but said he would not do the same for transgender conversion, arguing the latter issue was more complex.
Tory MPs on both sides of the debate pushed their case with Downing Street, with some critics of an outright ban raising concerns of unintended consequences, such as for teachers or doctors having discussions with teenagers who wish to legally change gender.
It is unclear when exactly the legal change will formally be tabled in Parliament.