Rishi Sunak is expected to bring in a long-promised ban on conversion therapy after a backlash from Conservative MPs.
The PM is finally set to include a draft bill in the King’s Speech to prohibit attempts to change someone’s sexuality, amid growing anger over delays and uncertainty.
The bill will also protect transgender people from efforts to change anyone’s gender identity, according to The Times – a crucial inclusion that LGBT+ campaigners had been demanding.
Mr Sunak was thought to be considering ditching the bill over fears in some quarters that teachers, parents and therapists could be penalised for trying to offer guidance to young people.
One source close to government told the Telegraph only last month that the ban appeared to be “dead in the water”, while another said the government was “stuck in a loop” amid disagreements on the wording of the ban.
But No 10 is now set to introduce legislation for the ban – first promised under Thresa May in 2018 – in November’s King’s Speech, after Tory MPs made clear their frustration.
The chief whip Simon Hart warned the PM that the government could face a rebellion if it failed to introduce the bill, according to The Times. “Simon has been brilliant on this … He gets it,” said one MP.
The Tory government first pledged in 2018 that it would end “abhorrent conversion practices” – sometimes called “gay cures” – promoted by some religious groups.
Mr Sunak’s ministers has promised a draft bill to ban religious groups from trying to change someone’s sexuality would be set out by the end of the parliamentary session.
Cabinet minister Kemi Badenoch has expressed concerns about ‘criminalising’ parents
(PA Wire)
However, amid reports they bill could be watered down, equalities minister Kemi Badenoch expressed concerns about the risks of “criminalising” parents earlier this year.
They-culture secretary Michelle Donelan said the bill “will protect everyone”, including those targeted on the basis of their sexuality “or being transgender”.
Jayne Ozanne, who leads the Ban Conversion Therapy coalition, had urged the government to fulfil its promise on ending conversion therapy.
The campaigner, who quit as a government advisor in protest at its failure to bring in the ban, said she was “extremely angry” that the Tories had “consistently delivered only obfuscation and delay” in recent years.
Caroline Noakes, the Tory chair of the women and equalities select committee, has also urged Mr Sunak to “crack on” with the legislation as soon as possible.
The government faced growing pressure from some backbench Tories after home secretary Suella Braverman sparked outrage with her speech claiming that some asylum seekers were pretending to be gay to win refugee status.
While few MPs spoke out in public, many are believed to have made their unease clear to the chief whip. Andrew Boff – a leading Tory London Assembly member who is patron of the LGBT+ Conservatives group – was kicked out of Ms Braverman’s conference speech “dog whistle” politics to appeal to the right.