Culture

Boris Johnson Wants U.K. Conversion Therapy Ban to Exclude “Praying the Gay Away”


 

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been accused of creating a “loophole” in a recently proposed government ban on conversion therapy.

According to U.K. newspaper The Independent, Johnson recently authored a letter to the group Evangelical Alliance in which he pledged to end the practice of conversion therapy, which seeks to change or suppress someone’s gender or sexuality. But in another letter to Peter Lynas, U.K. director of Evangelical Alliance, which represents 3,500 churches across Britain, he expressed that support for carve outs that could include “praying the gay away.”

“As the government made clear in 2018, when we first made our commitment to end conversion therapy, we will continue to allow adults to receive appropriate pastoral support (including prayer), in churches and other religious settings, in the exploration of their sexual orientation or gender identity,” Johnson wrote.

Advocates say this leaves a loophole in the ban, by allowing conversion therapy to be performed under the guise of prayer. Stonewall, one of the U.K.’s leading LGBTQ+ groups, was among those that condemned the proposal.

“We know that half of the conversion therapy practices that take place in the U.K. are faith-based. So any ban that has loopholes for any type of practice — including religious practices — will leave vulnerable LGBTQIA+ people at risk of further harm,” said the group in a statement cited by The Independent. “It’s vital the U.K. government puts forward a full legal ban that protects LGBTQIA+ people from all forms of conversion therapy in every setting.”

Johnson wrote his letter in response to a letter from Evangelical Alliance in March, in which the organization claimed that outlawing conversion therapy would prevent Evangelical Christians from “seeking and receiving support to live chaste lives,” as the U.K. LGBTQ+ outlet PinkNews reported.

Conversion therapy, a practice which attempts to suppress or change someone’s gender or sexuality using abusive tactics that can include electroshock therapy, physical abuse, and overall creating a “dehumanizing environment,” has been condemned by the United Nations and the World Health Organization. The practice is banned in just a handful countries — including Ecuador, Germany, and Malta — according to international LGBT organization ILGA World.

Several other countries have indirect bans, and some, including the U.S., have bans on the practice that are specific to certain regions or states within the country. U.K. lawmakers pledged to ban the practice in 2018 as part of their LGBTQ+ equality plan, but there has been little movement on the issue since, despite petitions and outcry from advocates and some MPs.

News of Johnson’s letter comes just a day after the government announced that its LGBTQ+ advisory panel was being disbanded.

Three panel members quit last month, citing the government’s failure to move along the conversion therapy ban and overall poor handling of LGBTQ+ rights. One of these members was Jayne Ozanne, director of the Global Interfaith Commission on LGBT Lives and self-described “gay evangelical Christian,” who accused ministers of creating a “hostile environment” for LGBTQ+ people.

A government spokesperson told the BBC that “the Minister for Women & Equalities has written to panel members to thank them for their contributions, and plans for a replacement for the Panel will be set out in due course.”

The disbandment of the group, along with the lack of action on the conversion therapy ban, has led several MPs to express concern.

“I want to send a message to the government that it has been three years since this promise to ban conversion therapy,” Conservative MP Gary Sambrook said in a recent debate, as The Guardian reported. “We have got to get on with it and make sure that we deliver on it.”

In a statement on social media, Labour MP Angela Eagle added, “This proposed ‘loophole’ is so large, there would effectively be no ban on conversion therapy.”

Overall, this will only contribute to an already antagonistic climate towards LGBTQ+ people in the U.K.

Advocates have been sounding the alarm about a recent surge in anti-trans violence that is both legislative and physical — including a ruling restricting trans kids’ access to puberty blockers that was later partially reversed and the failure of the government to reform the Gender Recognition Act. Proposed changes to the pro-LGBTQ+ legislation would have made it easier for trans people to legally correct their gender without medical approval.

Get the best of what’s queer. Sign up for them.’s weekly newsletter here.



READ NEWS SOURCE

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you accept our use of cookies.