An urgent message from Athena Forum

[Justme56]

Write to your PACE delegates to clarify misconceptions about conversion therapy bans and urge them to vote NO on the upcoming resolution to criminalise non-affirmative care.
In December 2025, the Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination of the PACE unanimously adopted a draft resolution calling for a Europe-wide ban on “conversion practices” — aimed at changing, repressing or suppressing a person’s sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.
The resolution was tabled by Kate Osborne, a UK Labour MP and member of the Socialists, Democrats and Greens Group.

• The framing of the resolution intentionally conflates sexual orientation with gender identity and gender expression. They are completely different, and arguably incompatible, concepts. Gender identity and gender expression are highly contested ideological beliefs that deny biological reality and claim that children can be born in the wrong body.
• The resolution calls for criminal sanctions, national legislation, monitoring mechanisms and coordination with civil society organisations to enforce this framework — effectively criminalising mental‑health professionals, educators, parents and social workers who do not affirm a child’s self-declared trans identity.
• It proposes mandatory training and public awareness campaigns across a wide range of institutions — including healthcare services, social work, education, religious institutions, law enforcement, the judiciary and prosecutors — embedding this belief system into state-funded services, professional standards and school curricula.

Read our comprehensive briefing on the transactivist push to extend “conversion therapy” bans to gender identity and gender expression here. This ideological overreach must be removed. Ahead of the vote on 29 January 2026, MPs in the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) need to hear from you.

Just adding this here.

https://x.com/athenaforumeu/status/2010635632456896930?s=46&t=ZX_bLozRqm8etdGICMcAvA

Bump!!

Bump again!!

I made the mistake of thinking this was about the EU - it's not, it's the Council of Europe which the UK is still a member of - a founder member, I think?
I'm sure nobody else would be silly enough to make that same mistake, but just in case.....

According to this list Kate Osborne isn't even a substantive PACE representative - she's a "substitute" 😳

https://pace.coe.int/en/aplist/countries/46/united-kingdom

This is where I really feel we have a democratic deficit. I am a reasonably educated and politically engaged woman but I don't understand all the acronyms, I don't understand what all these 'councils' do and how they interact with each other and national governments, I don't understand how we are supposed to have any input, or even if we are supposed to have any input and I don't understand why my hard-earned money has to go to Sex Matters, Athena etc (which it does) in order to have a clue about what is going on behind my back.
I've had enough trouble over the last few years trying to understand how English local government works, which is complex enough with plenty of buck passing.

One would almost imagine that it was all made this opaque deliberately.

Absolutely agree. I'm totally confused. What's Kate Osborne got do with anything. Is she speaking for the Women and Equalities committee?

Sorry for being dense. Where might I find out who my PACE Representative is?

pace.coe.int/en/aplist/countries/46/united-kingdom https://share.google/wfhcyf6icTLzCObSO

No reflection on Athena, who are doing a great job, but who are these 'representatives' and what is their remit and power?

I see Ruth Hunt and Nadia Whittome👀

How do I work out who is my representative?

There's a link to find your rep on the Athena page:
Your voice matters: write to your PACE delegate! - Athena Forum

I think they are all just UK reps, you could write to the Chairperson asking for it to be circulated to all?

AI response:

The Council of Europe (CoE) is an international organization founded in 1949 to uphold human rights, democracy, and the rule of law in Europe. It is entirely separate from the European Union (EU) and currently consists of 46 member states.

Core Mission and Values
The organization serves as Europe's "human rights watchdog," promoting values through over 200 legally binding international treaties.
Human Rights: Centered on the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
Democracy: Promoting democratic citizenship and monitoring elections.
Rule of Law: Fighting corruption (via GRECO), money laundering, and cybercrime.

Key Institutions
Based in Strasbourg, France, the Council operates through several major bodies:
European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR): The permanent judicial body where individuals can lodge complaints against member states for human rights violations.
Committee of Ministers: The decision-making body composed of the foreign ministers of all 46 member states.
Parliamentary Assembly (PACE): A deliberative body of 306 parliamentarians from member states that elects the Secretary General and judges for the ECtHR.
Commissioner for Human Rights: An independent office (currently held by Michael O'Flaherty as of 2024) that promotes awareness and addresses violations.
....

Membership Status
Founders (1949): Belgium, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
Expulsions: Russia was expelled in March 2022 following its invasion of Ukraine.
Observers: Five countries hold observer status: Canada, the Holy See, Japan, Mexico, and the United States.

I had no idea this was happening. Thanks for the heads up OP.

Athena Forum

@AthenaForumEU

We have to act now. British MPs are actively shaping European transactivist policy through the Council of Europe, while many other delegates lack a clear understanding of these issues and have never sat through a substantive debate on them. UK Labour MP Kate Osborne tabled a resolution on conversion therapy bans with gender identity and gender expression, and it passed committee unanimously.

The Council of Europe’s Parliament will vote on this resolution on 29 January. It calls for criminal sanctions on mental-health professionals, educators, parents and social workers who do not affirm a child’s self-declared trans identity. It proposes mandatory training and public awareness campaigns, and mandatory sex-education on gender identity. It is pure ideological overreach.

Delegates will vote on this in two weeks. They need to hear from you. Join our campaign and write to them today.

https://x.com/AthenaForumEU/status/2010635632456896930?s=20

She is on the Committee on Equality and Non-discrimination of the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly (PACE).
She got a Conversion Practices draft resolution unanimously accepted by the committee:
https://pace.coe.int/en/news/10131/committee-calls-for-ban-on-conversion-practices

That now goes up a level to PACE's plenary session for a vote on 29th Jan. Athena would like us to give input to our PACE representatives before then.

(I think I've understood it🙄)

Kate Osborne is the ultimate Aunt Lydia of our time. Actively working towards harming young people and criminalising those who advocate for watchful waiting and appropriate talking support. All because of being gripped in an ideological fever of moral outrage that clouds her judgement.

Kate Osborne:

Debate: Preventing and combating violence and discrimination against lesbian, bisexual and queer women in Europe

Let me also be very clear, the intersectional approach of this report is exactly what is needed. As a cis lesbian woman, I refuse to be pitted against my trans siblings. We must not be distracted by the fabricated conflict between trans women and lesbians, which only serves to divide and undermine the fight for equality within our communities. We must also not fall prey to the false narrative portraying trans people as a threat to women.

pace.coe.int/en/verbatim/2024-10-03/pm/en#speech-30240

Cynical me can't help wondering whether a bepenised lesbian has ever formed part of Kate's dating pool or is she safely partnered with an actual woman?

Isn't Kate the woman who insists everyone challenges her in the toilets ? Funnily enough I don't believe her.

Is this official Labour policy. Should we be targeting Starmer, embarrassing him into organising a climb-down?

Great question. I have no idea how the crossover between UK Labour MP role and PACE 'parliamentarian' role works.

Exactly. The representatives have been selected by their respective parties. Shouldn't any proposals put forward be vetted in some way, is this the actual Labour Party proposal. Wasn't it in their msnifesto? Is it a way of subverting parliament?

Nia Griffith has said Labour is committed to a ‘fully trans inclusive’ conversion therapy ban but that ‘psychological support’ must be ‘respected’.

She also said reforms to the gender recognition process would retain the need for a diagnosis of gender dysphoria. 🧵
https://x.com/i/status/1890129477054918657

Bump.

Used the template I accessed using the link above and also included some extra paragraphs. I had no idea this committee existed a

She was my constituency MP in my last job. Writing to her about women's rights and child safeguarding is like talking to a brick wall.

She was parachuted in to the constituency after the previous MP, Stephen something-or-other, was accused of sexual harassment. The Constituency Labour Party did not get to vote on her candidacy, so it's likely that an attempt to deselect her at CLP level would be nixed by Labour HQ.

Is it wrong of me to wish for a huge Reform surge in that one constituency, as a means-to-an-end to get her out?

Probably doesn't add much, but just posting this like from a Brussels based newspaper.

https://brusselssignal.eu/2026/01/council-of-europe-wants-to-make-questioning-gender-identity-illegal/