ALT The Scottish Government has dropped the ban on conversion practices. This is the latest in a growing list of betrayals for LGBTQ+ Scots from this Scottish Government. Scotland could have banned conversion therapy years ago. Instead queer people need to continue to suffer from these evil practices while we wait for our governments to grow a spine. Every day in Scotland, vulnerable people are being degraded, punished and in some cases tortured, just because they are LGBTQ+.

ALT LGBTQ+ rights are under attack right now, in a way we haven’t seen since Thatcher’s Section 28 ban on ‘promoting homosexuality’. Queer people are crying out for some solidarity from politicians. Instead this news is a stab in the back. Last weekend thousands of people across Scotland rallied behind the trans community. Rather than meeting the moment, the Scottish Government has abandoned them.

ALT The longer our governments wait to take decisive action, the more fear and anger that bigots can whip up against the LGBTQ+ community. The law could have been changed years ago but our so-called leaders were too scared to stand up for queer rights and kicked this issue into the long grass. Politicians who run elections campaigns promising change then throw queer people under the bus should be ashamed of themselves.

ALT Scottish Government Programme for Government 2023-24: “Progress the Scottish Government’s commitment to a Bill on ending conversion practices.” Scottish Government Programme for Government 2024-25: “Progressing our commitment to ending conversion practices… should a UK-wide approach not be achievable.” Two years since the Expert Advisory Group provided its report and recommendations the Scottish Government's progress on a ban on conversion practices has stalled. We have seen no movement since the consultation on detailed proposals for the legislation closed six months ago. The proposals are ready and have been consulted on, the legislation can be brought to parliament this year - instead the Scottish Government has chosen to kick it into the long grass with a Programme for Government that has been copy-and-pasted from last year's to display zero progress towards change.

ALT Instead what we see with this Programme for Government is a step backwards from a dedication to deliver a Bill built on the principles set out by the expert advisory group and instead one of waiting to see what is delivered by Westminster. An approach we have seen is far more likely to leave the most vulnerable in our community behind. This should be seen as what it is, a betrayal of LGBTQ+ people who have already been waiting four years for the Scottish Parliament to progress on this issue and been faced by a Government content to sit on its hands as the increasing risk of the abuse of conversion therapy continues to threaten our community. The Scottish Government seems set not to raise this before parliament until the next election year, at which point it will become fodder in the culture wars fought over each election. We deserve better, and this delay is inexcusable.

ALT In the last Programme for Government there was a commitment to ‘progress the Scottish Government’s commitment to a Bill on ending conversion practices’. In this one we expect to see a commitment to deliver it. It has been over three years since the Scottish Government was elected on a manifesto promise to deliver this ban, nearly two years since the Expert Advisory Group provided its report and recommendations, and nearly five months since the consultation on detailed proposals for legislation to end conversion practices in Scotland was closed. Now, it is time to put policy into practice, and bring this terrible abuse of our community to an end. We are concerned that any further delays to a bill being introduced risks this issue being subjected to the same campaign of disinformation faced by Gender Recognition Reform, and delaying into 2025-26 risks becoming a political football ahead of the 2026 election, once again putting our community in the spotlight and our lives, safety, and

ALT Screenshot of a letter to Kate Forbes MSP with End Conversion Therapy logo. Character limit does not allow the full letter text to be posted here. The text of the letter will be posted in a thread below this tweet.