Are the Tories still going to ban conversion therapy?

The clock is ticking on a bill to ban conversion therapy, at least for this year. Let’s hope that time runs out before it becomes law.

The Tories had previously promised to ban the practice of attempting to change someone’s sexuality or gender identity, but the government appears to have had second thoughts. When Lib Dem MP Wera Hobhouse asked last week if the bill would be ready in time for the King’s Speech in November, Leader of the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt avoided the question. Instead, Mordaunt pointed out that, ‘those are abhorrent practices that sometimes have lifelong impacts on those who have had to endure them.’

Quite. So why not unleash the full force of the law on those supposed conversion therapists intent on straightening out gay people and – perhaps more pertinently – trying to de-trans those who claim to have a gender identity different to their biological sex? It’s an emotive subject, and seemingly an easy win for the government.