News Story

Laws to outlaw conversion practices could have a “chilling effect on free speech” an MSP has claimed.

Reform MSP Amanda Lindsay claimed that legislation in this area “ought to terrify parents”, saying it could criminalise “normal conversations” between parents and teenagers.

She spoke out after Vic Valentine of the Equality Network said a Bill to outlaw conversion practices should be a priority for the new Scottish Government.

As it stands, Holyrood ministers hope to extend Westminster legislation banning conversion practices in England and Wales to also cover Scotland with the Programme for Government adding that “should the UK Government fail to deliver we will not hesitate to bring forward Scottish legislation”.

But the Equality Network campaigner said a Bill dropped by the previous Scottish government “would have much more effectively ended conversion practices”.

They said: “We’re broadly disappointed that the Scottish Government seems to be indicating that it wants to go in with the UK Government on its Bill it is proposing for England and Wales.”

But speaking about legislation to end conversion practices, Ms Lindsay said: “I feel the danger is we are at risk of criminalising normal conversations between parents and teenagers and this risks having a very chilling effect on free speech.”

Adding that she was “speaking as a mother as well as a politician” she raised concerns that parents of a transgender teenager seeking testosterone and a double mastectomy “might be too afraid” to speak to their child about their reasons for this.

Speaking at Holyrood’s Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee, Ms Lindsay said: “I feel this Bill ought to terrify parents.”

The MSP said: “My understanding of conversion therapy was what used to happen in the past to lesbian and gay people, the use of torture, electrocution, forced ingestion of poison, corrective rape for lesbians, which is criminal and despicable.

“However, to my understanding, there haven’t been any cases of this for many years, if at all in Scotland.

“And that sort of criminal behaviour is already covered by existing legislation.”

Valentine told Ms Lindsay the examples given were “definitely already criminal”.

Adding that it is “hard to collect good prevalence data on how common conversion practices are”, the campaigner said it was “more common” for cases to be similar to coercive control.

Conversion practices can also “happen in pseudo medical settings”, MSPs were told, with Valentine saying: “There might be a service that advertises it is able to change your sexual orientation or gender identity, that you can come and receive counselling.

“But all the evidence tells us that you can’t change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity.

“And it’s really harmful to try and change it because it sends a message that being lesbian, gay, bi or trans is wrong, that you are broken or need to be fixed when you absolutely don’t need to be.”

The campaigner insisted: “I’m not aware of anywhere in the world that sets a threshold for criminalisation that would mean parents having normal conversations with their children would face any kind of criminal penalty.

“And, to be clear, I wouldn’t support a Bill with the kind of criminal threshold.

“That’s not what the UK Government or the previous Scottish government proposals were suggesting.”