Sir Keir Starmer, leader of the Labour Party, has vowed to push ahead with a ban on transgender ‘conversion therapy’ if Labour wins at the next general election.
The Labour leader reiterated his party’s commitment to a ban on ‘all forms of conversion therapy’ at an LGBTQ+ event in Parliament , where he promised his government would “implement a full, trans-inclusive, ban on all forms of conversion therapy”.
“We fully support the view that conversion therapy is psychologically damaging abuse,” Sir Keir added.
So-called ‘conversion therapy’ practices seek to change or suppress someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
First promised by Theresa May when she was prime minister in 2018, Boris Johnson recommitted to a ban on ‘conversion therapy’ for gay or bisexual people when he was prime minister, but excluded practices aimed at transgender people.
In his speech at the LGBTQ+ Labour event, Sir Keir said: “Labour governments and the LGBTQ+ movement have a history of achieving incredible things together.
He added: “Look what we did: decriminalised homosexuality, the Equality Act, repealed Section 28, the Gender Recognition Act and the Civil Partnership Act.
“A whole raft of groundbreaking legislation that moved the dial towards the equal rights LGBT+ people deserve, protected people from discrimination and changed people’s lives.”
Sir Keir also hit out at the Tories for stoking “culture wars” and for having “pitted people against each other”.
Promising action by an incoming Labour administration, he continued: “We’ll strengthen the law, so every category of hate crime is treated as an aggravated offence.
“We’ll cut NHS waiting lists for LGBTQ+ people waiting for urgent physical and mental health care. We’ll modernise the Gender Recognition Act.
‘”We’ll implement a full, trans-inclusive, ban on all forms of conversion therapy. We fully support the view that conversion therapy is psychologically damaging abuse.”
Rishi Sunak controversially did not include the promise of a ban on any form of conversion therapy in last year’s King’s Speech. But Kemi Badenoch, the Women and Equalities Minister, last month confirmed a commitment to publishing draft legislation.
“A commitment was given to publish a draft conversion practices bill for pre-legislative scrutiny,’ she told MPs. ‘I am determined to meet this promise.”
