A BAN on conversion therapy will be brought forward by the Government in November, The Times reported on Wednesday.

The suggestion comes a month after it seemed that the legislation had stalled, when the Leader of the House of Commons, Penny Mordaunt, declined to confirm a place for it on the legislative timetable (News, 19 September). The ban was originally promised during Theresa May’s premiership.

The Conservative MP for Darlington, Peter Gibson, told the Church Times that he was glad that his party seemed to have escaped a “loop” in which the legislation seemed to be imminent but never materialise.

“It’s fair to say that there are different opinions inside the Conservative Party” on the issue, he said, and mentioned members of his party who had, he said, “continued to push the need for this”. “I think we’ve reached a point where the voices that are arguing for this, and the support that they’re getting from the wider party, are simply saying: let’s get on with this.”

The details of the legislation are yet to be revealed, but The Times reports that a draft Bill will be included in the King’s Speech, and that it will make attempting to change someone’s gender identity or sexuality a criminal offence in England and Wales.

The UK editor of ITV News, Paul Brand, corroborated the story in a post on social media, but suggested that the proposed legislation would cover only “coercive” practices, and would include “safeguards” for parents and clinicians.

This caused concern among campaigners, including Jayne Ozanne, a General Synod member, who said: “Whilst I’m pleased to see yet another U-turn by yet another Prime Minister on this critical issue, I am extremely concerned that making victims prove coercion will mean this is a Bill in name only.

“All conversion therapy is coercive, but proving it puts the onus on the victim and lets perpetrators walk free. I’m left feeling this is a cynical move to avoid haemorrhaging votes rather than a genuine attempt to protect LGBT+ people’s lives.”

A statement from the Ban Conversion Therapy Legal Forum, which comprises a cross-party group of parliamentarians, academics, legal professionals, and campaigners, also expressed concern that the legislation might contain a clause that would mean that only “coercive” forms of conversion therapy were illegal.

“Conversion practices always involve coercive controlling behaviour. However, asking to prove coercion is, in many cases, asking people to prove that their friends and family bullied them. What’s more, the fear of rejection and stigma from one’s family or community is what allows coercion to operate, and what makes it difficult to prove or recognise,” the Forum said.

“Coercion-based prohibitions also put the onus on vulnerable people to object. By definition, these individuals are often not able to do that.”

Mr Gibson urged patience for the legislation to be revealed in more detail, and warned against triumphalism. “We are not home and dry yet,” he said. “Legislation, and its passage through both Houses of Parliament, is a rocky road with pitfalls and hurdles along the way.”

He believed, however, that the cause would receive broad support in Parliament. “There is a majority of voices, I would say, who support legislation that bans this abuse, and those who would stand in the way of good legislation that bans abuse need to examine their own consciences.”

Mr Gibson’s message was the same for those Christians groups that against the need for the legislation. He suggested that they “need to have a conversation with their moral conscience as to whether they want to condone abuse”.

In 2021, the UK director of the Evangelical Alliance, Peter Lynas, suggested that any ban could “restrict individual freedom” and “criminalise Christians and common church activities” (News, 16 March 2021). Later that year, a letter signed by more than 2500 Christian ministers and pastoral workers, including C of E clergy, urged the Government to drop the proposals (News, 10 December 2021).

This position was criticised by other Christian leaders, and a government spokesperson said that any ban would “not impact everyday religious practice” (News, 17 February 2022).

Earlier this year, several C of E bishops signed a letter in favour of a ban, writing that “protecting vulnerable people from abuse should be a primary aim of any democracy” (News, 18 July).