Politicians urged to ban gay conversion therapy – BelfastTelegraph.co.uk – Belfast Telegraph
Activists campaigning for a ban on gay conversion therapy have urged Northern Ireland’s politicians to make history and outlaw the practice.
he Anti-Conversion Therapy Coalition was organised in recent weeks to campaign for new legislation.
Ulster Unionist MLAs Doug Beattie and John Stewart have tabled a motion for tomorrow calling on the Assembly to reject the “harmful practice”. It also calls on Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey to bring legislation banning conversion therapy before the end of the current Assembly session.
Gay conversion therapy refers to a form of treatment or psychotherapy which aims to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. The practice is already outlawed in Switzerland and parts of Australia, Canada and the US, and MPs in London have backed a move for similar laws for England and Wales.
John O’Doherty, director of the Rainbow Project, said: “All forms of conversion therapies were wrong, unethical and prey on some of the most vulnerable. These barbaric and torturous practices are still being inflicted on people in Northern Ireland today.”
Fergal McFerran, NI programme manager of Stonewall said it was a time for leadership from MLAs and ministers.
He said: “People don’t need to be ‘cured’ or change who we are, and there should be no place in our society for any so-called ‘interventions’ which seek to erase us.”
The UUP motion also seeks for the Assembly to “declare that it is fundamentally wrong to view our LGBTQ community as requiring a fix or cure,” something the DUP wants removed in an amendment.
That amendment also seeks to “recognise that legitimate religious activities such as preaching, prayer and pastoral support do not constitute conversion therapy”, something the campaign group claims is a “loophole” to allow religious organisations to continue to use the practice.
The DUP said last night it does not support “gay conversion therapy” and believes “no-one should be forced into any treatment against their will”, but wants a balance between the safeguarding against “dangerous practices” and any attempt to restrict religious freedom.
Belfast Telegraph