Scottish Parents Who Try to Stop Children Changing Gender Could Be Jailed for 7 Years

Members of the Ban Conversion Therapy Coalition during their rally in Westminster, London on Sept. 14, 2023. Aaron Chown/PA Wire

The Scottish Government has launched a consultation on proposals to ban so-called “conversion therapy,” which opponents claim could lead to parents being jailed if they oppose their child’s wish to present as the opposite sex.

There is no universally accepted definition of what constitutes a “conversion practice,” as the document states, but the government’s Expert Advisory Group says it means “any treatment, practice or effort that aims to change, suppress and/or eliminate a person’s sexual orientation, gender identity and/or gender expression.”

The SNP has previously clashed with the UK government over issues around transgenderism and was recently forced to abandon plans to allow children aged 16 to legally change gender because equalities legislation is not a devolved matter and Westminster ruled the proposals would impact women.

Scotland has its own legal system and the government is seeking to create a new criminal offence of carrying out “a coercive course of behaviour” by persuading an individual to undergo “conversion therapy,” which would be punishable by a jail sentence of up to seven years and an unlimited fine.

There is limited evidence for the existence of “conversion therapy” in the UK, but the Scottish Government claims this is because the practice is often offered privately.

The government claims that conversion practices are “inherently harmful,” and can have lifelong negative impacts on those who have undergone them.

“They deny people’s right to express themselves and send a message to the LGBTQI+ community as a whole that their identity is wrong and can and should be fixed or suppressed,” the 86-page document states, pointing to research from Australia and a self-report study from the UK as evidence.

The government claims the proposed legislation will be clear that the provision of medical care by a health care professional relating to a person’s gender identity is not a conversion practice.

Women’s rights groups expressed fears that parents could be criminalised for refusing to go along with a child’s declaration that they are transgender.

Campaign Groups’ Concerns

Marion Calder of the campaign group For Women Scotland said: “We have grave concerns that these plans will criminalise loving parents, who could face years in jail simply for refusing to sign up to the gender ideology cult.

“They will also hand activists and social workers unprecedented powers to meddle in family life, while having a chilling impact on therapists and counsellors.”

The LGB Alliance, which supports the rights of gay and bisexual people and campaigns against the teaching of gender ideology in schools, said it objects to the SNP using anecdotes about the decades-old practice of conversion therapy for gay people to push for a new law.

It said on X, formerly known as Twitter: “Proponents of Conversion Practices bans use examples of gay conversion therapy from the 1950s to demand an affirmation-only approach for gender-questioning youth today. We won’t be a virtuous shield for their abhorrent practices.”

Religious groups claim the practice would particularly impact those who might wish to suppress feelings or tendencies that some individuals might prefer not to have because of their belief in God.

Andrea Williams, chief executive of Christian Concern, said: “This unnecessary and damaging ban will prevent people from receiving the help they desperately want and need.

“The evidence shows that appropriate support from a counsellor, therapist, church, or support group can be effective and typically improves people’s mental health.

“Forcing people who want to experience change to try to do so on their own is cruel and is more likely to cause them problems.

“The Scottish Government should have the courage to admit that no new law in this area is needed and reverse this disastrous policy.”

Peter Kearney, from the Scottish Catholic Media Office, said there was a “worrying lack of clarity about what is meant by the term conversion practices” and warned that new legislation “could create a chilling effect and may criminalise advice or opinion given in good faith.”

“We would urge the Scottish Government not to criminalise mainstream religious pastoral care, parental guidance, and medical or other professional intervention relating to sexual orientation, which is not approved by the state as acceptable,” he said.

The UK government proposed a ban on conversion therapy five years ago when Theresa May was prime minister, but draft legislation was never drawn up and the issue was not mentioned in the first King’s Speech at the state opening of Parliament last November.

The Scottish Government’s consultation on the new proposals will close on April 2.