Banning Conversion Practices
Private Members’ Bill Consultation
Since the return of the Assembly in 2024, LGBTQIA+ sector organisations Rainbow Project and HereNI, alongside colleagues across the sector have been working closely with Eóin Tennyson MLA to bring a Private Members’ Bill focused on banning harmful conversion practices, or so-called ‘conversion therapy’.
Conversion practices are defined as practices which are attempt to change or suppress an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity. While many see these practices as a thing of the past, we know from our work within LGBTQIA+ communities that they are still being carried out today across Northern Ireland.
Eóin Tennyson’s Private Members’ Bill is now out for consultation and, while it doesn’t contain everything we need to truly end conversion practices, it is a key element of the wider work needed to end the harm once and for all.
Read our guide and share your views before the consultation closes on the 20th of March 2025.
A Study of Conversion Practices in Northern Ireland
Research into so-called ‘conversion therapy’, commissioned by LGBTQIA+ sector organisations and carried out by Queen’s University Belfast and Ulster University, was launched in May 2024, recommending a comprehensive and inclusive ban on conversion practices in Northern Ireland.
The research explores 10 individuals’ experiences of conversion practices within the past 10 years, delving into how these practices were delivered, the contexts within which they were offered and carried out, as well as the impact these practices had on the survivors.
Conversion practices are acts which deliberately try to change or suppress a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. They are based on the belief that it is better to be heterosexual and/or cisgender, and that other sexual orientations and gender identities are somehow flawed, wrong or “broken”.
The research explored the wide range of forms that conversion practices take, from pseudo-psychological treatments, to acts that take place in the home, and practices that are religious or spiritual in nature.
Sometimes these practices are carried out by an individual, but they can also involve wider communities or friends and family members too. At their most extreme, conversion practices can involve physical and sexual violence.
Two participants, who were teenagers at the time, experienced these conversion practices within a mental health service. One, who experienced attempted suppression of his bisexuality, spoke about how this prevented him from accessing mental health support:
Of the ten participants, seven experienced conversion practices within a faith organisation or delivered by faith leaders, with some being referred by parents or teachers.
Participants were unanimous in recommending a ban on conversion practices, with some dispelling the notion that anyone can meaningfully ‘consent’ to these practices.
