Cwiar, the independent watchdog for LGBTI+ rights in Wales, today strongly condemns the UK Government’s newly published Conversion Practices Act 2026 draft bill. Far from delivering the comprehensive, unconditional ban promised to our communities for years, this proposed legislation is fundamentally flawed, dangerously weak, and does absolutely nothing to change the Labour Party’s lackluster record on LGBTI+ equality.
Instead of introducing a robust, preventative framework to eradicate torture and coercive identity suppression, this Bill constructs a bureaucratic maze designed to protect practitioners rather than victims.
Cwiar opposes this Bill in its current form based on three critical failures:
1. An Impossibly High Bar for Justice
The Bill does not outlaw conversion practices inherently. Instead, it introduces a dangerous double threshold. Under Section 2, a practice is only criminalized if it is proven to be explicitly “abusive” and if it causes “serious harm” or “substantial adverse effect” on an individual’s day-to-day life. By requiring victims to prove they have suffered catastrophic psychological or physical trauma before the law steps in, the Government is greenlighting subtler, insidious forms of spiritual, emotional, and psychological coercion.
2. Safeguarding the Perpetrators, Not the Victims
Section 1(3) creates a gaping loophole for the medical and therapeutic sectors, exempting conversion practices carried out under the guise of “health care services” unless the behavior falls “far below” professional standards. This clause will actively shield unethical counselors and religious therapists who use clinical terminology to suppress the sexual orientations and gender identities of vulnerable LGBT+ youth. A ban with caveats is not a ban.
3. A Failure of Leadership and Devolution
For Wales, this Bill represents a major missed opportunity. While it technically extends to England and Wales, it fails to integrate with the realities of our devolved nation. Wales needs a proactive, fully funded strategy that empowers NHS Wales, Welsh schools, and local authorities to actively dismantle these practices. Instead, Westminster has handed us a narrow, reactive criminal statute that will be nearly impossible to prosecute.
Speaking on the publication of the Bill, a spokesperson for Cwiar stated:
“For years governments have promised a clean, comprehensive ban on conversion practices that would protect every single lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans person across Wales. What the UK Government has delivered instead is a toothless piece of political window-dressing. This Bill leaves the door wide open for abusers to continue their harmful work under the cover of ‘healthcare’ or by ensuring their coercion remains just below the legal threshold of ‘serious harm.’
This continues a disappointing trend for Labour’s record on LGBTI+ rights—valuing political compromise over the literal safety and mental health of our community. Cwiar will not support a Bill that codifies loopholes into law. We call on Welsh MPs and the Welsh Government to reject this draft and demand a total, unconditional ban.”
