Trans conversion therapy ban 'may lead to criminalisation of parents'

Gender-critical activists have warned Sir Keir Starmer that Labour plans to ban trans conversion therapy risk 'criminalising' parents opposed to their child's transition. 

More than 140 people including peers, MPs, doctors and psychotherapists have signed an open letter to the Prime Minister with 'grave concerns about the government's plan to resurrect a prohibition first proposed by the Tories.

They include Labour MP Graham Stringer and Dr David Bell, the former governor of the Tavistock Centre, which was shut down earlier this year after treating more than 1,000 children.

Labour used the July King's Speech to propose a Conversion Practices Bill, which would block action to 'change, ''cure' or suppress' someone's sexuality or gender ID. 

The letter, first reported in the Sunday Telegraph, says professionals have vowed to 'stop working with children with gender dysphoria altogether, for fear of being criminalised', adding that 'a slippery slope towards criminalising parents awaits us'.

A ban on conversion therapy, which aims to suppress or change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity, was first promised in 2018, by former Conservative prime minister Theresa May.

It was later downgraded under Boris Johnson's leadership not to include transgender people, but the Conservative government under Rishi Sunak said in January 2023 that it would ban conversion therapy for 'everyone', including transgender people.

This did not come to pass, with the Tories saying legislation around such practices 'is a very complex issue, with existing criminal law already offering robust protections'.

But it was revived by labour in the summer after their election win.

The reforms, to be overseen by equalities minister Annaliese Dodds, have been backed by campaigners as helping people to freely 'explore their sexual orientation and gender identity'.

But critics have raised concerns that lesbian and autistic girls could be encouraged too soon into unsuitable surgery.

The letter, organised by activist James Esses, noted: 'Whistleblowers in this field have been vindicated by recent events, such as the final report of the independent Cass Review, the NHS decision to halt the prescription of puberty blockers, the closure of the GIDS gender clinic at the Tavistock, and the revelations contained within the WPATH files, amongst other things.

'Many confused and vulnerable children who medically transitioned through puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones have suffered irreversible developmental issues, physiological damage (such as loss of bone density, infertility and sexual dysfunction) and significant social and relational harms. Those most at risk are children who do not conform to traditional sex stereotypes.'