The University of Stirling Students’ Union has joined the Campaign to Ban Conversion Therapy, started by the University of Central Lancashire (UClan) Students’ Union. Launched by a Volunteer Officer in 2023, the campaign calls for a comprehensive ban across the UK, including trans conversion therapy.
Conversion therapy is a harmful practice aimed at attempting to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity through psychological or medical intervention.
Conversion therapy practitioners will tell victims that their goal is to ‘cure’ them from being lesbian, gay, bi, trans, ace, intersex, or queer.
Methods of conversion therapy range from talk therapy or prayer to more extreme forms of physical violence, rape, food deprivation or exorcism.
The impact of conversion therapy on people can be lifelong. A 2018 study from the American Journal of Public Health found that LGBTQ+ people who had been through conversion therapy were twice as likely to report attempting suicide or experiencing suicidal ideation following the experience.
The UK Government’s 2018 National LGBT Survey shows that 5 per cent of its 108,000 respondents had been offered conversion therapy to ‘cure’ them of being LGBT, while fewer than 2 per cent had undergone it.
Trans people were shown to be at higher risk, with 13 per cent of trans respondents saying that they had been subjected to or were offered conversion therapy.
Among those who had been through conversion therapy, a majority of 51 per cent had been offered it through religious settings.
The Scottish Government opened a consultation on the ban of conversion therapy in January 2024 but have since scrapped plans in favour of a UK-wide legislation instead, stating that they will now only legislate if the UK Government fails to follow up on their 2021 consultation.
Despite scrapped government plans, there is still a growing momentum to ban the practice of conversion therapy. A YouGov opinion poll from January shows that 2 in 3 Scottish adults are in favour of a national ban.
Other students are also taking steps to push the government towards a ban by running campaigns in universities all over the UK. In 2024, the True Trans Liberation campaign made it all the way to the National Union of Students (NUS) Liberation Conference. The campaign urged the NUS to lobby for a national trans-inclusive ban on conversion therapy across the UK and to promote it in universities.
UClan’s trans inclusive campaign to ban conversion therapy has already reached significant milestones, including: successfully passing motions in Students’ Unions across the country; contributing to the NUS motion for True Trans Liberation in 2024; and being a finalist for the 2024 National Student Pride Awards for Student Union Campaign of the Year.
Vice President Communities Justine Pédussel commented: “Conversion therapy is an outdated an unethical practice. Our students and trans people everywhere should be allowed to express their identity without fear or worry. As long as conversion therapy is legal, I don’t see how they can.
“I am extremely proud that we are participating in the campaign to ban conversion therapy and ask students to please sign a postcard in support of the ban, which will be sent to our government representatives. Anyone can pick up a postcard from the Students’ Union office in the atrium.”
If you want to have your voice heard on trans conversion therapy, head to the Students’ Union office in the atrium and fill out a card with your name, postcode and signature. All cards will then be sent to UClan and delivered to MPs across the country to urge them to ban conversion therapy.
Featured Image Credit: University of Central Lancashire Students’ Union