♀Alison 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scottish, womanⓒ

🚨 WHOSE VOICES ARE MISSING FROM THE CONVERSION PRACTICES BILL SCRUTINY? Tomorrow, the Joint Committee examining the Draft Conversion Practices Bill will hear from five experts including from the “non binary” Dr. Igi Moon and gender medicine specialist Dr. Alison Berner. The clinical panel appears heavily weighted towards those aligned with the Memorandum of Understanding on Conversion Therapy and gender-affirming approaches. One notable exception is Dr Anna Hutchinson, a clinical psychologist with first-hand experience at GIDS, who has courageously defended exploratory therapy and highlighted the dangers of poorly defined conversion therapy bans. But where are the other independent clinical voices? Where are @stellaomalley3, Marcus and Susan Evans, @Doctor_Az_ , @JamesEsses and @matildagosling , author of Criminalising Conversations? Where are the professionals with experience of exploratory therapy? The first evidence session on 29 October was more evenly balanced but tomorrow’s one appears markedly less so. The committee’s membership, including Olivia Bailey, the former minister who drafted the legislation, and Lord Isaac, former Chair of Stonewall, also raises legitimate questions about balance and independence. A consultation is only as good as the evidence it receives. For that reason, I urge clinicians, therapists, psychologists, psychiatrists and other professionals whose views have not been represented to submit written evidence. Your expertise matters. Make your voices heard before the deadline. ⚠️ The committee should also extend the deadline for written evidence. The current deadline is 5pm on Monday 16 November; the same day as an oral evidence session, with another on 19 November. Professionals should have the opportunity to hear all the evidence before submitting their own. An extension until after the final session is entirely reasonable. Parliament must hear the full range of professional opinion before proceeding with legislation of this significance. Submit evidence. Call for an extension. Make your voice heard.