Boris Johnson urged to halt ‘barbaric’ gay conversion therapy after Stormont backs ban

Campaigners have called on Boris Johnson’s government to ban “barbaric” gay conversion therapy, after a minister at Stormont vowed to bring in legislation to outlaw the practice in Northern Ireland.

Politicians in the Northern Ireland Assembly passed a motion calling for a ban on conversion therapy – which falsely claims to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity – “in all its forms” by 59 votes to 24.

Although it was non-binding, communities minister Deirdre Hargey backed the motion and said her officials had already started preliminary work on drafting a bill.

Nancy Kelley, chief executive of the Stonewall charity, said she was “delighted” by the news – and urged UK ministers to follow suit by bringing forward long-promised legislation.

“We hope that this powerful move forward for a full legal ban on conversion therapy will inspire swift movement from the governments across the rest of the UK in implementing their own effective legislation to outlaw this barbaric practice,” she said.

Ms Kelley added: “In 2021, no LGBT+ person should ever be made to feel that they need to change who they are. Last night the [NI] Assembly voted to protect our communities from harm, and it’s time for other nations to stop dragging their feet and follow suit.”

Mr Johnson has denounced gay conversion therapy as “absolutely abhorrent and has no place in a civilised society” but his government has been accused of “dragging its feet” on a promised ban.

In Scotland, the SNP has vowed to end conversion therapy – but will wait to see if Mr Johnson’s government follows through on its pledge to “eradicate” the practice, and how extensive any proposed UK-wide ban might be.

“If the UK government does not take action to ban conversion therapy, we will bring forward our own legislation, as far as it is possible within the powers of the Scottish parliament,” said a party spokesperson.

Last month, three of the UK government’s LGBT+ advisers quit their posts and issued damning criticism over Downing Street’s failure to fulfil a 2018 Conservative party promise to end conversion therapy.

The government then disbanded its LGBT+ panel and said plans for a replacement body would be set out in “due course”.

Asked whether there were plans for legislation to ban conversion therapy, a government spokesperson referred The Independent to comments made by equalities minister Liz Truss at the end of March.

She said: “I’m committed to banning conversion therapy, it’s an abhorrent practice, and I will shortly be bringing forward plans to do just that.”

Fergal McFerran – Stonewall’s Northern Ireland programmes manager and a member of the Ban Conversion Therapy NI coalition – said campaigners in the province had waited and relied on Westminster or the courts to “deliver progress” for too long.

“Today is a signal that provides hope that the Northern Ireland Executive can and should be the first government on these islands to deliver a ban on conversion therapy practices in every setting in which they occur,” said McFerran.

Jayne Ozanne, one of LGBT+ advisers who quit the UK government panel last month, said: “I am so grateful to members of the Northern Ireland Assembly for giving such a clear lead on this matter, which I hope Westminster will take note of and swiftly follow.

“Importantly, they have shown that we must not leave any loophole open for those perpetrators who want to continue to “pray the gay away”.”