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Conversion therapy consultation delayed (again)
In a week with so much news... You might have been joining me in wondering what our top story would be. But it's actually the perfect week to show, just how important the QueerAF project is.
Because between Christmas parties, Covid rule-breaking, and a growing consensus that Boris Johnson regularly lies to the country?
Something critical happened on the 'Conversion Therapy' consultation.
Catch me up
So let's just quickly remind ourselves. This consultation has been three years in the making. And has been delayed several times.
Then when it was published, it contained serious issues and loopholes. It will essentially allow conversion therapy to continue anyway. Despite it being branded as a 'ban.'
What happened this week?
The consultation deadline was extended, further delaying the process. Why?
The official reason is that the government forgot to publish an accessible version of the consultation until Thursday, a day before the deadline. Something Stonewall CEO Nancy Kelley says, should have been ready at the start. - PinkNews
But it follows five days and a flurry of stories in The Times, Telegraph and Daily Mail. They claim that the ban is a "controversial gender law".
That it's going to criminalise 'parents' and 'clerics' if it goes ahead as it is. So these papers have been calling for the ban to be delayed - which it now has. And now, they're calling for it to be scrapped.
Will it criminalise parents?
The law is specifically designed to criminalise people (including parents and clerics) who put vulnerable LGBTQIA+ people through the cruel pseudo-scientific practice.
One that has a "destructive effect on people's lives from a very early age" as described by the international LGBTQIA+ organisation ILGA World. - Forbes
The practice is discredited by The World Health Organization WHO and more than 60 health professional associations from over 20 countries.
It's referred to as torture by those who have been through it. That's because it uses a range of physical, emotional and psychological terrors as part of its false promise to change people's identity.
Why should we take issue with these headlines then?
What's worrying about these reports is how they frame banning torture, as a matter of "freedom of religion." Or as the right to "respect for private and family life."
Those can be protected, while we protect LGBTQIA+ from the cruel practice. One that continues to terrorise the lives of at least 7% of the UK queer community who have either had or been offered it.
Indeed - the law as it stands is so weak, it actually does allow people to continue practising so-called 'conversion therapy' under the pretence of 'religious freedom.'
Which has to make you wonder, what is the real purpose of these headlines? Was it instead designed to drive clicks and whip up hate around a growing sense of transphobia in the press?
TLDR: If you haven't yet, you gotta fill this out. And this guide makes it super easy ⬇️
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