Wales also wants to ban “conversion therapies”

“Conversion” therapies have always sparked heated debates. On several occasions, iFamNews has already dealt with the legal side of such type of counseling, which involves psychological or spiritual and religious support and is available to homosexuals who want to deal with this aspect of their personality and wish to seek help in order to turn towards heterosexuality. In the meantime, more and more countries are banning this type of therapy, sometimes even completely, thus creating situations in which religious freedom and freedom of expression are not respected.

Between the end of 2021 and the beginning of 2022, the ban came into force in France, where the example of Brazil, Ecuador, Malta, Albania and Germany was followed, while Canada, Finland, Mexico and Spain are developing programs in the same direction. In the Netherlands, a bill to this effect was presented to parliament in February, while in the same period New Zealand approved the relevant legislation, and in Israel a circular implementing the bill approved in 2020 was issued.

In the United Kingdom, while the government seems to be backtracking on the prospect of banning therapies for transgender persons, considering the ban only for homosexuals, Wales instead declared that the omission of transpersons from the bill would be “unacceptable”.

At the same time, a number of Welsh LGBT+ activist groups have announced that they would not participate in “Safe to be me”, an “inclusion” event par excellence, scheduled for July in London and started amidst controversy mainly due to the fact that Stonewall, a well-known organization promoting LGBT+ rights, was already in the eye of the storm because of assignments revoked by national and international bodies, and is now accused of imposing a vision that is both univocal and discriminatory.

Deputy Minister for Social Partnerships Hannah Blythyn said that “In addition to seeking legal advice to determine all the levers we have in Wales to end the practice of conversion therapy unilaterally, we will educate and raise awareness of the horrors and ineffectiveness of conversion therapy practices by establishing a dedicated campaign in Wales.”

The Deputy Minister also announced that the Welsh Government and the Public Health System, NHS Wales, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Coalition Against Conversion Therapy. Entities and organizations signing the memorandum agree not to commission or provide “conversion therapy” in Wales.