AQW 15937/17-22

Mr Andrew Muir
Alliance Party
North Down

Tabled Date: 05/03/2021
Answered On Date: 15/03/2021
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister for Communities for an update on work to progress legislation to ban Conversion Therapy, including the envisaged timescales.

Answer:

Ending conversion therapy is a cross-cutting matter, so my intention is for this to be taken forward through the Executive’s Sexual Orientation Strategy.

The Sexual Orientation Expert Advisory Panel’s Report, which makes recommendations to help inform the development of the Strategy, was published on 5 March 2021 and includes recommendations regarding a ban on conversion therapy. The Strategy is now being developed using a co-design approach, with meaningful involvement from those within the LGBT communities.

Subject to Executive approval, the draft Strategy, including agreed actions targeted at ending conversion therapy, will be issued for consultation later this year, with a view to publishing the final Strategy in December 2021.