The draft Conversion Practices Bill would silence therapists, harm children and divide families. That is the warning of our new report, which is based on 30 in-depth interviews with mental-health professionals. Read it here: sex-matters.org/posts/update…

“Parents who don’t affirm their child’s gender identity have had contact removed by social services.” @HJoyceGender speaks to @matildagosling about our new report on the risks of the government’s proposed Conversion Practices Bill. 📺 piped.video/watch?v=Ij3PEup9…

Any journalist or PR professional who recognises the importance of biological sex will know how difficult it can be to get stories into the media. Many mainstream outlets remain captured by gender ideology. Even those that value accurate reporting on sex and gender can face constraints from industry regulators - some of which also put ideology ahead of accuracy. So the significance of Sex Matters being selected as a finalist for a PR award, alongside long-established charities, should not be underestimated. Well done to Sally and everyone at @SexMattersOrg 👏

🇬🇧 Excellent briefing on the Draft Conversion Practices Bill. Criminalisation and silencing are expected results. "A person found guilty of a criminal offence could receive a fine, a prison term of up to five years or both. Criminal-offence provisions in the bill are presented alongside “conversion practice protection orders”. These would require a lower standard of proof than the criminal standards. There is little practical limit on them." @SexMattersOrg

A fabulous piece of work here👇 from @SexMattersOrg on so-called ‘conversion therapy’.

A new report makes a compelling case that the proposed Conversion Practices Bill would undermine legitimate clinical exploration and make it harder for children with complex psychological difficulties to access experienced care. Working with these children is demanding clinical work. It requires experienced clinicians. The exceptionalism in this area is striking. Clinicians routinely explore patients’ beliefs, how they developed and what they mean to them. Why should beliefs about gender be placed beyond exploration? It is already against professional ethics to impose your own beliefs or values on a patient. Exploring someone’s experience does not mean deciding in advance what conclusion they should reach. Whatever assurances the government gives, this unnecessary bill will further discourage experienced clinicians, who are hardly short of work, from taking on these cases. That will make it harder for these children to get the help they need. @SexMattersOrg @matildagosling @ThoughtfulTs @CanSG_org @Transgendertrd @RosieDuffield1 @KemiBadenoch @sueevansprotect @segm_ebm

The quote here from the excellent SM analysis of the conversion bill is 100% accurate legally speaking, no other criminal statute has quite this reach or breadth, the draft bill is an extraordinary incursion into basic private and family life.

Brilliant and important work & analysis from SM

Fabulous paper here with which I was involved. Sadly for many of the contributors they must still remain anonymous. That is telling in itself.

This new report is essential reading. It reveals, in therapists' own words, how dangerous the government's draft bill to ban what it calls "conversion practices" is. It will cause untold harm to precisely the vulnerable young people it purports to protect. Please read and share!

I spoke to 30 mental-health professionals about the Government’s draft Conversion Practices Bill, the findings of which are published today by @SexMattersOrg. The research identifies many serious problems and unintended consequences: ▶️ The bill's key terms are vague, leaving ethical, evidence-based therapists at risk of conversion-practice accusations. ▶️ Healthcare exemptions don’t work in practice: many skilled professionals would no longer work with young people with gender distress or detransitioners due to the risks involved. ▶️ Complex needs among this population – including trauma, autism, anxiety and difficult family backgrounds – would go unaddressed. ▶️ The bill treats children as adults, and it contains no exemptions for parents who do not want to take an unquestioningly affirmative approach with a trans-identifying child. ▶️ It could lead to more people seeking medicalisation and experiencing later regret, leading to growing numbers of detransitioners. ▶️ Wider risks include the embedding of a move away from evidence-based medicine, the criminalisation of ordinary conversations, vexatious complaints against skilled professionals, extended court backlogs, increasing NHS waiting times, and significant medical and legal costs.