Conversion therapy

Criminalising a vaguely defined practice of “gender identity conversion therapy” would make it harder to provide responsive, precautionary care.

A campaign to ban “conversion therapy” came out of nowhere to dominate the priorities of organisations such as Stonewall and Mermaids, and prompt protests and petitions.

But when you ask what people actually mean by “conversion therapy”, you get very different answers. And when you look for evidence that there is a problem in the UK, it is remarkably thin. The demand for a ban seems to have made it from the margins to the mainstream without any evidence.

Sex Matters has investigated the history of the conversion-therapy campaign, and continues to lobby for a better understanding of the issues involved.