The British government has announced
plans to ban therapies that attempt to alter the sexual orientation
or gender identity of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
Such therapies go by names such as
“conversion therapy,” “reparative therapy” or “ex-gay
therapy.”
The proposed ban is part of a wider
effort to counter discrimination against the LGBT community and
follows a nationwide survey of LGBT people.
The government found that 2 percent of
the 108,000 people who participated in its poll had undergone
conversion therapy. More than two-thirds of respondents said that
they avoid holding hands in public.
“No one should ever have to hide who
they are or who they love,” Prime Minister Theresa May said in a
statement. “This LGBT action plan will set out concrete steps to
deliver real and lasting change across society, from health and
education to tackling discrimination and addressing the burning
injustices that LGBT people face.”
The government's “LGBT
Action Plan” includes “bringing forward a proposal to end the
practice of conversion therapy in the UK.”
In the United States, fourteen states
plus the District of Columbia prohibit such therapies to minors.
California recently unveiled a bill that seeks to extend its ban to
adults.
(Related: California
bill seeking to ban selling of “ex-gay” therapy advances in
Senate.)