The turn comes a few hours after it was revealed that the prime minister had decided not to consider it a crime to try to change someone’s sexual orientation. Although the government will now outlaw the “treatment” of homosexuals, No. 10 said the practice for trans people would remain legal, according to ITV News and Sky News. The Conservative Party has pledged in 2018 to end “conversion” therapies that seek to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity. The government had tried to justify Thursday’s short-term withdrawal from the commitment by saying it had decided to reconsider “how existing legislation can be implemented more effectively” to end the practice. The spokesman said the government would “also investigate the use of other non-legislative measures” to stop abusive practices. A Downing Street press release leaked to the press earlier Thursday suggests the reversal could be blamed on the need to prioritize government legislation from May, given the war in Ukraine and the cost of living crisis. He reportedly warned officials that there would be a “noisy reaction from LGBT groups and some MPs when we announce that we do not intend to move forward”. The warning turned out to be precautionary. Alicia Kearns, a Conservative MP for Rutland, said: “We have had time to vote that lobsters make sense – tell me how this is more important than telling gay and trans people that they deserve to be loved.” Dehenna Davison, an LGBT Tory MP, said the decision to lift the ban was “fundamentally wrong” and should be “overturned immediately”. Labor said the “outrageous decision” showed the prime minister could not keep his word about LGBT + rights. ITV News reporter Paul Brand, who first reported the lifting of the ban, said sources suggested that 60 lawmakers pressured Johnson to change course. Boris Johnson at the Gay Pride parade in 2008 while he was mayor of London (Getty) Jayne Ozanne, an LGBT rights activist within the Church of England, said the prime minister had “shown his true colors towards the LGBT community” and that the decision would “terrorize people across the country”. Ms Ozanne is also chair of the Ban Conversion Therapy Coalition and was a member of the government’s LGBT advisory committee until she resigned last year, accusing ministers of creating a “hostile environment” for LGBT people. Legislation aimed at banning conversion therapy was announced in the Queen’s speech last year. In October, Liz Truss, who drafted the original policy as Minister for Equality, stated that “there should be no room for abhorrent practice.” The leaked document reportedly warned that some people involved in the legislation had not yet been informed of the No. 10 policy change, including Ms. Tra. “While Liz is not ideologically committed to the law, she is likely to be concerned about ownership of the new post, having personally pledged to deliver the bill,” the statement said.
