In the recent debate regarding banning LGBTQ+ conversion therapy in the UK, a handful of MPs insisted the ban must also include trans conversion therapy. The subject was brought to parliamentary debate after over 250,000 signed a petition calling for those who practice the controversial form of treatment to be penalised. A 2018 government survey found 7% of all LGBTQ+ people in the UK had been subjected to conversion therapy at some point, with 13% of these people being trans.
MP Elliot Colburn opened the debate by telling the stories of conversion therapy suvivors, including a trans woman, and said: “As a gay man myself, and on behalf of LGBTQ+ people in the UK and around the world, we are here, our existence is real, our lives are valid and we cannot and do not need to be cured.” MP Crispin Blunt, who has previously spoken out in support of the trans community, said any ban “must include trans people”, as “they are by far and away the most vulnerable group amongst those in the LGBTQ+ community.”
MP Alicia Kearns said conversion therapy “disproportionately” affects trans people, and branded the practice as “fraudulent quackery”. A handful of other MPs including Stephen Doughty, Charlotte Nichols and Alyn Smith called for the practice to be banned. Equalities secretary Kemi Badenoch said the government is taking plans to ban conversion therapy “very seriously”, and said research into the experiences of survivors has been comissioned. March 28 will mark 1,000 days since the conservative government vowed to outlaw conversion therapy, with LGBTQ+ activists urging MPs to act as quickly as possible.