The Conservative Party promised to ban conversion therapy, but only for Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual people yesterday. This means that it will still be completely legal to try and force a transgender person to be cisgender. Online commentators have called this “transphobia with a new level of confidence” due to the unhidden omittance of trans people in this promise.
Prior to the new promise to exclude trans people from conversion therapy, the Tories had said they would not ban it at all. Within 2 hours, the backlash had been so overwhelming that they u-turned in this fashion. The debate on whether we should ban “corrective therapies” has been going on for four years. However, this is the first time that trans people have not been considered at risk enough. This means trans people will continue to be put through conversion therapy.
Conversion therapy is the process of trying to force someone to change their identity. LGBTQ+ people are often forced into it by their unsupportive parents for personal or religious reasons. The UN mechanisms against torture have judged that conversion therapy could be “tantamount to acts of torture“.
Trans people already experience a lot of hate in the UK, with hate crimes still on the rise, but this new promise will lead to their legalised “torture”. This could include “exorcisms by churches or healers, “corrective” rapes, obligation to undergo psychological treatment. This causes profound physical and psychological trauma to LGBTQ+ people according to Victor Madrigal-Borloz. These practices are illegal. However, legal conversion therapy can justify them.
The conservative MP Jamie Wallis came out as Trans on Wednesday and Boris Johnson announced his support for Wallis. However, trans people around the UK have been left feeling hurt after this latest announcement which makes the PM’s support seem more like empty words.
Io Cutmore 
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