HOLYROOD is asking the public if gay conversion therapy should be made a crime.
The Scottish Parliament’s Equalities Committee today launched a consultation whether the controversial practice should be banned in Scotland.
It follows a petition urging the SNP Government to “ban the provision of LGBT+ conversion therapy in Scotland” attracted more than 5,500 signatures.
Conversion therapy is the term used to describe methods, often rooted in religion, which try to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity, sometimes against their will.
The recent petitioners against it said the “forced conditioning” had “damaged generations of LGBT+ young people and adults and continues to do so”.
They said: “This incredibly harmful practice especially targets LGBT+ people when they are at their most vulnerable.”
The Equalities Committee consultation asks what views people would like to see the Scottish Government take, and who should give evidence on the issue.
The call for views closes on August 13.
Committee Convener Joe FitzPatrick MSP said: “Conversion therapy is a practice which has deeply impacted upon members of the LGBT+ community in Scotland.
“This petition is calling for conversion therapy to be made a criminal offence.
“We are therefore seeking views on whether this would be the right way forward and whether the Scottish Government should take steps to end the practice, within the powers available to it.
“The Committee also wants suggestions on our next steps as we consider this petition. We particularly want to know who you think we should speak to about this important issue and who we need to hear from.”
The UK Government announced in the Queen’s speech in May that it would bring forward measures “to ban conversion therapy”.
In its Holyrood election manifesto, the SNP said if the UK Government failed to act it would legislate “as far as it is possible within the powers of the Scottish Parliament” to ban it.
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