The same Labour Party which two months ago described the Cass report into the treatment of children who believe they are transgender as a “watershed moment,” and which said it would “work to implement [its] expert recommendations,” is now desperate to ban transgender conversion therapy, despite the author’s concerns.
Paediatrician Dr. Hillary Cass, the report’s author, opposes conversion therapy—therapy to overcome homosexual attraction or to preserve someone’s biological gender identity—in principle but has warned that a trans-inclusive ban would have unintended consequences. Campaigners have also highlighted that a law banning trans conversion therapy could criminalise legitimate conversations between parents and their own children.
Despite this, a Labour insider told The Times that “there isn’t really a reason why it [legislation] has to be delayed.” The newspaper reports that “party sources believe that the changes can be made rapidly, potentially within the first 100 days of a Labour government.”
But Cass is concerned that a ban could turn professionals away from treating children who are questioning their gender, much to the detriment of these children:
It’s just beyond me to know how on earth to do it [legislate for the ban] because it’s about intent—[it’s about] if you’re intending to change somebody’s gender identity.
I think clinicians will be really worried that if they have conversations with a young person and then they change their gender identity, then they could accuse the person of conversion. Nobody wants to be the first test case. That’s the real challenge.
Cass even suggested that exemptions to exclude professionals from upcoming legislation could not be enough—that “even then people might be fearful.”
A ban on conversion therapy was first promised by Conservative then-Prime Minister Theresa May. Coverage of Labour’s plans in the Times suggests that the Tories “ultimately dropped” legislation, though a government source told The European Conservative in April—after another publication made a similar claim—that its position “remains” the same.
There are clearly concerns that Labour will not manage to keep safeguards in place while forcing through legislation on trans conversion therapy, not least if its timeframe for the ban is so short.
There are similar concerns surrounding alleged centrist Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer’s plans to make it easier to change gender and to shake up the teaching of transgender issues in schools. The party is playing its cards relatively close to its chest now, but if polling is even close to being correct, it will have free reign to do what it likes after July 4th.
