The Government has published a draft Bill to ban conversion practices in England and Wales, marking a long-awaited step after eight years of promises from successive administrations.
If passed, the legislation would make it illegal to attempt to change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity. The commitment dates back to the LGBT Action Plan published under Theresa May's government in 2018, and has since been reaffirmed by Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer, most recently in May's King's Speech. Campaigners stress that today's publication is the start of a legislative process rather than the end of one, with the draft Bill now expected to undergo pre-legislative scrutiny, likely via a joint committee, before progressing through Parliament in the usual way.
Stonewall chief executive Simon Blake welcomed the announcement as overdue and significant, saying it sends LGBTQ+ people a clear message that they are not broken and do not need fixing. He said Stonewall would continue pushing to ensure the eventual ban is watertight and free of loopholes.
Saba Ali, chair of the Ban Conversion Practices Coalition, struck a similar note, calling the announcement both historic and long overdue. She welcomed the inclusion of protections covering gender identity as well as sexual orientation, arguing that any ban excluding trans people would not be a genuine ban at all, and said the coalition would now scrutinise the legislation line by line alongside parliamentarians and sector partners.
Humanists UK also responded positively. Chief executive Andrew Copson, whose organisation has campaigned on the issue for more than three decades, described attempts to force LGBT+ people to change who they are as barbaric and consigned to the past. The organisation's LGBT+ Humanists coordinator, Nick Baldwin, who has previously spoken about being subjected to so-called prayer counselling himself, said conversion practices are rooted in shame and stigma rather than genuine therapy, and urged the Government to ensure the final law is strong, trans-inclusive and closed to religious or consent-based loopholes.
The human cost of delay was underlined by Ian, a survivor of conversion practices, who described the lasting damage to his self-confidence and mental health. He said the announcement felt like a moment of justice, but that it angered him such practices had been allowed to continue for so long.
According to the Government's National LGBT Survey, 7% of LGBT people and 13% of trans people have been offered or undergone so-called conversion therapy. Research from Galop suggests the practice remains an active and ongoing risk, with more than two-thirds of cases reviewed found to be current, recent or ongoing. Separate research by Amnesty International UK found that the income of four Christian charities promoting conversion practices rose by 165%, to almost £2 million, between 2019 and 2023. More than 20 countries, including Brazil, Canada and Germany, have already introduced full or partial bans.
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