NI public overwhelmingly rejects push to ban so-called conversion therapy

More than 93.5 per cent of public consultation responses opposed Eoin Tennyson’s Private Member’s Bill on ‘conversion practices’ the, Assembly officials have revealed.

Sharing with the Communities Committee, clerks reported that less than 6.5% of responses backed the controversial proposals. The consultation received around 1,400 responses in total.

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

‘Shambolic proposal’

The Christian Institute’s James Kennedy 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.”

Criminalising parents and pastors

In September, a leading KC warned that the 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.

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.