LONDON – The UK government yesterday said it has dropped plans to ban conversion therapy, which claims to change sexual orientation or gender identity.
Proposed legislation had been drawn up that would make it illegal on minors and non-consenting adults, angering campaigners who said it did not go far enough.
But a government spokesman said ministers were now reviewing how existing laws can be used more effectively and exploring “non-legislative” measures.
The confirmation came after ITV News quoted a leaked document that stated Prime Minister Boris Johnson ruled out taking forward the law, which was first promised in 2018.
“Given the unprecedented circumstances of major pressure on cost of living and the crisis in Ukraine, there is an urgent need to rationalise our legislative programme,” the document read.
A UK government survey in 2017 indicated that 5% of LGBT people have been offered conversion therapy and 2% have undergone it.
But campaigners, who say the practice – mainly practised in religious settings – can have lifelong psychological, emotional and even physical effects, believe that is an under-estimation.
The UK’s main associations of psychologists and psychiatrists outlawed conversion therapies in 2015, calling them “unethical and potentially harmful”.
A government bill presented in October last year proposed a jail term of up to five years for those who carry out conversion therapies on minors.
But it did not penalise “treatment” of adults when they were deemed to have freely consented. – AFP, April 1, 2022
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