European country moves to ban ‘conversion therapy’ for transgender people

British culture minister Michelle Donelan announced that the government would soon introduce legislation banning what she called “conversion therapy,” which in this case includes psychotherapy aimed at helping people with gender identity disorders come to terms with their biological sex, according to The Telegraph.

Conversion therapy typically refers to clinical attempts to get patients to stop feeling same-sex attractions, which historically has included practices like shock therapy, but transgender advocates are increasingly using the term to describe healthcare professionals helping children come to terms with their biological sex rather than affirming their gender identities and putting them on the path to medicalization. Britain is now moving towards a ban on “conversion therapy” for gender identity, stoking concerns about penalties against parents and medical providers who question whether a child actually wants to change genders, according to The Telegraph.

“No one has produced any evidence of what LGBT activists call coercive ‘conversion therapy’. What the activists describe would already be illegal,” Andrea Williams, chief executive of Christian Concern, said. “It will end up criminalising consensual conversations with those who genuinely want help and support. Human rights will be breached, and any legislation will be the subject of extensive legal challenge.”

The British government has aimed to ban conversion therapy since former Prime Minister Boris Johnson was in office, though Johnson rejected the inclusion of transgender therapy, according to The Telegraph. Donelan confirmed Tuesday that the ban would include “conversion therapy” for transgender people, though she noted the need for precision of language to avoid penalizing legitimate conversations.

“The legislation must not, through a lack of clarity, harm the growing number of children and young adults experiencing gender-related distress, through inadvertently criminalising or chilling legitimate conversations parents or clinicians may have with their children,” she said, according to The Telegraph.

Donelan did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

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