Former UUP leader who backed conversion therapy ban says Alliance proposals go 'significantly beyond' original pledge

The independent unionist MLA says “physical or coercive” practices should be banned – but consenting adults should be able to seek “religious and pastoral guidance” if they request it.

Alliance MLA Eóin Tennyson has tabled legislation at the Assembly which aims to ban “conversion practices” for gay people – or based on someone’s self-perceived “gender identity”.

The Ulster Unionist Party says it will scrutinise the legislation to “ensure that it is proportionate and does not give rise to unintended consequences”.

The party had in the past, under Mr Beattie’s leadership, called on Stormont to pass laws “to ban conversion therapy in all its forms” – saying it is “fundamentally wrong to view our LGBTQ community as requiring a fix or cure”.

However, the Upper Bann MLA says the current proposals go far further, and has raised concerns about the impact on individual and religious freedoms.

Mr Beattie told the News Letter: “I am a straight man; there are no therapies that would make me gay man. It is therefore reasonable to argue that there is no therapy that can make a gay man straight.

“That principle underpinned the Assembly motion on conversion therapy in April 2021, which was focused on preventing harmful practices.

“However, the current conversion therapy bill being brought forward by the deputy deader of the Alliance Party goes significantly beyond that original premise.

“Concerns have been raised that its provisions could criminalise individuals for practising and promoting their religious beliefs, as well as providing pastoral support to those who seek it voluntarily.

“Any attempt to impose physical or coercive forms of conversion therapy should not be permitted. Coercion in any form should be resisted.

“At the same time, religious and pastoral guidance requested freely by consenting adults should be protected and respected”.

Concerns have also been raised about the impact such legislation would have on the ability of psychotherapists to deal with children confused about their gender.

The proposed Alliance legislation would not apply “in respect of therapy provided or carried out” by UK registered medical professionals.

While LGBTQ organisations support the idea of such a ban, it is opposed by some gay and women’s rights groups.

Last week, campaign group Sex Matters said that “every piece” of the UK government’s reasoning for its conversion practices bill “is fantastical”. The group, which argues for the protection of sex-based legislation, said evidence suggested that a UK government helpline handled no more “than a handful of callers” reporting conversion practices each year.

LGB Alliance, a gay rights group, has criticised similar legislation. It says it is presented as a measure to protect lesbian, gay and bisexual people from “outdated and abusive practices” – but is about embedding gender ideology in public bodies.

In 2018, Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May promised a ban, as did her successor Boris Johnson. The Labour government has now brought forward legislation in Westminster for England and Wales.

Last week, Mr Tennyson introduced his Conversion Practices (Criminalisation) Bill to Stormont.

He says the law would “set the criminal threshold for conversion practices as conduct that aims to change or suppress someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity, through conversion therapy or coercive conversion behaviour, that causes harm to the victim.

“The proposal includes safeguards for legitimate healthcare and therapy, and robust thresholds that protect open conversations, and free speech”, the Alliance deputy leader said.

Gender identity currently has no status in law, but the bill says it is defined by “what the victim considers it to be”. With regard to sexual orientation, it would include people who have “no sexual orientation”.

It would also remove the right to claim a trial by jury if the issue was dealt with in a magistrates court.

Asked for its position on Mr Tennyson’s proposals, an Ulster Unionist spokesperson said the party will “scrutinise Eoin’s Tennyson’s private members bill carefully to fully understand its scope, and to ensure that it is proportionate and does not give rise to unintended consequences.”

In 2021, the Assembly backed a UUP motion rejecting “the harmful practice widely referred to as conversion therapy”. The motion also acknowledged “the damage this practice causes to the mental health of those who are subjected to it” and called for legislation “to ban conversion therapy in all its forms”.