Pressure mounts for gay conversion therapy ban

Children and churches will be affected if a proposed LGBT conversion therapy ban in Wales goes ahead.

And a new report setting out extreme proposals for a ban in England has been backed by lawyers and politicians.

A consultation published by the Welsh Government sets out plans for a wide-ranging ban on conversion therapy to include children – and churches. Referring – somewhat weakly – to the ‘potential for a perceived conflict of rights on the grounds of religious freedoms, expression and beliefs’, it is clear the government wants a ban on all forms of conversion therapy practices – including religious settings both in public and in private.

Meanwhile, the so-called Cooper Report, written by the Ban Conversion Therapy Legal Forum, proposes criminalising all forms of conversion practice, including spoken prayer. Forum chair Helena Kennedy QC called for a complete ban involving both the criminal and civil law.

The report, published in early October, says a ban should have no exemptions and demands that legislation leaves ‘no loopholes’. It also proposes tools for surveillance, whistle-blowing and intelligence gathering – complete with a hotline set up by a regulatory body to which conversion practices can be reported.

It is hard to imagine a more extreme proposal. For instance, individuals who request prayer or other ‘religious conversion practice’ will be treated as being unable to give informed consent.

So what weight might the Cooper Report have in practice? Though the report was not commissioned by the government, it has been signed by leading lawyers, high-profile campaigners and cross-party parliamentarians.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has previously committed to introducing a ban on conversion therapy and a consultation is due to be published imminently.

And in response to the Cooper Report, the government’s newly appointed LGBT ‘champion’ Lord Herbert said a ban will be in force by next Spring.

David Robertson, the Director of the Ask, Seek, Knock project in Sydney, wrote in Christian Today following the report’s publication: ‘[It] argues that freedom of religion should be curtailed in order to “prevent harm” but then defines harm in such a broad way that it leaves no room for freedom of religion. All we are left with is the religion of the progressives and the State-defined doctrine of the new religion.

‘The State is now determining what Christian doctrine should be.’