Ban Conversion Practices Coalition present open letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer

The Ban Conversion Practices Coalition has today delivered a Christmas message to the Government, asking that the draft Bill to outlaw conversion practices be published as a matter of urgency. 

In the letter, which was delivered to 10 Downing Street at midday, the coalition says: “The festive period is a time for celebration, community, and acceptance. Yet for many members of the LGBTQ+ community, this time of year, as families come together and religious services take place, can be a painful reminder that they are still not fully accepted.

“Across the UK, too many in the LGBTQ+ community are still being told they need to be ‘cured’ or ‘fixed’ because harmful conversion practices remain legal. This is the eighth Christmas […] since successive Prime Ministers have personally committed to end these practices. 

"Our Christmas wish is this: make 2026 the year that harmful conversion practices are finally made illegal. […] Give the LGBTQ+ community the gift of safety and acceptance by delivering on your manifesto commitment to ban conversion practices.” 

Saba Ali, Chair of the Ban Conversion Practices Coalition, said: “Conversion practices may change shape, but the lie behind them persists, the notion that LGBTQ+ people need fixing. That belief wounds, diminishes, and destroys individuals. After eight years of promises and postponed protections, it’s clear that government hesitation is not neutral; it is dangerous. 

“Every day without a ban is a day where harm is quietly permitted. We need a decisive, inclusive law that ends this abuse once and for all, a law that makes unmistakably clear that our identities were never errors, and our lives never needed correcting. The moment for action has long since passed; the Government must act now and ban these abhorrent practices.” 

Dr Glenn Miles was himself subjected to damaging conversion practices. Joining the delegation delivering the Christmas wish letter, he said: “Although I am in a better place now, the impact of conversion practices stays with me. It has taken years of counselling and support for me to understand that there is nothing wrong with who I am. 

"Even now after processing this, in my worst moments I worry I am making up my sexuality, I have been indoctrinated for so long it is hard to not be disposed to these ideas sometimes.” 

Simon Blake OBE, Stonewall’s Chief Executive, commented: “Most people think conversion practices are a thing of the past. The unacceptable fact is these abusive practices are taking place in 2025. Last year The Trevor Project found that nearly one in six LGBTQ+ young people in the UK reported being threatened with or subjected to conversion practices. Thousands of young people growing up being told there is something wrong with them. Every single day of delay in changing the law sends a strong message that they are not good enough. 

"Despite many years of assurances from four different Prime Ministers, the legislation to make conversion practices illegal has still not been published. Today we urge the Prime Minister yet again to give the LGBTQ+ community a gift of safety and acceptance by making next year the one that conversion practices are finally made illegal."