Sex Matters: ban on 'conversion therapy' bill isn't what people think!

[zafferana]

I thought this bill on conversion therapy was about banning gay conversion therapies, but it's not, because those are already illegal. It's about banning doctors from questioning trans teens about the nature of their gender dysphoria - in other words making sure that they unquestioningly 'affirm' those seeking puberty blocking drugs and other interventions, in other words not trying to 'convert' them to their original gender. THIS LAW IS BEING PROPOSED BY STONEWALL, MERMAIDS, and others.

Sex Matters is asking constituents to write to their MPs and pressure the government to allow time for the proper consultation, rather than rushing this legislation through, which is apparently the current intention.

Link to Sex Matters website, which has a proforma email ready to go - all you have to do is fill in your and your MP's information: sex-matters.org/posts/sex/press-pause-on-conversion-therapy-law/

There's also a guide to responding to the consultation here: www.transgendertrend.com/guide-government-conversion-therapy-consultation/

I’ve done this thanks so much for sharing the link.

I also filled out the Government Consultation form in the best way I could but found it quite difficult/confusing.

I hope this makes a difference.

I tried to fill in the consultation but found it too convoluted so have done this instead, thank you!

It is about banning gay conversion therapy too - only physical abuse as part of gay conversion therapy is currently illegal, AIUI.

However, the consultation doesn't seem to consider that sometimes gender-affirmation therapy can also be gay conversion therapy... the whole thing is a mess.

Yes, anyone responding to this consultation needs to be really clear about distinguishing between old-fashioned LGB conversion therapy and the new definition of transgender conversion therapy. They are not the same. Saying you support a ban will mean that therapists, faced with a troubled teen who thinks they are transgender, won't be allowed to say anything but 'If you think you're transgender then you aren transgender.' Keira Bell and Sinead Watson are detransitioners calling for therapists to be allowed to discuss and question widely. They both say that transitioning was too easy, that they should have been asked about all the other stuff that they were having to deal with and not just waved on board the transition train.

Sex Matters and Transgender Trend have guides on how to fill the consultation in.

I'm very, very puched for time, as usual, but would like to share some links for further research

Please accept my apologies if readers are already aware of these capainging organisations

ttps://web.archive.org/web/20200710142803/www.banconversiontherapy.com/about

<a class="break-all" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200715132151/www.banconversiontherapy.com/resources" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">web.archive.org/web/20200715132151/www.banconversiontherapy.com/resources

Conversion therapies and access to transition-related healthcare in transgender people: a narrative systematic review

<a class="break-all" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200810204244/bmjopen.bmj.com/content/8/12/e022425" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">web.archive.org/web/20200810204244/bmjopen.bmj.com/content/8/12/e022425

<a class="break-all" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210716061034/www.ozanne.foundation/faith-sexuality-survey-2018/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">web.archive.org/web/20210716061034/www.ozanne.foundation/faith-sexuality-survey-2018/

FWIW I loathe the idea of concersion therapy, however the activist movement against it has been astroturfed by forces who do not have the interests of minorities at heart. IMO

Anyone seeking to dig deeper would be advised to research the activities of the following organisations;

Psychotherapists and Counsellors for Social Responsibility
The Psychotherapy and Counselling Union
various other mental health activist organisations linked to the above

Done

I’ve emailed my MP

Some very good advice and links specific to the Conversion Therapy Bill in this current Mumsnet thread too:

Boris Johnson warned of 'ludicrous contradiction' - Stonewall - TRA advisors - Rushed conversion therapy bill

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/4401172-Boris-Johnson-warned-of-ludicrous-contradiction-Stonewall-TRA-advisors-Rushed-conversion-therapy-bill

Also see this wild thread by Malcolm Clark (twisterfilm)!

1./ How BAD is the science employed by the trans lobby? Terrible, if we're to judge by the UK govt's recent study into Conversion Therapy which argues for an affirmation only model for "trans youth". It's only the latest in a tradition of awful, pseudo-science trans research.

threadreaderapp.com/thread/1460054790717808646.html

Thanks for this. I've had a go at filling in the consultation but not completed yet. This will help me organise my arguments better

Both myself, DH and close supportive friend have used the Sex Matters letter to send to our MPs. It was so easy and the letter is so clear and to the point. My DD is very at risk and getting sucked in by this GI madness, please do the same if you can to stand up for safeguarding these vulnerable children.

I have emailed my MP tonight. Conservatives for Women are also collecting info on which MPs have received emails from constituents so they know what the numbers are when they look for support to get the consultation period extended and the evidence revisited.

I've also completed the Sex Matters template (thank you very much for the link zafferana.

Thanks for sharing the link. I have sent the email to my MP

Thanks for sharing the link zafferana, I have emailed my MP. Am interested to see if I get a reply, never having emailed her before.

Signed and sent .

Also S&S

Thank you. S&s.

another one signed and sent

Great that so many emails are being sent to MPs. I said this on another thread but if you’re thinking about contacting your MP, bear in mind that there might be a bit of a lead time before they read it - my MP’s auto response said to expect it to take 10 days. Since the consultation is due to close 10 December, the more time we give them to action it, the better.

legalfeminist.org.uk/2021/11/17/conversion-therapy-the-path-to-good-law/

This is a very helpful explanation of what the issues are - it's the text of Naomi Cunningham's talk at the Middle Temple event this week.

Is there any point in me sending this to my MP (Mhairi Black), as we all know her stance on this issue?

Another one signed and sent.

@WaverleyOwl

Is there any point in me sending this to my MP (Mhairi Black), as we all know her stance on this issue?

Even more so - then she and that dozy idiot Ellie Mae O'H cannot claim that most women agree with their ludicrous ideas.

Had anyone already said that Stonewall, who are seriously conflating conversion therapy for homosexuals with talking therapies for trans identifying people, has an advice page on how to fill out the form?

www.banconversiontherapy.com/guidance-individuals

How can GC views that talking therapies for young people should not be banned (in preference for ‘affirmation’) be strongly enough conveyed to counter this?

Even looking at Stonewall’s glossary if LGBTQ+ terms they have intentionally said so many incorrect things such as that homosexuality means same gender attracted ( while using sex as a word elsewhere) that there is lots of disinformation out there.