Caucus launches Ban Conversion Therapy Now! campaign at Victory Institute LGBTQ Leaders Conference

The Global Equality Caucus has officially launched its new campaign to ban conversion therapy.

At an event held during the Victory Institute's International LGBTQ Leaders Conference 2021 in Washington, D.C. (1-4 December), American state legislators together with guests from parliaments in Latin America heard about the ongoing prevalence of abhorrent conversion practices around the world, and the need to advance laws in different nations to outlaw these practices.

Introducing the Ban Conversion Therapy Now! campaign, Caucus Chair Nick Herbert (UK) and Caucus co-founder Tamara Adrián (Venezuela) both spoke of the need to protect LGBT+ people from coercive conversion practices, which can include psychological therapy, spiritual pressure & prayer, as well as aversive treatments such as electric shock therapies and 'corrective' rape.

The presentations were followed by a discussion in the room where lawmakers shared experiences and strategies for legislating to ban conversion therapy.

So far, only six countries around the world have introduced explicit nationwide bans to prohibit medical and/or religious organisations from offering 'conversion therapies'. Loopholes remain in dozens of countries, and in some nations conversion therapy is actively encouraged based on the false pretence that LGBT+ identities are illnesses needing to be 'cured.'

The Ban Conversion Therapy Now! campaign encourages legislators all over the world, regardless of whether their jurisdiction has banned conversion therapy or not, to sign a pledge to express their support for efforts to introduce bans in countries where these therapies are still legal.

The campaign aims to gather as many signatures as possible so that the Caucus can make a firm and truly international declaration against conversion practices in time for this year's international LGBT+ rights conference in London.