Ban Conversion Therapy - Write to Your MP Again!!

White text on a pink background reads "No Excuse for Abuse. #BanConversionTherapy"

Hello, folks!
 
After the State Opening of Parliament, it was revealed in speech guidance notes that the conversion therapy ban still excludes trans people, and on top of that will now also exclude so-called “consenting” adults.
 
This is utter bullshit. A ban that doesn’t protect everyone is no ban at all. There is an amendment that’s been put down, but while we wait to see how that turns out it’s time to write to our MPs again. Something that irks me about a lot of campaigns is they will encourage folks to contact their MP once and then that’s it. I’m not really sure how effective contacting MPs is, but I assume only contacting them once about an issue isn’t all that effective.

If you haven’t contacted your MP yet, no worries! There’s no time like the present. You can click here to read the first email I sent to my MP to help you out, but please bear in mind there have been new updates since then and so you may wish to do some research into what’s been happening to include it in your own correspondence. You can check out these articles on Pink News to help out.
If you’ve already contacted your MP, that’s great! Now it's time to get cracking on a response. 

Below you can see pictures of how my Tory MP responded. I’ve had someone message me to say they received the same response from their MP, so naturally this was a copy and paste response given out to most Conservative MPs in light of the public outrage that the ban excluded trans people.

A letter response from Darlington MP Peter Gibson stating his views on the conversion therapy ban.

 

A letter response from Darlington MP Peter Gibson stating his views on the conversion therapy ban.

If you’re replying to a response from your MP, remember to put your Case Reference number on the document so they know what correspondence this is part of! Also, although I’m sharing my response to my MP, you will need to personalise this to fit into your own interaction.

Here was my reply:

Dear Peter Gibson,
 
Thank you for your letter. I am glad to hear we are in agreement that conversion therapy is abuse and has no place in a civilised society.
 
As I’m sure you will have seen, in Prince Charles speech at the State Opening of Parliament he confirmed that legislation to ban conversion therapy will be introduced. But the Government confirmed in the speech’s guidance notes that not only will the ban still exclude trans people, it will also exclude so-called “consenting” adults.
 
This glaring loophole in regards to consent will still allow the dangerous, discredited practice of conversion therapy to be legal. Whether or not an adult gives consent, it should not be legal for anyone to be subjected to this torture. And transgender folks should not be subjected to this abuse either, of any age.
 
I was surprised yet glad to see that you were included in a post by the account Ban Conversion Therapy, that showed pictures of over 60 MPs and Peers from 6 political parties showing their support for a trans inclusive ban. Your reply to my original letter did not give me the impression that you supported transgender individuals being included in the ban, as you explained the Government was carrying out separate work on the issue of transgender conversion therapy.
 
Do you support a ban that protects all ages, and protects trans and non-binary people from undergoing conversion therapy? If so, will you write to the Prime Minister to express your support for this, and throughout the legislative process argue for a ban that protects the entire LGBTQ+ community?
 
Several countries with similar legislative and judicial systems to ours have already banned conversion therapy for sexual identity and gender identity – it’s time we join them.
 
I look forward to your reply.
 
Yours sincerely,
 
Megan Hemsley
 
 
****
 
Thank you for taking the time to help protect the entire LGBTQ+ community.
 
Love and Rage,
 
Megan x

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