PRESS STATEMENT: Government ditches ban on conversion therapy

Responding to the leaked news that Government planned to ditch banning conversion therapy and its almost immediate partial U-turn Parliamentary Candidate for Guildford, Cranleigh and our villages Zöe Franklin said:

"Once again the Conservative Government has shown its lack of interest and understanding on the issues impacting LGBT+ people through its unwillingness to end the dangerous and abusive practice of conversion therapy, only instigating a partial U-turn when they realised the extent of the public and MP support for the ban.

"However, the fact that the Conservatives have refused to ban the practice in relation to trans people is appalling and further evidence that the Government sees trans people as second-class citizens.

"Conversion therapy is a dangerous and abusive practice that has led to countless LGBT+ people taking their own lives and many, many more suffering long-term psychological damage. It should have no place in society; a view endorsed since 2017 by the NHS, Relate, Royal College of Practitioners and many other professional medical bodies. Trans people deserve the same protection from this practice, which is described by the UN as amounting to torture, as gay and bisexual people.

"Government ministers need to listen to the public on this and especially LGBT+ people who have suffered so much due to the practice.

"Last year when the Surrey Liberal Democrat team and I were at Pride in Surrey, 600 people - LGBT+ people, friends, family and allies - signed a petition calling for the practice to be banned. They want a total ban on the practice, not a partial one.

"The Liberal Democrats and I will continue to stand alongside all those fighting for the total end of conversion therapy, including for trans people."