BISHOPS have joined parliamentarians and campaigners in urging the Government to bring forward legislation to ban conversion therapy. Their letter was published on Monday.

Signatories to the letter include the Suffragan Bishop in Europe, the Rt Revd David Hamid, and the Bishops of Dorchester and Buckingham, the Rt Revd Gavin Collins and Dr Alan Wilson, as well as a retired Bishop of Liverpool, the Rt Revd Paul Bayes.

The letter, to the Prime Minister, and the Minister for Women and Equalities, Kemi Badenoch, says that the delay in bringing forward legislation to ban conversion therapy is “a moral failing with dire consequences”.

Several Conservative MPs signed the letter, along with Labour, Liberal Democrat, and SNP parliamentarians, including peers.

The founder of the charity Oasis, the Revd Steve Chalke, and Jayne Ozanne, who is a member of the General Synod and chairs the Ban Conversion Therapy Coalition, are among the signatories, as well as figures from Sikh LGBT+ groups, and legal scholars and psychologists.

In 2018, Theresa May, when Prime Minister, announced the Government’s intention of banning conversion therapy, but no specific legislation has yet been brought forward.

“Protecting vulnerable people from abuse should be a primary aim of any democracy. We therefore urge you to fulfil your promise and publish the long-awaited legislation immediately. It is time to end these unethical, harmful and ineffective practices that have been condemned by religious leaders and by medical, psychiatric, psychological and healthcare professionals worldwide,” the letter concludes.

In February last year, more than 2000 Christian leaders signed a letter calling for the practice to be banned (News, 25 February 2022), after another, signed by more than 2500 “Christian ministers and pastoral workers”, had urged the Government to drop its proposed ban (News, 17 February 2022).

In 2017, the General Synod called on the Government to ban conversion therapy (News, 14 July 2017).