Hopes rise for dropping of conversion therapy ban

There is increasing optimism that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will drop plans to introduce a conversion therapy ban, five years after it was proposed by former PM Theresa May. However, while some MPs and LGBT activists who have make clear they will increase pressure on the government to introduce a ban, a Christian Institute poll revealed only a tiny proportion of voters want one.

Proponents of a ban are not giving up easily. Dehenna Davison, MP for Bishop Auckland, who is bisexual, told activists at September’s Tory Party Conference Pride Reception – hosted by LGBT+ Conservatives and Stonewall - to ‘be noisy’ in making it known the ban must be ‘followed through’.

The CI recently wrote to the PM with concerns over the impact of a conversion therapy ban, highlighting the ban already in place in Victoria, Australia.  In the letter, the CI’s Simon Calvert warned that if a ban was introduced in the UK, ‘religious believers could undoubtedly experience the worst effects of this sort of law. As we have seen in Victoria, it won’t take long for state bodies to feel they have the right to dictate to churches what they can and cannot teach and precisely how to pray.

‘Those who refuse to ditch the teaching of the Bible could soon find themselves at the mercy of the criminal justice system.’

The CI recently commissioned a survey asking more than 2,000 UK voters about their preferred policy priorities for the next 12 months. Just 4% indicated conversion therapy was their priority.  

Calvert said this was a ‘significant’ poll. ‘Voters want the Government to concentrate on the big issues, like sorting out NHS waiting lists and tackling inflation, not this oppressive woke nonsense,’ he said.