IDAHOBIT 2023: Are we still seeing global progress to ban 'conversion therapy'?

***View our detailed map tracker here***.

Since 2021 the Global Equality Caucus has been running a global campaign to urge legislators to support legal measures banning LGBT+ ‘conversion therapy’, discredited practices that attempt to suppress, divert or change somebody’s sexual orientation to heterosexual or gender identity to cisgender.

Conversion practices are based on the false premise that LGBT+ identities need to be ‘cured’, and they can cause lasting psychological and physical damage.

GEC has been working with legislators, intergovernmental organisations and civil society partners to build consensus on banning conversion practices, and we have worked with lawmakers to craft effective legislation that prohibits these ‘therapies’ explicitly. At the end of 2022 we examined how these laws gathered pace throughout the year.

To mark the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia 2023 (IDAHOBIT), we look at the further successes in the five months since then, and where we are still waiting to see progress.

SPAIN

In February 2023, lawmakers in Spain granted final approval to a comprehensive LGBTI+ rights bill. In addition to a national ban on conversion practices, the law also introduced gender self-identification, protected intersex rights, and included provisions to support lesbians and single women seeking IVF treatment.

Spain joins France, Germany, Greece and Malta as the fifth European country to have a law banning ‘conversion therapy’.

*Equalities minister Irene Montero celebrates with activists after the passage of Spain’s LGBTI law. (Photograph: Susana Vera, Reuters)*

PORTUGAL

In neighbouring Portugal, a bill proposing a conversion practices ban was introduced to parliament in April 2023. The draft law has the support of the government – which has a parliamentary majority – and has passed its first reading.

CYPRUS

A ban on conversion practices has been introduced to parliament but is yet to pass. In May 2023, a far-right party proposed an amendment to permit ‘consensual’ therapies, which has delayed the bill’s progress.

UPDATE 25 MAY 2023: Following several proposed amendments, Parliament voted to amend the penal code to criminalise ‘conversion therapy’. Cyprus becomes the sixth European nation to have a legislative ban.

UNITED STATES

So far this year two states have codified a ‘conversion therapy’ ban – Utah in February and Minnesota in April. Both states previously had a ban instituted by executive order, but this has now been affirmed in legislation.

Two municipalities have also passed local ordinances – Jackson County in Missouri and Waterloo in Iowa.

SWITZERLAND

Switzerland does not yet have a federal ban on conversion practices but there has been movement on the issue. In 2016 the Federal Council assessed that existing laws were sufficient in prohibiting the practices, but after explicit bans were passed in neighbouring France and Germany, Swiss LGBT+ groups warned in 2022 that the country could become a safe haven for the practices without similar legislation.

In May 2023, Neuchâtel became the first Swiss canton to pass legislative measures banning ‘conversion therapy’. Federal lawmakers have been considering a nationwide motion, and it is anticipated a law may pass this year.

BELGIUM

At the end of 2022, the Belgian Cabinet approved a draft conversion practices ban and it had been anticipated that it would receive parliamentary approval this year. However, cabinet minister Sarah Schlitz – who had pioneered the bill – has since departed her ministerial role. With a new equalities minister sworn in this month, it is possible the bill will be introduced to the Chamber of Representatives in the near future.

COLOMBIA

Following previous attempts by GEC member and former congressman Mauricio Toro to introduce a conversion practices bill to Congress, a group of supportive congresspeople took up the draft law at the end of 2022. In May 2023, the House of Representatives held public evidence sessions on the impact of ‘conversion therapy’ and the bill is expected to advance through further congressional stages later this year.

MEXICO

Following the launch of GEC’s Latin America chapter in 2022, federal senators were encouraged to revive a draft conversion practices ban and the bill passed the Mexican Senate 69-2 in October. The bill is due before the Chamber of Deputies and is likely to pass by the end of 2023.

AUSTRALIA

GEC Steering Committee member Alex Greenwich, an independent MP in the New South Wales Parliament, has led efforts to introduce a conversion practices ban in Australia’s most populous state. Following elections in March 2023, the new state government has pledged to support Greenwich’s bill.

Premiers in two other states – Western Australia and Tasmania – have also pledged to pass ‘conversion therapy’ bans before end of the parliamentary term. Queensland, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory have already passed bans.

NORWAY

GEC member and Norwegian equalities minister Anette Trettebergstuen presented a draft law to ban ‘conversion therapy’ in 2022, but in April 2023 it was announced that the bill’s introduction had been delayed. Originally expected in the first half of 2023, it is now anticipated the bill will be presented to parliament in the Autumn, with passage not likely until 2024.

SWEDEN

A GEC campaign in Sweden saw a rise in interest in a potential ‘conversion therapy’ ban but elections in September 2022 and a subsequent change in government has slowed progress. In October, a consultation was launched over a proposal to outlaw parents taking children abroad to undergo ‘conversion therapy’. Feasibility studies regarding a ban may emerge later this year.

FINLAND

The Finnish parliament passed a gender self-identification law in February 2023 but no ‘conversion therapy’ ban appears to be forthcoming, despite lawmakers having mulled an explicit ban previously. A change in government following the April 2023 election may delay any draft law further.

NETHERLANDS

In January 2023 the Dutch Council of State – which vets draft laws to assess legal compatibility – expressed the opinion that proposals to ban ‘conversion therapy’ would conflict with a constitutional right to religious freedom. The Netherlands has since updated its constitution to protect LGBT+ people from discrimination, but it is unclear if the proposed conversion practices ban will pass in 2023, and in what form.

*GEC Steering Committee member Boris Dittrich, who has championed efforts in the Dutch Senate to pass a ban on ‘conversion therapy’. (Photograph: Boris Dittrich)*

PERU

GEC member and Peruvian congressperson Susel Paredes has prepared a draft law to ban conversion practices, but is waiting for the most opportune moment to introduce the bill due to recent political instability in the country.

IRELAND

The Irish government has committed to introduce legislation to ban ‘conversion therapy’ in 2023, following the conclusion of a research study into its impact. In April 2023, the Prohibition of Conversion Practices Bill was included on the government’s priority drafting list for the summer parliamentary term.

UNITED KINGDOM

Having first promised to ban ‘conversion therapy’ in 2018, the UK government has continually delayed introducing a bill to parliament. In January 2023 the government announced that the ban would include practices aimed at trans people, after previously saying in 2022 the legislation would apply to sexual orientation only. A country report published by the UN Independent Expert on SOGI in May 2023 confirmed that the government had committed to publishing draft legislation by Autumn 2023. This means a ban is unlikely to be passed until 2024.

Any ban passed by the UK Parliament would apply to England & Wales only. Scotland and Northern Ireland, which have separate legal systems, are considering their own bans.