Rutland MP leads calls for ban on conversion therapy
Alicia Kearns says it can be 'incredibly damaging'
Last updated 10th Dec 2021
A government consultation into banning conversion therapy has been extended to give more people time to have their say.
The plans would make it an offence to offer services that claim to change someone's sexual orientation or gender identity.
MP for Rutland Alicia Kearns is leading calls in favour of a ban in Westminster. She told us:
"There have been women forced into marriages, men who've been forced into marriages, people who've been raped, people who've been made to sit on the floor while they are told there are demons within them that need to be spat out of their system, and hit repeatedly and locked in a room and starved. These are truly appauling acts.
"Conversion therapy is essentially bygotry wrapped up as quackery and wrapped up as pseudo-science."
In May 2021, after years of promises, the UK government announced it was looking to bring in legislation that would see conversion therapy banned.
The law change is designed to stop people offering services that claim to convert people away from their natural sexual or gender identity, and instead put measures in place to offer support to those who've been targeted.
Not everyone thinks there should be an outright ban on conversion therapy.
While supporting the idea of a ban, Peter Lynas from the Evangelical Alliance says allowances should be made for consenting adults to ask for help if their sexual orientation or gender identity goes against their religious belief.
Get support if you've been impacted by conversion therapy
Anti-abuse charity Galop have set up a National Conversion Therapy Helpline to support anyone who is being offered conversion therapy, currently undergoing it, or has undergone it in the past.