The Rainbow Project has criticised what it describes as “misleading” commentary surrounding Northern Ireland’s proposed Conversion Practices (Criminalisation) Bill, insisting that the legislation is designed to tackle harmful and abusive practices rather than criminalise ordinary conversations between families.

The intervention follows comments from Communities Minister Gordon Lyon, who claimed that the Bill could place “ordinary family life, religious practice, and honest conversations in the crosshairs of the criminal law”. The Minister suggested that parents could face up to two years in prison for encouraging a child to “slow down and think it through” before making decisions about their identity.

Scott Cuthbertson, CEO of The Rainbow Project, said the organisation had previously attempted to engage “in good faith with the Minister and sought to work together to bring forward a ban on these harmful, abusive practices”. However, Cuthbertson accused the Communities Department of failing to bring forward meaningful proposals to improve the lives of LGBTQ+ people in Northern Ireland, adding that The Rainbow Project remained willing to work with political parties to ensure the legislation “strikes the right balance”.

He rejected suggestions that the Bill would criminalise parents seeking to support their children. “Parents have nothing to fear from protecting people from abuse,” Cuthbertson said.

The Rainbow Project pointed to countries including Malta, Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Belgium and Cyprus, which have introduced bans on conversion practices. The organisation said there was no evidence from those countries that legislation had criminalised parents engaging in “normal, reasonable conversations” with their children.

According to figures from the UK Government’s National LGBT Survey, 7% of LGBTQ+ respondents across the UK said they had been offered or undergone so-called ‘conversion therapy’, rising to 12% in Northern Ireland. Trans respondents were more likely to report having experienced or been offered conversion practices, at 13%, compared with 7% of cisgender respondents.

Alexa Moore, Policy & Public Affairs Manager at The Rainbow Project, said harmful conversion practices remained legal in Northern Ireland. She said the Bill was not about “criminalising conversations”, but about tackling abuse, including practices that seek to convince LGBTQ+ people that their identities can or should be changed.

The Rainbow Project also defended the Bill’s inclusion of trans people, arguing that they face a particularly high risk of conversion practices. The organisation said the proposed legislation contains protections for freedom of speech, religion and the delivery of healthcare, and urged MLAs to support the Bill.

In 2021, the Northern Ireland Assembly backed a motion to ban conversion practices. The Rainbow Project said MLAs now have an opportunity to turn that commitment into legislation with a conversion practices bill.