We, the undersigned organisations, urge all MLAs to support Eóin Tennyson MLA’s Conversion Practices (Criminalisation) Bill and end these harmful, abusive practices once and for all.
Conversion practices, sometimes referred to as ‘conversion therapy’, are attempts to change or suppress someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity. They can take a variety of different forms, from pseudo-therapeutic interventions and coercive control, to physical and sexual abuse.
A wealth of international research has consistently demonstrated not only that these practices do not work, but also that they cause significant distress, harm, and trauma, impacting victims throughout the course of their lives.
Research commissioned by LGBTQIA+ organisations and funded by the Department for Communities recommended a ‘comprehensive, inclusive ban’ free from loopholes, which captures talking therapies and pseudo-scientific practices as well as attempts to remove individuals from Northern Ireland for conversion practices.
This legislation strikes an important balance, outlawing these harmful and abusive practices while respecting freedom of expression and religion. There are a number of safeguards within the Bill which ensure that expressing a belief or opinion, for instance during collective worship, will not be criminalised, nor will the provision of non-directive therapy or care.
If this Bill is passed, MLAs will buck the longstanding trend of Northern Ireland lagging years behind the rest of the UK and Ireland on LGBTQIA+ equality, instead becoming the first jurisdiction on these islands to pass a ban on these harmful, abusive practices.
Northern Ireland’s politicians have seldom passed legislation to meaningfully progress LGBTQIA+ rights. Almost all progress, from decriminalisation right through to same sex marriage, has been delivered by Westminster over the vetoes and inaction of the Assembly.
MLAs have a historic opportunity to send a message that LGBTQIA+ people are not sick, their identities are not wrong, they do not need to be ‘cured’. They must take it, and demonstrate that Northern Ireland is a place where LGBTQIA+ people will be supported to live, to love, and to be their true selves. 