Majority of Tory voters back banning trans conversion therapy despite shameful Boris Johnson U-turn

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The majority of Conservative Party voters back a complete ban on trans conversion therapy despite Boris Johnson planning to exclude the community from forthcoming legislation, a YouGov poll has found.

Polling conducted by YouGov on behalf of The Times found that 58 per cent of Tory voters back banning so-called conversion therapy that “seeks to change someone’s gender identity”, compared to only 19 per cent of Tory voters who don’t.

The Times claimed that Tory voters found little difference between a ban on trans conversion therapy and a ban on LGB (lesbian, gay and bisexual) conversion therapy, with 63 per cent of Tory voters agreeing that therapy “seeking to change someone’s sexual orientation” should be stopped.

The polling 1,826 adults comes as Boris Johnson doubles down on excluding trans people from a forthcoming yet long-overdue conversion therapy bill, claiming that there are “complexities and sensitivities” surrounding the issue.

Steve Wardlaw, chairman of LGBT-friendly insurer Emerald Life, who shared the Times poll on Twitter, said: “It’s a crass error by this government to take this stand and it will cost them.”

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I’ll look at the language of the main article later. But ⁦@Number10press⁩ please note the inset. Times’ polling shows that most ⁦@Conservatives⁩ voters BACK a ban on trans conversion therapy. If you think is the wedge issue that you are going to (1/2) pic.twitter.com/4695C0el5f

— Steve Wardlaw (@WardlawSteve) April 11, 2022

Organisers have estimated that at least 3,000 people gathered outside Downing Street on Sunday (10 April) to protest the government’s exclusion of trans people in its conversion therapy ban.

Arthur Webber, a trans commentator who was among the crowds at the protest, told PinkNews: “I’m attending today because there is no reason besides transphobia that conversion ‘therapy’ is acceptable for transgender people, but not for cisgender LGB people.

“If it’s torture for them, it’s torture for us.”

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The protesters represented only a slice of the more than 114,000 people who signed a government petition urging the government to legislate a trans conversion therapy ban.

The petition now has enough signatures to be considered for a debate in parliament.

Jayne Ozanne, a former LGBT+ advisor to the government, told PinkNews: “The swift response from the British public shows just how concerned so many people are of the need to protect the most vulnerable in our society today.

“The prime minister needs to understand that this issue affects all in our society who want to build a Britain that protects all from this horrific abuse called ‘conversion therapy’.”