Reform UK Leader Nigel Farage has called on Labour to scrap its draft Conversion Practices Bill, amid warnings that it could leave parents facing prosecution for questioning whether their child wants to change gender.
The bill is ostensibly designed to outlaw abusive practices intended to change or suppress someone’s sexual orientation. At first glance, this seems like a noble aim. But in reality, the bill is likely to criminalise anyone who attempts to dissuade children and young people from life-changing and often permanent medical interventions, such as taking hormones or undergoing gender-reassignment surgeries. That would include teachers, doctors, therapists and even parents.
Farage said: “This bill needs to be scrapped immediately – parents should never be criminalised for simply having conversations with their children about their gender. It’s time this nonsense was stopped once and for all.”
Reform UK Shadow Education Secretary Suella Braverman also criticised the bill, saying: “Criminalising parents for asking their children perfectly legitimate questions about their gender is tyrannical. This culture of the state dictating every aspect of how parents are permitted to raise their children must come to an immediate end.”
The bill is ostensibly designed to outlaw abusive practices intended to change or suppress someone’s sexual orientation. At first glance, this seems like a noble aim. But in reality, the bill is likely to criminalise anyone who attempts to dissuade children and young people from life-changing and often permanent medical interventions, such as taking hormones or undergoing gender-reassignment surgeries. That would include teachers, doctors, therapists and even parents.
Farage said: “This bill needs to be scrapped immediately – parents should never be criminalised for simply having conversations with their children about their gender. It’s time this nonsense was stopped once and for all.”
Reform UK Shadow Education Secretary Suella Braverman also criticised the bill, saying: “Criminalising parents for asking their children perfectly legitimate questions about their gender is tyrannical. This culture of the state dictating every aspect of how parents are permitted to raise their children must come to an immediate end.”
Ministers insist the bill would leave parents free to have difficult conversations with their children, and the Prime Minister’s spokesman claims that the bill “doesn’t touch regular parenting”. But when asked whether parents could face charges, he declined to rule it out.
But campaign group Sex Matters has set out six different scenarios in which parents could face prosecution under the new law. In one, a 13-year-old boy spends hours on forums that encourage him to identify as a girl and explain how to get hormones without his parents knowing. In this scenario, the boy’s parents might, for example, switch off the wi-fi at night or keep his phone downstairs in order to prevent him from accessing these sites. This act of parents attempting to protect their child from harm could soon be illegal.
The warnings go far beyond access to hormones or surgery. In another scenario, Sex Matters argues that a mother could face prosecution for refusing to call her 11-year-old daughter “they” after she comes out as “nonbinary”.
Even children themselves could end up in the dock. In a report for Policy Exchange, Baroness Falkner – the former chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission – and barrister Akua Reindorf KC warn that children as young as ten could face prosecution for asking their classmates questions or making comments about their gender identity – even if they meant no harm.
Falkner has also warned that the bill could stretch to cover absurd claims, such as questioning someone who self-identifies as a cat. Sex Matters is urging Labour to narrow the bill’s definition of gender identity so that it excludes labels such as “catgender”.
This bill is equal parts absurd and dangerous. In the words of Braverman: “Outlawing private family conversations is state overreach at its absolute worst. This bill must be scrapped.”
But campaign group Sex Matters has set out six different scenarios in which parents could face prosecution under the new law. In one, a 13-year-old boy spends hours on forums that encourage him to identify as a girl and explain how to get hormones without his parents knowing. In this scenario, the boy’s parents might, for example, switch off the wi-fi at night or keep his phone downstairs in order to prevent him from accessing these sites. This act of parents attempting to protect their child from harm could soon be illegal.
The warnings go far beyond access to hormones or surgery. In another scenario, Sex Matters argues that a mother could face prosecution for refusing to call her 11-year-old daughter “they” after she comes out as “nonbinary”.
Even children themselves could end up in the dock. In a report for Policy Exchange, Baroness Falkner – the former chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission – and barrister Akua Reindorf KC warn that children as young as ten could face prosecution for asking their classmates questions or making comments about their gender identity – even if they meant no harm.
Falkner has also warned that the bill could stretch to cover absurd claims, such as questioning someone who self-identifies as a cat. Sex Matters is urging Labour to narrow the bill’s definition of gender identity so that it excludes labels such as “catgender”.
This bill is equal parts absurd and dangerous. In the words of Braverman: “Outlawing private family conversations is state overreach at its absolute worst. This bill must be scrapped.”
Photo by: ev.
