The Conservative Party in the UK is planning to pass a bill that would make it illegal to provide “conversion therapy” to individuals who identify as transgender, according to reports.
The proposed bill would also make it illegal to attempt to change someone’s “gender identity.”
This move represents a significant change in stance for the Conservative Party, who previously stated that they would not include transgenderism in a conversion therapy ban due to concerns that it could lead to accusations of breaking the law for parents and healthcare professionals.
However, according to ITV, there was widespread support within Parliament for the inclusion of “gender identity” in the bill, with many Conservative Party members reportedly supporting it.
Nikki Da Costa, former director of legislative affairs at Downing Street, warned that including transgenderism in a conversion therapy ban could “create a situation where doctors, therapists, even parents, would be deterred from exploring with a child any feelings of what else may be going on for fear that they will be told they are trying to change a child’s identity.”
“In the desire to bring forward something very symbolic and important [the ban’s supporters] glossed over a lot of these issues with profound consequences for children,” she went on to say.
