About this Government Consultation on Conversion Therapy

I ended my previous blog referring to gay relationships, no matter what age or status or class or age gap, being as beautiful as those between straight people. This blog post continues the LGBTQIAPD2S theme.

I filled in the online government consultation on the conversion therapy ban because it was important to do so especially when I saw how many anti-gay and anti-trans groups were being given advice on how to fill it in to the detriment of LGBTQIAPD2S people. This seems to me to invalidate the consultation right there.

I primarily filled it in to support my genderfluid lesbian daughter but I also filled it in because, being pansexual myself, it affects me too. However, filling it in just annoyed me. 😠 The questions were phrased awkwardly, not easy to answer, and kept asking for examples to support my view. Surely the questions should have been simple and straightforward:

1. Should there be an outright ban on all forms of conversion therapy? Yes/No

2. Should conversion therapy be allowed if consent is given by the individual? Yes/No

3. If you answer is 'No' to Q 1 what exceptions do you think should be allowed and why? Give reasons.

4. Should those who carry out conversion therapy for whatever reason be prosecuted regardless of who they are e.g. parents, religious leaders, psychologists, pastoral care workers, health professionals, cultural leaders, and so on.  Yes/No

5. Are you a member of the LGBTQIAPD2S community? Yes/No

6. Are you an ally of the LGBTQIAPD2S community? Yes/No

Many countries have now banned this abhorrent practice, including Canada and New Zealand both of which are Commonwealth countries! I'm struggling to understand why a consultation was ever needed or suggested. How about acknowledging that conversion therapy is a medieval, outdated, cruel, torturous practice that dehumanizes the individual. Nazis dehumanized various groups in society, namely Jews, gays, Roma, women, and disabled in addition to practising gay conversion therapy. We all decry the suffering inflicted by the Nazis yet we are still prepared to carry on with this conversion therapy process that has a Nazi hallmark: dehumanization, conversion therapy through humiliation and torture, medical experimentation and possible death. 

Worse still, lesbians, gays, non-binary, gender expansive, intersex and trans were still persecuted post Nazi era stretching well into the 21st century!😢 Indeed, the EU didn't acknowledge that gay people were holocaust victims until 2005! 😱

And, despite all this, conversion therapy continues to be legal in the UK 😱even though there is a substantiated link between suicide and suicide attempts by those subjected to the horrific treatment of conversion therapy by fellow human beings. For an excellent article on this, see:

https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/conversion-therapy-lgbtq-pennsylvania-20220214.html 

Imagine, if you will, that a consultation document was to be circulated asking people to fill it in with supporting evidence whether there should be a complete ban on converting Jews through a process called conversion therapy. There would be a public outcry of anti-Semitism, and rightly so! Why, then, is it different for those in the LGBTQIAPD2S community? They are human beings whose dignity is every bit as important as everyone else's in the world! Their physical, mental and emotional well-being is every bit as important as everyone else's in the world! It's time LGBTQIAPD2S people were accorded the respect they not only deserve but have the right to expect. And if religion is worth its salt, surely religious leaders, pastors/vicars/priests etc should be leading by example by showing respect towards the LGBTQIAPD2S community and protecting it from harm not causing the harm themselves! If they cannot do this then one wonders: what is the purpose of religion? Some pastors have come out defiantly claiming that they will carry on with conversion therapy even if there is an outright ban. Since when are religious leaders above the law?🤔

#Banconversiontherapy now with no loopholes and no exceptions, which includes no religious exceptions! 

For an excellent discussion on this see:

https://lgbtqiapd2sphilosophy.blogspot.com/2022/02/uk-conversion-therapy-consultation-are.html

Author: Jana Kaucky

Proofread, edited and IT: Liba Kaucky