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Controversial "gay conversion therapies" are to be banned as part of a government plan to improve the lives of gay and transgender people.

A national survey of 108,000 members of the LGBT community suggested 2% have undergone the practice with another 5% having been offered it.

It also found more than two-thirds of LGBT people avoid holding hands in public, for fear of negative reactions.

The prime minister said nobody "should ever have to hide who they are".

A 75-point plan to improve the lives of LGBT people, costing £4.5m, has been produced in response to the survey.

It includes plans to introduce a national LGBT health adviser, tackle discrimination, improve the response to hate crime and to improve diversity in education institutions.

Theresa May has also launched a 16-week public consultation in England and Wales about the process of gender reassignment after research showed that trans people find it "overly bureaucratic and invasive".

The charity Stonewall said there were still "pockets of society" where the LGBT community was "far from safe".

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Cumbria dairy farmer tells of struggle to come out

As part of the plan, it said it would "consider all legislative and non-legislative options to prohibit promoting, offering or conducting conversion therapy".

While the government did not offer a definition of "conversion therapy", its report said it "can range from pseudo-psychological treatments to, in extreme cases, surgical interventions and 'corrective' rape".

Faith organisations were by far the most likely to have carried out the practice, according to the report. It is often either forced on people or they go voluntarily. The NHS does not refer people for it and disagrees with the practice.

'Abhorrent practice'

Equalities minister Penny Mordaunt told BBC Radio 4's Today programme of the practice: "This is very extreme so-called therapy that is there to try and 'cure' someone from being gay - of course you can't cure someone from being gay. In its most extreme form it can involve corrective rape.

"That's very different from psychological services and counselling. It's pretty unpleasant, some of the results we found, and it shows that there's more action to do."

She said the government is consulting on the best way to implement a ban, adding: "It's absolutely right that that abhorrent practice has to go."

Journalist Patrick Strudwick, who went undercover to expose so-called conversion therapists, said he has "seen, and felt, the damage it does", writing: "Conversion therapy does need to be banned. It is abuse."

He said it would be difficult to do so though, with the government recognising the scale of the issue.

'Lives are in the balance'

Jayne Ozanne, a member of the Church of England's general synod who went through the "therapy", told the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme: "I went through this because I believed - as many do - that being gay was sinful."

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption ‘I had exorcisms to ‘cure’ me of being gay’

She added: "The key problem is that it causes great harm. There are many, many young people suffering mental issues, self-harm, suicidal tendencies as a result of this, because they feel so guilty when it doesn't work."

Vicky Beeching sought therapy as a teenager, but the experience led to depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts and physical health symptoms.

"This is devastating," she said of such practices. "People's lives are literally in the balance."

Dr Louise Theodosiou of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, which "100% backs the ban", told the programme: "There's no evidence base to support this therapy. Your sexuality and your gender ID are inherent and there's no evidence base and no therapeutic treatment to change what is simply part of someone's nature."

Analysis

By Michelle Roberts, BBC News online health editor

Sometimes called "reparative" or "gay cure" therapy, conversion therapy is a term used for any form of so-called treatment which attempts to change sexual orientation or reduce attraction to others of the same sex.

Experts say the word therapy is misleading because there is no scientific basis for it

All major therapy professional bodies as well as the NHS in the UK disagree with it on logical, ethical and moral grounds.

Stonewall says that "no one should be told their identity is something that can be cured".

Those identifying as gay or lesbian made up 61% of respondents to the survey, carried out between July and October last year. Just over a quarter identified as bisexual and a small number identified as pansexual (4%) and asexual (2%). People identifying as transgender accounted for 13% of respondents.

A quarter of those who took part in the survey said they were not open at all about being LGBT with family members they lived with.

Of the trans men who took part in the survey, 56% said they had avoided expressing their gender identity for fear of a negative reaction from others.

That figure rose to 59% for trans women and 76% for non-binary respondents.

LGBT hate incidents had been experienced by 40% of people in the survey, with more than nine in 10 of the most serious offences going unreported.

Prime Minister Theresa May said: "We can be proud that the UK is a world leader in advancing LGBT rights, but the overwhelming response to our survey has shone a light on the many areas where we can improve the lives of LGBT people.

"I was struck by just how many respondents said they cannot be open about their sexual orientation or avoid holding hands with their partner in public for fear of a negative reaction.

"No one should ever have to hide who they are or who they love."

'Long way to go'

Ruth Hunt, chief executive of Stonewall, said she was pleased the government was listening to the LGBT community,.

But she added there was "still a long way to go until we reach full equality".

Campaigner Peter Tatchell welcomed the government trying to ban conversion therapy. But he said the 75 point-plan did not go far enough.

"The biggest fail is the lack of any pledge to end the detention and deportation of LGBT+ refugees fleeing persecution in violently homophobic countries like Uganda, Iran, Russia, Egypt and Jamaica," he said.

"Another big omission is the absence of any commitment to compensate gay and bisexual men who were convicted under past anti-gay laws."</s>The British Government is planning to ban gay conversion therapy.

It follows a survey of more than 100,000 LGBT people which found two per cent had undergone conversion therapy, while five per cent had been offered it.

Prime Minister Theresa May has voiced her support, saying "nobody should ever have to hide who they are".

In New Zealand, a petition has been launched, calling on the Government to follow suit.</s>The U.K. government will be banning the so-called gay conversion therapy, a practice that it called "abhorrent," as it announced on Tuesday, July 3. Aside from forbidding interventions meant to change a person's sexual orientation, the British government has also put into motion an "LGBT Action Plan."

This plan has been allocated around $5.9 million and will focus on the welfare of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, according to NBC News. The plan came in the wake of the results of a survey of more than 100,000 LGBTQ people in the U.K. which revealed that two percent have claimed to have "undergone conversion therapy in an attempt to 'cure' them of being LGBT."

"No one should ever have to hide who they are or who they love," British Prime Minister Theresa May said in a statement on the same day, adding that the LGBT Action Plan was made with an aim of establishing "real and lasting change" when it comes to the issues facing LGBT people, ranging from health and education to problems with discrimination and social injustice.

"It's unacceptable that people feel they cannot hold hands with their partner in public, and that they are unable to walk down the street without fear of abuse," Minister for Women and Equalities Penny Mordaunt said, as quoted by CNN.

Mordaunt went on to mention the "deeply worrying" issues that LGBT people experience when it comes to accessing health care and other public services, as well as her claim that "many are being offered the abhorrent practice of conversion therapy."

The new action plan was unveiled in time for Pride Week in London, and will be considering legislative and other options in order to put a stop to the "promoting, offering or conducting" of gay conversion therapy.</s>Conversion therapy – sometimes known as “reparative therapy” or “gay cure therapy” – claims to alter a person’s sexual orientation from gay to straight. The practice is based on the mistaken idea that gay people suffer a traumatic experience early in life that has damages them and that homosexuality is a “reparative drive” to overcome this early trauma.

In the UK, practitioners are legally allowed to promote and provide conversion therapy. But, hopefully, not for much longer. The UK government has announced plans to ban conversion therapy as part of its LGBT action plan.

Attempts to “cure” homosexuality were not always couched in the language of therapy. In the early 20th century, medical professionals believed that homosexuality was a birth defect. One “treatment” involved replacing a testicle of a homosexual man with one from a heterosexual man. Later methods included lobotomies and chemical castration – a method used on Alan Turing, the Enigma codebreaker.

Homosexuality later came to be seen as a condition that could be “treated” psychologically – although this doesn’t mean that the methods used were any more humane.

In the 1950s and 60s, when homosexuality was still illegal in the UK, the NHS routinely used aversion therapy on men convicted of homosexuality in an attempt to turn them straight. If they volunteered for this treatment, they could avoid a prison sentence. Volunteers – if they can be called that – were shown pictures of naked men and given either electric shocks or drugs that induced vomiting. The aim was to make them respond negatively to their homosexuality and thus to be “cured”.

Homosexuality was removed from the American Psychiatric Association’s diagnostic manual in 1987 and from the World Health Organisation’s classification of mental disorders in 1992. Progress in this area has been slow.

In 2015, a memorandum of understanding stating that conversion therapy is unethical and potentially harmful was signed by representatives from the NHS, the Royal College of Psychiatrists and the major counselling and psychotherapy organisations in the UK.

Being gay is not a disease and there is no sound evidence that sexual orientation can be changed by “conversion therapy”. Also, “treating” homosexuality sustains the prejudice and discrimination that gay people already face in society.

Gay people who seek to change their sexuality do so because of internalised homophobia and because of the dangers and pressures arising from this external prejudice and discrimination. An example of the potential harm is seen in a 2002 study

 of 202 men, which found that the practice had led 34 of them to attempt suicide either during or after “conversion therapy”.

These days “conversion therapy” is generally advocated by religious groups, such the Core Issues Trust, a UK organisation that “works with people who seek to change from a ‘gay’ lifestyle to a gender-affirming one”.

In common with National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality in the US (an organisation that advocates the use of conversion therapy in the US), the Core Issues Trust advocates for the right of people to have access to this service if they want it. They use the language of rights, autonomy and client choice, arguing that a ban would deny them a “human right to treatment intended to help them shape their lives as they wish”.

They have also co-opted the language of sexual fluidity as justification for their assertion that the practice works. This misunderstands what is meant by sexual fluidity.

People are born with both a sexual orientation and a degree of sexual flexibility that varies from person to person. Some people are fixedly gay or straight, but others are more fluid and can experience attractions that run outside of their general sexual orientation. Sexual fluidity is the capacity to experience sexual attraction that runs counter to your orientation.

There is now mounting evidence that gay people are born gay, as a clear link has been found between sexual orientation – at least in men – with two regions of the human genome.

Which way now?

After years of campaigning and legal pressure, the UK government is finally going to follow the example of some other European countries and states in Canada, Australia and the US, and ban the practice of “conversion therapy”. It will be interesting to see how the debate develops as the legislation proceeds through parliament.

The NHS and the major psychiatric, counselling and psychotherapy organisations are already opposed to the practice. But if the counselling profession remains unregulated – meaning anyone, including religious groups and individuals, can offer “counselling” – how will the ban be enforced? The battle is not yet won.</s>LONDON -- The British government says it will ban gay conversion therapy as part of 4.5-million-pound ($5.9 million) effort to make society more inclusive for LGBT people. The initiative comes after the government released the results of a survey of 108,000 LGBT people, which found that 5 percent had been offered conversion therapies. The government says it will "eradicate the abhorrent practice."

The survey also found that LGBT people experience prejudice daily, with more than two in three saying they avoid holding hands with a same-sex partner in public for fear of a negative reaction.

Prime Minister Theresa May says, "no one should ever have to hide who they are or who they love."

The government's 75-point plan includes appointment of a national LGBT health adviser to improve care for the community.

According to CBS News partner network BBC News, the government will, "consider all legislative and non-legislative options to prohibit promoting, offering or conducting conversion therapy."

In the U.S., a growing number of states and municipalities are also banning gay conversion therapies. Maryland was the latest to make such a move, with Gov. Larry Hogan signing a bill into law in May to prohibit health professionals from using the practice on minors. Maryland was the 11th state to enact legislation against the practice.

Supporters of bans note that gay conversion therapy has been widely discredited by U.S. medical and mental health associations, and say barring it helps protect youths from depression, anxiety and potential suicide by preventing them from being forced into such treatment.</s>After a survey of LGBT people in Britain found that approximately 2% of the 108,000 participants had undergone the harmful and discredited practice of conversion therapy , the results shed light on the discrimination and stresses that people in the LGBT community experience daily. That's why the country is taking steps to make life better for LGBT people, including moving toward a ban on conversion therapy.

Of the survey respondents, approximately 61% identified as gay or lesbian while about 26% of participants identified as bisexual, and 4% identified as pansexual. Results found that 68% of people in the U.K. with a “minority sexual orientation” said they have avoided holding hands in public with a same-sex partner, and 70% said they have hid their sexual orientation out of fear of negative reactions. The findings also show that 26% of respondents answered that they had experienced verbal harassment or abuse in the year preceding the survey, with many adding that they did not report serious incidents to the police.

Penny Mordaunt, the U.K's. minister for women and equalities, penned an article in which she said that the government “will introduce mandatory relationships education in primary schools and relationships and sex education in secondary schools” as well as extend programs that “tackle homophobic, biphobic, and transphobic bullying in schools.” Prime Minister Theresa May released a statement in which she said she was "struck by just how many respondents said they cannot be open about their sexual orientation or avoid holding hands with their partner in public for fear of a negative reaction.” The study was conducted online in 2017, from July to October, and was the largest ever conducted of its kind.

The government subsequently released a 75-point LGBT action plan , and announced that the U.K. would be appointing an LGBT health adviser as part of the plan. In addition, the nation will be taking steps to put an end to conversion therapy practices in the U.K., according to the official action plan. Other pledges in the action plan include the promise to improve police response to LGBT hate crimes, and provide more governmental support for students and teachers in the LGBT community.

After the release of the action plan, journalist Patrick Strudwick wrote a Twitter thread about his extensive experiences with going undercover to expose conversion-therapy practices in the U.K. According to the Human Rights Campaign, conversion therapy is "a range of dangerous and discredited practices that falsely claim to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity or expression." In the last tweet in his thread, Strudwick said, “The government needs to understand the scale of conversion therapy. It isn’t just restricted to therapists, it infects a range of religious organisations, often in private. In the end, the very idea needs to be attacked. Love needs no cure.”

In the United States, a rising number of states and municipalities have moved to ban conversion therapy, with Maryland recently becoming the 11th state to enact legislation against the practice for LGBTQ youth. And California is moving to become the first state to completely ban the practice for both children as well as adults. However, there has been no federal government action to nationally ban conversion therapy in the U.S.

Related: Real Homeless LGBTQ Youth Open Up to Troye Sivan About the Realities of Homelessness

Let us slide into your DMs. Sign up for the Teen Vogue daily email .

Get the Teen Vogue Take. Sign up for the Teen Vogue weekly email .</s>The Church of England has voiced its support for the United Kingdom's plan to ban "conversion therapy," while other Christian groups have warned of the free speech implications of such restrictions.

On Tuesday, the U.K. government rolled out its 75-point LGBT Action Plan to better fight discrimination against the LGBT community and improve the lives of LGBT persons.

Among many other things, the plan would compel the government to "consider all legislative and non-legislative options to prohibit promoting, offering or conducting conversion therapy."

In a statement released Tuesday, a spokesperson for the Church of England praised the action plan, specifically singling out the call to ban conversion therapy.

"We warmly welcome the government commitment to eradicate gay conversion therapy in this country," the statement reads.

The action plan comes as the Church of England pressed the government last year to outlaw conversion therapy and after ministers met with Church Estates Commissioner Dame Caroline Spelman about the issue.

Last summer, the Church of England Synod approved a motion condemning conversion therapy, saying it has "no place in the modern world."

Other Christian groups, however, have voiced their concerns about the plan, saying that it could end up preventing people with unwanted same-sex attractions from receiving the therapy and counseling they desire.

The LGBT Action Plan coincides with the release of an extensive 108,000-person National LGBT Survey conducted by the U.K. government which found that 2 percent of same-sex attracted people surveyed received some form of "conversion or reparative therapy in an attempt to 'cure' them of being LGBT." Five percent said they had been offered such therapy.

"Restricting therapy would violate freedom of speech of both clients and therapists, as well as third parties such as supervisors of therapists," the U.K.-based group Christian Concern argued in a statement. "A situation would arise whereby a state had prohibited free speech on human sexuality, behavior and feelings in private and confidential conversations as well as public settings, essentially because LGBT activists consider the words that might be said to be offensive."

Daniel Mattson, the author of the memoir Why I Don't Call Myself Gay: How I Reclaimed My Sexual Reality and Found Peace, told Catholic News Agency that banning conversion therapy would "interfere in the rights of parents and children to determine their own choice of action in the name of supposedly protecting people from harm."

Mattson, a Catholic, admits that there have been "extreme measures" in conversion therapy in the past that have been negative for the mental health of other same-sex attracted individuals. He assured that the goal of conversion therapy shouldn't be to change one's sexual orientation but to help them respond to their attractions with "chastity" and virtue.

"This is a question where parents want their son or daughter to know what it means to be fully comfortable in their own sexual identity as a man or women," he told the news agency. "What the Church is doing is calling men and women and teenagers to live out the Church's teaching on chastity and the virtues, and our young people need to have the right to be able to have therapy that might help them with that."

Christian Concern pointed out that many people choose to seek therapy for "reasons of their own conscience" and religious and non-religious counselors are willing to provide the therapy they are seeking.

Core Issues Trust, a Christian group based in Northern Ireland that offers counseling services, said in a statement Tuesday that it would support government regulation of conversion therapy but not a ban on the practice.

"The Trust supports the rights of autonomous individuals to take the pathways that reflect their goals and values, including LGBTI dignity," The Trust stated. "It supports regulation of sexual attraction fluidity exploration therapy where the dangers of viewpoint discrimination have been removed by fair representation on decision-making bodies."

The Church of England also said in its statement that it would "welcome the recognition that any steps take [by the government] should not have the unintended consequence of preventing people seeking spiritual support from their faith leader in the exploration of their sexual orientation or gender identity."</s>The British government says it will ban conversion therapy, the controversial practice of trying to change sexual orientation. Patrick Strudwick's reporting helped galvanize the movement that resulted in the ban.</s>The prime minister said in May: ‘I want to help make us a country where no one feels the need to hide who they are or who they love’ ( Getty )

The prime minister said in May: ‘I want to help make us a country where no one feels the need to hide who they are or who they love’ ( Getty )

Labour has demanded Theresa May ban the "cruel and inhumane" practice of gay conversion therapy as the government prepares to publish its major LGBT+ action plan.

The party's call comes as the prime minister is set to launch her proposals later this week, alongside the world's largest survey of LGBT+ people, detailing the responses of 108,000 individuals in the UK.

Labour claims the controversial practice - sometimes referred to as "gay cure" - which aims to change or alter an individual's sexual orientation has "spread fear and hatred" in society and calls for legislation from ministers to make it illegal.

Several organisations, including NHS England, the British Psychological Society, and the Royal College of Psychiatrists published a "memorandum of understanding" in 2014 describing conversion therapy as "unethical and potentially harmful".

Despite campaigns and attempts by backbench MPs to ban the practice there are currently no laws against the practice and the LGBT+ charity, Stonewall, suggests there is evidence that individuals continue to experience the therapies.

The organisation's "Unhealthy Attitudes" report, published in 2015, claimed that one in 10 health and social care staff have witnessed colleagues express the belief that sexual orientation can be "cured".

In 2016, Malta became the first European country to outlaw conversion therapy after the country's parliament voted unanimously for a bill which detailed fines and jail sentences for any individual found guilty of trying to "change, repress or eliminate a person's sexual orientation, gender identity and/or gender expression".

Labour's Dawn Butler, the shadow equalities minister, said: "We must finally see an end to cruel and inhumane conversion therapies, which have been allowed to spread fear and hatred in our society for far too long."

Ahead of the publication of the LGBT+ action plan, the party also urges ministers to reinstate cuts to the administrative equalities budget, which has almost halved since 2010.

According to a written ministerial statement last month, the Government Equalities Office received £9.5m in 2010-11 and this fell to £4.6m in 2017-18. In the current financial year, £5.3m has been earmarked by the Treasury for the equalities office.

Its programme budget, however, rose from £6.2m in 2010-11 to £9.6m in 2017-18 and an additional £10m was allocated to the budget for the centenary and returners project to spend between 2017-20. The former is to celebrate 100 years of voting rights for women while the latter is to support people returning to work after long breaks.

Ms Butler added: "The Conservatives have slashed funding for equalities in half since 2010. How can Theresa May claim to be tackling burning injustices, while cutting the funding to achieve this?

"The government's action plan must address all forms of discrimination and inequality facing LGBT+ people. This will require resources, and a reversal of their own policies.

"Theresa May must stop dragging her feet on updating the Gender Recognition Act. It's a disgrace that the Government's consultation hasn't started a year after it was promised.

Speaking in May, the prime minister said the action plan will present "concrete steps" to improve the lives of LGBT+ people in Britain, adding: "I want to help make us a country where no one feels the need to hide who they are or who they love."</s>Gay conversion therapies which try to 'cure' people's sexuality will be banned as part of the Government's LGBT Action Plan.

The plan is an attempt to tackle the inequalities faced by members of the LGBT community.

It comes after a large Government survey assessed some of the difficulties facing LGBT people living in the UK.

Over 108,000 people responded making it the biggest study of its kind in the world.

It highlighted how 2% of those who replied had undergone conversion therapy with a further 5% having been offered it.

The survey also found 68% of same sex couples said they didn't hold hands in public for fear of facing abuse.

While 51% who had wanted mental healthcare services said they had to wait too long.

Prime Minister Theresa May described the responses as "overwhelming" and "shone a light on the many areas we can improve the lives of LGBT people".

"No one should ever have to hide who they are or who they love," she said.

Penny Mordaunt, Women and Equalities minister, whose department was behind the action plan said: "This Government has done much to promote a diverse, tolerant society and supporting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, but it is clear we have more to do.

"Our action plan is a step towards everyone, regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity or sex characteristics being able to live safe, happy and healthy lives where they can be themselves without fear of discrimination.

"It will mark a culture change to allow LGBT people to feel respected at every level of society."

The Action Plan sets out 75 steps to help improve the lives of LGBT people.

:: Measures to end controversial conversion therapies, by looking at legislative and non-legislative changes

:: A new national LGBT health adviser role will be created to help improve access to healthcare services

:: Extra work with the police to improve how hate crime incidents are responded to

:: More support for teachers and pupils at schools and other education bodies

:: A consultation on whether gender laws should be changed to make it easier for trans people to change their birth certificates



But Labour feels the government could have gone further. Dawn Butler MP Labour's Shadow Women and Equalities Minister, said: "Much of this plan is yet more reviews and consultations. After years of empty rhetoric and broken promises, we need to see concrete actions to show the Government is serious about tackling the inequalities faced by LGBT+ communities."

Labour says it would introduce a full legal ban on conversion therapy, and toughen the penalties for those guilty of hate crimes.

Campaigners say the survey results show how action is needed.



Stonewall's Director of Policy, Paul Twocock, told Sky News: "One of the things we often hear is complacency, we achieved same sex marriage and so much legislative change people feel things are OK, but this survey shows it's not the case. We need to do a lot to achieve equality."

Paul Martin OBE, Chief Executive at LGBT Foundation said: "LGBT people continue to face significant health inequalities and we welcome the government's commitment to tackling these through the appointment of an LGBT Health Adviser.

"We hope that today's plan is a clear statement of the Government's commitment to work in partnership with the LGBT charity sector to achieve a fair and equal society where all lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people can achieve their full potential.
Theresa May announces a ban on gay conversion therapy.