Protect All Freedoms

Parents must be free to ask questions about their child’s sexuality and express loving concern. Caring for a child is a parent’s role, not the state’s. The Conversion Practices Bill, now undergoing pre-legislative scrutiny in Parliament, aims to outlaw abusive practices intended to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity. But it does not distinguish between minors and adults, or exempt parents from liability. As Kathleen Stock points out, the bill identifies “psychological or emotional pressure” — a perfectly standard parenting tool — as potentially indicative of abuse, particularly where it causes “serious harm to the individual’s … mental health” or “serious alarm or distress”. If these vague and subjective terms become law, the result for tired families dealing with volatile, self-destructive teenagers could be “thermonuclear”. It is entirely normal for parents to ask their children about their beliefs, exercise parental responsibility and show a duty of care through well-intentioned conversations. Abusive conversion practices are already illegal. So what would this bill achieve? It will see parents who try to dissuade their children from embarking on life-changing, dangerous and irreversible medical pathways face up to five years in prison. As Kathleen Stock writes: “It is no business of the state to be hounding parents who disagree with their teenager’s dramatic announcement of lasting same-sex attraction”. Read more in @thetimes 👇