UK Government Plans Severe Penalties for Conversion Practices, Including Imprisonment and Unlimited Fines

Plans to prohibit conversion practices, first announced in 2018, have faced multiple policy reversals and led to the dissolution of the government’s LGBT+ Advisory Panel.

Advisors were previously unable to agree on whether such legislation might criminalise parents or professionals who engage in exploratory discussions with young people distressed about their gender.

The government’s draft proposals include exemptions for legitimate health care and establish a high threshold for criminality, covering only “acts that are abusive and seek to change a person’s identity”.

Dr Hilary Cass, author of a landmark report on children’s gender‑identity services, stressed that the legislation must enable health professionals to practise “without fear of litigation”.

She said she was “pleased to see that the government is bringing forward legislation which not only gives a clearer definition of what conversion practices are, compared to previous drafts, but also what they are not.”

The proposals are expected to attract intense scrutiny, from campaigners who view the legislation as long overdue and from those worried about possible unintended consequences.

Andrea Minichiello Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, warned that any such legislation would “needlessly restrict freedom of speech and prayer.”

She told the BBC that the legislation would have a “chilling impact” on therapists and religious leaders seeking to support individuals questioning their sex or gender.

She said: “Genuinely abusive and harmful practices are already illegal in the UK. A new ban would target prayer and consensual conversations that many people find beneficial. The counselling room and the pastor’s room are places that should be free for them to explore that fully.”

Williams said she will launch a legal challenge against any law that bans conversion practices.

Baptist minister Justin Kennedy, who underwent conversion practices in his early twenties, said a ban would help prevent such harm.

He told the BBC he became suicidal after six years of “deliverance therapy”, in which pastors prayed over him to “clear out demons” and blamed “past trauma” for his sexuality.

He said: “When somebody you respect, who you believe holds knowledge of God, tries to rewire you, the knock‑on effects are absolutely drastic. The only thing I lost through deliverance therapy was my faith, and what came in its place was shame and suicidal ideation.”

The BBC understands that a pre‑legislative scrutiny process for the bill will begin in the coming weeks and is expected to last about three months.

It will subsequently pass through several stages in the House of Commons, where MPs may table and vote on amendments, and then the House of Lords before becoming law.

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