Stop the Conversion Therapy Ban

The Government has announced it intends to press ahead with a ban on conversion therapy. Like most 'bans', this sounds benign. How could anyone not want to ban giving electric shocks to gay kids?

But the fact is, that's already against the law, as are all the other coercive practices conjured up by the phrase 'conversion therapy'. So what is it the Government wants to ban, exactly? The answer is 'converting' children who think they're trans to being 'cisgendered'. That's where the impetus for this ban has come from — well-funded pro-trans lobby groups like Stonewall and Mermaids.

So any parent who 'misgenders' their confused adolescent daughter, or tries to talk them out of embarking on an irreversible medical pathway, could face criminal charges for trying to 'convert' them. And we're not talking about a slap on the wrist. In the state of Victoria, Australia, which brought in a conversion therapy ban in 2021, the maximum penalty for trying to 'convert' someone is 10 years in prison.

It won't just be parents and medical professionals who will risk imprisonment for trying to talk gender-confused children out of mutilating themselves. Any religious leader who shares the teachings of their faith on issues like homosexuality and gay marriage could also face prosecution. That's what this authoritarian Government wants to ban — any dissent from radical progressive orthodoxy when it comes to sex and gender.

So please do sign our petition and let Andy Burnham know how you feel about this anti-free speech measure. Speech is always curtailed in the name of preventing 'harm'. But stopping parents talking honestly to their children about the risks of irreversible medical procedures will cause actual, real world harm. This is a fight we have to win.