93.5% oppose Northern Ireland’s “Conversion Practices” Bill in public consultation

BELFAST – NI Assembly Officials today revealed that less than 6.5% of public consultation responses support Eoin Tennyson’s Private Member’s Bill on Conversion Practices.

Sharing with the Communities Committee today, Committee Clerks revealed that 93.5% of responses oppose the Bill. The consultation received more than 1,400 responses in total.

Tennyson’s ‘Conversion Practices (Criminalisation) Bill’ was rushed to public consultation over the Summer, ahead of a Stormont vote, to ensure it could be made into law ahead of the next Assembly Election in May 2027.

In September, a leading KC warned that the “conversion practices” Bill could criminalise parents for guiding a child away from gender transition, discouraging sexualised clothing, or blocking access to Andrew Tate content or hardcore pornography.

Aidan O’Neill KC further noted that mainstream pastoral work, prayer and religious counselling could be caught where a minister expresses orthodox teaching about sex and gender in a way considered to be directing an individual away from their claimed identity. He specifically identified religious conversations in churches, mosques, synagogues and temples as potentially affected.

Tennyson’s Bill is based on long-abandoned proposals from the Scottish Government, which were shelved after the Minister responsible cited concerns regarding their legal viability.

James Kennedy, NI Policy Officer for the Christian Institute said:

“Anyone who has read the Conversion Practices Bill will understand why there is so much public concern. Even among the tiny minority who support Tennyson’s proposal many are raising significant concerns about the drafting.

“Our own public polling shows the same thing. It’s easy to get people to agree to banning abuse, but when they understand what this sort of law actually does, support quickly evaporates.

“Threatening parents of struggling teenagers with years behind bars is not a popular plan. Telling pastors they risk criminal records for praying with parishioners is a bad look.

“MLAs now need to take seriously the public concern around this Bill. They should accept the legal advice of top lawyers who say it is deeply flawed, and abandon this shambolic proposal altogether.”

In September, the Assembly voted the Bill through at its Second Stage, 46 votes to 29. Alliance, Sinn Fein and SDLP members supported the Bill, while DUP, UUP and TUV members opposed it.

The vast majority of that debate was given to concerns about the Bill, in a mammoth sitting of approximately ten hours over three days.