Leitrim Pride welcomes calls for a Europe-wide ban on ‘torture’ conversion therapy

The chairperson of Leitrim Pride has welcomed calls for a ban on conversion therapy in Europe, describing it as a form of “torture.”

The calls were made in the European Parliament by Maria Walsh, MEP for Midlands-North-West and Co-Chair of the European Parliament’s LGBTQI+ Intergroup, who asked for the ban on “conversion therapies” following a European Citizens’ Initiative backed by over 1.2 million people, urging the European Commission to act.

“While many people think conversion therapy is something from the past, the reality is that these harmful practices are still taking place across Europe today. Members of the LGBTQI+ community are forced to undergo dangerous and harmful ‘therapies’ in a futile effort to change their sexuality – fueled by hate and fear.”

“Banning these practices would not just be symbolic – it would send a clear message that attempts to erase or change who someone is have no place in our society.

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The Fine Gael MEP also took the chance to call on the Irish government to put forward legislation for a national ban on the practice.

“Only eight EU countries have taken the step of banning conversion therapy. As an Irish MEP and as a member of the LGBTQI+ community myself, it’s very difficult to accept that Ireland is not among them.

Legislation to ban conversion therapy in Ireland was previously drafted in 2018 and was in the process of going through the Seanad, though it lapsed with the dissolution of that Dáil.

Conversion Therapy is a technique that attempts to change a person's sexuality or gender identity through psychological or medical interventions. 

The practice was renounced by the College of Psychiatrists of Ireland, the Psychological Society of Ireland, and the Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, who in a joint statement have described it as “unethical, potentially harmful and is not supported by evidence.”

In 2023, The Christian Institute, a conservative think tank in Ireland, questioned the legislation, claiming it would restrict parents' ability to speak to their children regarding sexuality and gender and put at risk “Christian activity which upholds the Bible’s teaching on sexual ethics.”

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The chairperson of Leitrim Pride, Meryl McGowan, has welcomed calls for the practice, calling it  “torture” following calls for a Europe-wide ban in Brussels earlier this week. Though she stresses that not enough has been done by parties in Ireland to make the practice illegal.

“Conversion therapy is, plainly, torture conducted by bigots to harm queer people and force assimilation. As she says herself, conversion torture is not banned in Ireland, and it is a national shame,” Meryl McGowan, Chairperson of Leitrim Pride.

Until more is done to address the challenges that LGBTI people in Ireland face, the words and statements from political parties in the country will remain “hollow”, she says.