There are days when QUEERGURU is inherently proud of our (queer) British heritage; this is one such day. 

There are days when QUEERGURU is inherently proud of our (queer) British heritage; this is one such day. 

Firstly, the UK Government has just announced plans to introduce penalties for those found to be carrying out conversion therapy, including up to five years in prison and unlimited fines, in their official draft bill to ban the practice.   The new trans-inclusive bill would criminalise “abusive acts” aimed at changing someone’s sexual orientation or transgender identity. The Cabinet Office said the legislation will ensure LGBTQ+ people are “protected from physical and psychological abuse to change who they are”.

Under the proposals, two new criminal offences would be created: one for carrying out conversion practices “which cause serious harm, alarm or distress”, and another for encouraging or assisting such practices to take place outside of England and Wales, reports BBC News. The plans also include civil powers called Conversion Practice Protection Orders, intended to “pre-emptively protect those deemed to be at risk of abuse”.

The government says it is proposing the legislation because existing domestic abuse or coercive control laws do not address “the unique nature of abusive conversion practices”. It also says the draft proposals, which come eight years after the UK Government first committed to ending conversion practices, include exemptions for legitimate healthcare and set a “high threshold” for criminality so that “only acts that are abusive, seeking to change someone’s identity” would be covered.

In the government’s 2018 UK-wide LGBT Survey, about 5% of 108,000 respondents said they had been offered some form of conversion therapy. Meanwhile, 2% said they had undergone it.

LGBT+ anti-abuse charity Galop identified more than 300 calls about conversion practices between 2022 and 2025, and researchers analysing a sample of 195 calls found reported examples including physical and sexual violence, attempts at forced marriages, and people being forcibly taken abroad. The charity said 158 cases involved coercive and controlling behaviour, 52 were religion-based, and 47 involved physical violence.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the UK. Scott Green, the acting Chief Constable of West Midlands Police has marked Pride Month by issuing a public apology for the historic “mistreatment of LGBTQ+ communities across the region”. In an open letter on the matter, saying that he wanted to personally “sincerely and wholeheartedly apologise” for the past mistreatment by police against the community, which the force had previously shied away from referencing.

“I recognise laws were historically wrongly used to proactively target members of the LGBTQ+ community, in particular gay and bisexual men, and that this ruined lives having a lasting negative impact. As a result, people did not feel they could be open to be who they were or about the people they loved for fear they would be arrested and sent to prison. This was completely wrong and for this I would like to extend a sincere apology for any recent and historic injustices and discrimination that members of LGBTQ+ communities in the West Midlands have faced.”

Green was appointed the Acting Chief Constable of West Midlands Police in January this year. He noted that he has had the “privilege” of meeting “members and representatives of the LGBTQ+ community” during his first few months in the post.

“I actively wanted and continue to listen, hear and understand the lived experiences of LGBTQ+ communities, both historically and now, so I could comprehend the detrimental impact policing had on people,” he wrote.  He went on to say that he has been “deeply saddened and moved” by the trauma experienced by many members of the community as “a consequence of the actions and behaviours of police.  I am extremely grateful to all those who have been so open and willing to share their experiences with me and I praise you for your bravery and courage,” Green continued.

“While I cannot right the wrongs of the past, I can offer my sincere regret and acknowledge the impact actions have had. I hope that from this letter you will recognise that this is not simply words of apology but a heartfelt desire, on behalf of our force, to proactively build a positive relationship with the LGBTQ+ community and allies, to build trust and confidence in policing and make the West Midlands a safe and cohesive place to live, work and visit,” he concluded.