Conversion therapy must be banned completely, campaigners have warned five years after the Government first promised to end the practice.
Lives have been “ruined” by attempts to “cure” LGBT people of being themselves, Stonewall said.
The Government, then led by Theresa May, first vowed to ban conversion practices in July 2018.
At the time the then-prime minister described conversion therapy as “abhorrent” and something she was shocked to find out still went on.
She said: “I think it has no place in modern Britain.”
Since then there have been years of delays and U-turns, with the Government saying in January that it would “shortly” publish a draft Bill.
At that stage, it pledged to ban conversion therapy for “everyone”, including transgender people.
When the Government initially announced its consultation into the conversion therapy ban, its “universal” proposals were intended to protect all LGBT+ people.
Boris Johnson dramatically dropped plans for legislation last year, saying there were “complexities and sensitivities” to be worked through.
Jayne Ozanne, from the Ban Conversion Therapy Coalition, said: “One can only conclude that they do not want to protect LGBT+ people and that they are only interested in stoking manufactured ‘culture wars’ at the expense of vulnerable people’s lives. It is all an absolute disgrace, which the British public will find hard to forgive.”
Sasha Misra, associate director of communications Stonewall, said: “Monday 3 July marks half a decade since the UK Government first promised to ban conversion therapy.
“Five years and four prime ministers later and we are still waiting for this ban to come to fruition. In the meantime, lives have continued to be ruined while these damaging attempts to ‘cure’ LGBTQ+ of being themselves remain legal.
“Even now, we are hearing worrying whispers that would leave LGBTQ+ people open to abuse. The ban must not contain loopholes that would enable abuse to continue through the back door, whether it be via the idea that people can ‘consent’ to abuse, exemptions for medical settings, or any other carve-outs.
“Conversion ‘therapy’ isn’t therapy, it’s abuse. And we need the UK Government to hold up their promise. We’re calling on the UK Government to publish the draft Bill immediately and bring forward the final Bill by the King’s Speech in November.”
A spokesperson for the Government’s equality hub said: “This Government is committed to protecting people at risk from conversion practices.
“As part of this we will publish a draft Bill setting out our approach, which will be scrutinised by a Joint Committee of both Houses in this parliamentary session. This will allow for in-depth analysis and challenge to test the policy and drafting and ensure we address any risk of unintended impacts.”
