80 LGBTQ+ activists and opponents of conversion therapy protested outside the Cabinet Office & Government Equalities Office on Wednesday (23 June).
The protest, which was supported by organisations such as the Peter Tatchell Foundation, Ozanne Foundation and Trans Actual UK, among several others, urged the government to #StopDithering and immediately ban the harmful practice, which has been discredited by the NHS and the World Psychiatric Association.
So-called conversion therapy refers to any attempt at changing a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity and often involves cruel techniques such as electroshock therapy or prayer.
LGBTQ+ human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, Jayne Ozanne of the Ban Conversion Therapy Coalition and Rev Colin Coward delivered a letter demanding a ban to Liz Truss, Equalities Minister, which garnered 7,500 signatures.
It’s A Sin star Stephen Fry supported the #StopDithering petition, saying: “Any attempt to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity is unethical. I urge you to sign this petition and call on the UK government to act swiftly to honour its pledge to make this cruel, contemptuous and harmful practice illegal.”
Mr Tatchell added: “The government has said conversion therapy is a complex issue but Germany and states in the US and Australia have successfully banned it – and Canada is about to ban it. The Australian state of Victoria recently passed legislation that could be easily and quickly adapted for the UK.
“Liz Truss is insisting on another needless, time-wasting consultation. LGBT+ conversion treatments have been condemned by all major UK medical, psychological and counselling organisations.
“Government ministers have had three years to consult with LGBT+ organisations but so far they have consulted with very few of us. Reports suggest, however, that they have been in contact with religious groups who practice or support these abusive therapies.”
In 2019, the UK’s then-prime minister Theresa May said it was the government’s priority to “end the practice of conversion therapy” as part of their 75-point plan to improve the lives of LGBTQ+ people across the country.
After a year of silence, Boris Johnson commented on the topic at a school visit in Kent last year, where he described the practice as “absolutely abhorrent” and said it has “no place in a civilised society, and has no place in this country.”
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