In what advocates are hailing as a historic milestone for human rights, the government has finally published its draft conversion practices bill. The proposed legislation, which applies to England and Wales, aims to put a definitive end to the abusive and deeply damaging practices designed to forcibly alter an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity. For years, survivors and activists have fought for these basic protections, and the newly unveiled draft bill proposes rigorous penalties for perpetrators, including up to five years in prison and unlimited fines.

The publication of the draft represents a hard-won victory against a backdrop of prolonged political obstruction. It has been eight long years since Theresa May first vowed to ban these harmful practices in 2018. In the intervening years, successive Conservative administrations repeatedly capitulated to right-wing pressure, resulting in a series of demoralizing delays and U-turns. The low point of this legislative foot-dragging occurred under Boris Johnson, whose government initially planned to scrap the ban entirely before attempting to exclude transgender individuals from its protections—a move that sparked a massive public backlash and forced the cancellation of the government's own international LGBT conference.

Now, under a Labour government committed to fulfilling its manifesto pledges, the draft bill explicitly includes protections for both sexual orientation and gender identity. Stonewall CEO Simon Blake celebrated the draft as a "historic and long overdue step forward on the journey towards LGBTQ+ equality." Blake highlighted the urgent need for state intervention, stating, "LGBTQ+ people are not broken or in need of ‘fixing.’ At a time when we’re seeing increased hostility towards the LGBTQ+ community, this draft bill is crucial in creating a safer and more inclusive future."

The draft bill sets the criminal threshold at "conduct that aims to change someone’s sexual orientation or transgender identity through abusive acts that seriously harm the victim." This standard is designed to target systemic, coercive abuse while ensuring that victims have a clear pathway to justice. Crucially, the bill also establishes a new "civil conversion practice protection order." Modeled on existing protections for survivors of forced marriage and female genital mutilation, these orders will allow courts to intervene pre-emptively, protecting vulnerable individuals before they can be subjected to abuse.

The real-world necessity of such protections is illustrated by survivors like Matthew Hyndman, a Northern Ireland native and former contestant on . Hyndman has spoken out about the devastating social coercion he faced within his evangelical Christian community, where he was told to "publicly repent" for being gay or face total exile. "My vocation, my community, everything was so intertwined, particularly when you have a faith," Hyndman recalled. "So for me to say no was to reject the belief of my entire community and walk."