The Labour Government has been in talks with the SNP about upcoming legislation on ‘conversion therapy’.
The Westminster Government has promised to publish its draft conversion practices Bill for England and Wales “very soon”, amid demands from LGBT activists following the Supreme Court’s ruling that ‘sex’ in the Equality Act refers to biological sex.
Last September, the Scottish Government, fearing a judicial review, shelved its controversial plans for a new ban in favour of “complementary approaches across the UK”.
Pressure from Scotland
Labour’s manifesto pledged to introduce “a full trans-inclusive ban on conversion practices, while protecting the freedom for people to explore their sexual orientation and gender identity”.
Scottish Liberal Democrat MP Christine Jardine questioned Equalities Minister Dame Nia Griffith about the legislation, asking whether it will be UK-wide, “given the amount of fear and anxiety that there is among the trans community in this country”.
Dame Nia confirmed that the UK Government is “in talks with officials in the Scottish Parliament” about a Bill, adding: “Our draft legislation on conversion practices will be trans-inclusive. It is crucial that trans people are safe, included, and protected from harm and discrimination.”
Last month, SNP Equalities Minister Kaukab Stewart warned that “if the UK government’s Bill does not meet our priorities or does not go far enough, we intend to publish our own Bill in the first year of the next parliamentary session”.
‘Proving tricky’
Simon Calvert, Deputy Director of The Christian Institute and spokesman for the Institute’s Let Us Pray campaign, which opposes new legislation, said in March: “The Scottish Government issued a 12 clause Bill and an 86-page consultation document setting out its own plans for a legislative ban on conversion therapy and it crashed and burned.
“So they should know that UK-wide law is not, in fact, achievable. We just published a booklet detailing multiple failed attempts to legislate.
“All foundered because a ban is not necessary, because everyone is already legally protected from abuse, and not possible, because banning harmless speech about sex and sexuality is tyrannical.”
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