Scottish Government rows back from conversion practices proposal

The Scottish Government has rowed back from a pledge to introduce controversial legislation on "conversion practices".

Scotland's Equalities Minister had previously promised a bespoke Scottish ban, separate from Westminster legislation.

However, no such proposal was outlined in the Scottish Government's Programme for Government, set out by First Minister John Swinney yesterday.

Instead, the document states that Scottish Ministers will "work towards complementary approaches across the UK" - indicating support for a UK-wide law.

It added that the Scottish Government would only introduce legislation at the Scottish Parliament "should a UK-wide approach not be achievable".

Commenting on the announcement, Head of CARE for Scotland Stuart Weir said:

"This move suggests a significant slowing of political momentum on a potentially very dangerous and restrictive policy. Proposed offences set out by a government working group were sweeping and could have criminalised the ordinary work of churches.

"At CARE for Scotland, we recognise that abusive or coercive ‘practices’, ‘treatments’ or ‘therapies’ aimed at changing a person’s identity are wrong and a source of deep hurt to those who experience them. These things would already constitute a crime under existing laws.

"Scrutiny of Scotland's hate crime legislation underlined the dangers involved with laws of this kind. An ill-defined law on 'conversion practices' could lead to the subjective policing of speech about sexuality and gender in a range of settings.

"Given these concerns, and the efficacy of existing laws targeting harmful behaviour, we question the need for new legislation. We'd urge both the Scottish and UK Governments to recognise that new laws in this area are unworkable and unnecessary."