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

This is urgent now - the vote is taking place next week!
This proposed conversion therapy ban is really scary - people trying to have a discussion with someone considering medical transition, to find out what's going on rather than immediately affirming, could be criminalised - including parents, mental health professionals, social workers and lots of others. They're also proposing required trans affirmation training to everyone you can imagine - including the police, the courts and churches.
I've written to all the people representing the UK, including the substitutes, as it looks as though a lot of the substitutes will be there. I wrote my own email and emailed their individual email addresses in batches. This did take a bit of time, but you can save time by using or adapting Sex Matter's template and sending via their form.

This is from SEX MATTERS:

Will you take two minutes to send an email to the UK delegation on the Council of Europe?
The Council of Europe is an intergovernmental body tasked with upholding human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe over its 46 member states. The UK is a member.
Next week, British parliamentarians who represent us there will vote on a shocking resolution which, if passed, will make it even harder to help children who are confused about their sex.
Athena Forum, a new organisation that we collaborate with in Europe, has made a brilliant tool that lets you email those delegates, and it takes less than two minutes. Sex Matters has already written – will you add your voice to ours?
Faika El-Nagashi, founder of Athena Forum, explains:
“We have to act now. British Parliamentarians 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 29th 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 on 29th January. They need to hear from you. Join our campaign and write to them today.”
The Athena template lets you write to the head of the UK delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Lord Carwyn Jones, and the chair of each political group across national delegations (most of the UK politicians are part of SOC or ALDE).
Please take action now – your email will join others from across Europe!

“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.”

After Cass, and after Sweden and Finland and I think France have backtracked on affirmation-only approaches, I cannot even begin to believe that this is being proposed.

I did too, it's really easy, choose your country from the drop-down menu, and write whatever you want, you can edit the template.
You then tick the box to give permission for Athena to send it to your rep, and it's done.

I made it a bit less formal and focused on the what 'gender affirmation' really means to young people going through a period of confusion - e.g. imposing an inappropriate label on them, and giving them false information about 'transitioning' which is biologically impossible.
I also mentioned the potential criminalisation of caring professionals who just want to support a child without putting labels on them or putting them on any irreversible path to being trans.

I think a lot of the #bekind-befuzzled reps will just think 'Forced conversion therapy? That's a bad thing obviously, so I'll vote for this resolution'

You can just send the template too of course, I think the most important thing is to make some noise!

I hope they do pay attention to women.

Also to the fact that same sex attracted people also oppose what is being voted on. Released today from LGB Alliance
https://lgballiance.org.uk/lgb-alliance-urge-pace-to-vote-no-on-conversion-practices-ban/

I don't understand why this kind of regulation needs to be outsourced, why countries can't manage this kind of question with the elected representatives citizens actually vote for directly, and can write to, hold to account, and even meet.

There are people who keep freaking out that a vote for Reform would mean leaving organisations like this, and I am struggling to see how that is a bad thing. Because I don't see any reason a country like the UK can't allow elected representatives to address these kinds of issues.

The only reason I can see for it is to subvert that process.

Just popping back on to say that Athena have made it very easy to write a letter to all the relevant bods. I too (like @MarieDeGournay) changed the text of what they suggested to make it more personal, but it’s a matter of seconds to send if you leave it as-is.

Always write in your own words. Template letters are binned.

I’m unfortunate enough to have her as my local MP and often see her out and about. I’d be surprised if anyone misgenders her, short hair and a love of DM boots aside, she still presents very clearly as a woman.

Bumping this because the vote's this week. Please, please, write to the head of your national delegation & any others you feel should hear more than poor, puddled Ms Osborne knows.

The tool for emailing is here; https://athena-forum.eu/take-action/your-voice-matters-write-to-your-pace-delegate/ it makes it simple to identify who to write to & you can edit or replace the pro-forma text.

Sent an email
It's urgent

I wrote to all of them in my own words and have heard back from just one of them. This Council of Europe process doesn't feel very democratic at all - who in the UK has even heard of it or has any idea that they're voting on this drastic proposal?

Oh, interesting. I wrote in (mostly) my own words and haven’t heard back from anyone yet.

Good Law Project has urged immediate action against anti-trans campaign group Sex Matters as European Commission nears conversion practices ban.

European delegates will vote on 29 January on whether conversion practices should be barred in the UK.

“In just one week, the Council of Europe will be voting to ban conversion therapy. This would be an incredibly important step to stop the rollback in the rights of LGBTQ+ people.”

Good Law Project continued: “But Sex Matters is infiltrating the vote. They have set up a tool for transphobes to email the MPs who are part of the council, bullying them to uphold transphobic ideas and asking them to vote against a ban.”

Full article https://www.attitude.co.uk/news/good-law-project-sex-matters-conversion-practises-ban-510262/

I used the tool and sent the pre-prepared letter to the head of delegation and the Socialdemocrat/Green fraction. No own text, as it would have taken me too long. Strength in numbers, even if they see it's a prepared letter.

Just getting on the thread to remind me to do this tomorrow.

Thanks, OP.

OMG, how dare a political campaign group create tools to facilitate political campaigning!

The TRAs did exactly the same during the GRA consultation, with templated responses. Today's word, Jolyon, is "hypocrisy".

In any case, what "immediate action" can be taken against Sex Matters? Complain to Maya's mum?

Same.

I've said before, there are fools (like Nadia Whittome), and there are knaves. This one is certainly a knave. They will use any avenue they can find.

I wonder what Kate would say about https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5475381-well-this-was-totally-predictable ?

Well that is part of our problem in the UK that we have a really pathetic press that thinks news is just personality politics. And maybe that schools need to put more effort into teaching things like which political or human righst groups the UK is part of. I suspect many of us dont even know this within the UK.

My understanding is pretty sketchy but if you can trust AI:

The UK remains linked to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) because it is a member of the Council of Europe and a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which is a separate treaty from the EU. While Brexit removed the UK from the EU legal order, the ECHR still binds the UK to uphold fundamental rights, with the Human Rights Act 1998 allowing these rights to be enforced in UK courts.

The Council of Europe (CoE) is the continent’s leading human rights organisation, founded in 1949 and based in Strasbourg, France. Comprising 46 member states, its primary purpose is to uphold and promote human rights, democracy, and the rule of law across Europe, notably overseeing the European Court of Human Rights.

Decisions in the Council of Europe (CoE), a distinct body from the EU focused on human rights and democracy, are primarily reached by the Committee of Ministers, which constitutes member states' foreign ministers or their permanent representatives. Decisions are typically made through consensus, but some areas may require unanimity or a qualified majority

UK's current representatives https://www.gov.uk/world/organisations/uk-delegation-to-the-council-of-europe

Edited to add which I have only just realised is that, or will this decision then be the guidelines for the European Court of Human Rights/

Email sent, in my own words.

Bump

Done.

Just to make another comment about this point.

Is there no obligation on those UK MPs who are delegates to let us, the voters they are there to represent know about votes they are going to take at the Council.

Does seem quite strange.

Just sharing from X.
https://x.com/i/status/2016069940546056586

In just two weeks, you have brought unprecedented attention to the Council of Europe. Through our campaign website, you sent over 15,000 messages to your national MPs. In addition to this, you also contacted party leaders, MPs and country delegations directly. Many groups across Europe joined the campaign, translating and adapting our letter. Individuals and organisations reached out to political leaders, published articles, made calls, met with MPs. This level of scrutiny is a first. There’s never been this kind of spotlight before.

We’ve reached out to all political groups at the Council of Europe with our briefing on the harms of gender identity-based bans. We’ve amplified lesbian and gay voices. And we’re in Strasbourg this week, available to speak with delegates. Whatever happens, we will continue to expose the harm being done under the guise of human rights.