Members of Liverpool's LGBTQ+ community have spoken out about the government's decision to go ahead with the ban on conversion therapy but not include the trans community.
It was announced last week, on Trans Day of Visibility, that the government would proceed with banning the practice which, according to NHS England, attempts to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity. However, the government faced a backlash after they decided the ban would not include the trans community.
For a brief period of time, it was believed the ban on conversion therapy would be dropped altogether after a leaked document suggested the government planned to break their promise again. This prompted a backlash from Conservative MPs and ministers and the Prime Minister reconsidered the decision.
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Now, it is believed the new plans to ban conversion therapy will only apply to someone’s sexual orientation rather than gender identity, which critics say means it would not protect transgender people.
Speaking of the news Lewis Collins, chair of LCR Pride Foundation’s board of directors, said: “We are furious to hear that the upcoming legislation will not include Trans people. Any ban on conversion practices that does not include the Trans, Intersex and Non-Binary community is not a real ban.
“Conversion practices are inhumane, unethical and for decades have caused untold harm and trauma to the LGBT+ community in the UK. Once again we have been let down by a Government that is clearly not on our side - none of us more so than our Trans, Intersex and Non-Binary siblings.
“That this news broke on March 31 st , the International Trans Day of Visibility is either complete ignorance that confirms this Government’s lack of care and concern for Trans people, or a deliberate attempt to change the narrative of the day.
"There is no LGBT+ without the T and any ban on conversion practices must include Trans people, who as well as facing discrimination and conversion practices regarding their gender identity, may also identify as LGB. We demand that the Government reviews its stance immediately and extends the long-overdue ban on conversion practices to include Trans, Intersex and Non-Binary people."
LCR Pride Foundation confirmed they will be writing to local MPs asking them to take action and will be encouraging the Liverpool City Region's LGBT+ community and its allies to do the same. Leading LGBTQ+ charity, Stonewall, have set up an email form which not only finds your local MP for you but provides you with a template email to send to them.
According to the UK Government’s own research, 7% of LGBT people have been offered or undergone conversion therapy in which they are targeted in medical, psychiatric, psychological, religious and cultural settings.
One survivor who knows being forced into conversion therapy in a religious setting too well is Christopher Butler. The 54-year-old, from Warrington, previously told the ECHO he had ‘his head pushed into church grounds with a bible to release the gay demons inside him.' Despite this, the freelance artist said the psychological methods used impacted him the most.
Chris, who now lives in Halewood, shared a similar anger to Lewis over the government's decision. Last week, he told the ECHO : "In the 80s and 90s, gay men and lesbians were the public enemy, so much so that Section 28 attempted to erase us from education and the wider public debate.
"Here, we are in the 2020s and the trans community are similarly being branded public enemy number one, for as little valid reason as the gay community was in the past. I fully stand behind my trans friends and the wider trans community."
