The Presbyterian Church in Ireland (PCI) has said it opposes plans for a new ‘conversion practices’ law in Northern Ireland.
Under Alliance MLA Eóin Tennyson’s Member’s Bill, parents and church leaders could face unlimited fines and up to seven years in prison for engaging in so-called conversion therapy — including stopping their children from ‘changing gender’.
But at its General Assembly, the PCI unanimously passed a resolution expressing its “grave concern” regarding the proposals.
Unworkable
The Convener of the Council for Public Affairs, Revd Daniel Kane, urged the Church to show “humility and grace” as it engaged with political leaders on “highly controversial moral and ethical areas of public life”.
However, he continued, conversations about “sexuality, gender, abortion, free speech, assisted suicide and welcoming the stranger, are not distractions from the Gospel – they are not distractions from the Gospel, they are the front lines of mission”.
Revd Kane told delegates that at a recent meeting with Mr Tennyson, he and the PCI’s Public Affairs Officer Dr Bex Stevenson had conveyed the Church’s opposition to “new legislation of this magnitude”.
At the meeting, he said, they made it clear that “it would be difficult to draft legislation that protected the rights of ministers, church workers and parents as they walk alongside those who struggle with their sexuality pastorally and prayerfully”.
‘Jellyfish legislation’
In March, leading human rights lawyer Aidan O’Neill KC branded plans to outlaw conversion therapy in Northern Ireland “fundamentally illiberal”.
Mr O’Neill, who was instructed by The Christian Institute, stated: “Like the Scottish draft Bill these proposals for NI legislation are perhaps best described as ‘jellyfish legislation’. The concepts they use are impossible to grasp; the limits of the proposed legislation are wholly undefined”.
The KC explained that the plans are “beyond the legislative competence” of Stormont because of their “disproportionate intrusion into private and family life and freedom of religion and freedom of expression, but also because of their fundamental internal incoherence”.
In fact, he said the proposals would create a law which is “ill-thought out, confused and confusing, and fundamentally illiberal in intent and effect”.
Legal challenge
The Institute has warned that it will seek to legally challenge the Bill if it becomes law.
Northern Ireland Policy Officer James Kennedy said: “If Tennyson’s proposal gets onto the statute book, it will be a tragedy for Northern Ireland. Ordinary mums and dads will face criminalisation for helping their children to be comfortable in their own skin, rather than seeking lifelong medicalisation and so-called transition for them. Telling your child ‘let’s just wait and see’ could land you with lengthy jail time and fines.”
He added: “Those who uphold traditional church teaching on marriage and gender could likewise face the full force of the law. Prayer meetings, Bible studies, pastoral care and church membership would all face the imposition of state-approved LGBT thinking.
“This is truly outrageous. Verbal and physical abuse is already illegal. Now one of the UK’s top lawyers has confirmed there is no gap in the law that needs to be filled.”
Stories of jurisdictions that have tried and failed to introduce legislation against so-called conversion therapy
Activists routinely conflate abuses that are criminal under existing law with legitimate, everyday activities which cannot be criminalised, such as conversations between parents and children about sexuality or gender identity. It has proven extremely difficult.