Conversion therapy ban to be delayed

 (Photo: Getty/iStock)

There are media reports that government plans to ban so-called conversion therapy are being delayed.

ITV News reports that equalities minister Kemi Badenoch has paused work on the ban since taking over her new post. She reportedly wants to review the plans.

A committee of MPs and Lords was expected to scrutinise a bill in the spring.

The Conservative government first promised to ban conversion therapy four years ago under former prime minister Theresa May.

In his time as prime minister, Boris Johnson promised evangelicals that the ban would not include prayer or other forms of pastoral support in churches.

The promise came in response to a letter of concern from the Evangelical Alliance.

The Johnson government also removed trans conversion therapy from the legislation, limiting the reach to sexuality.

Evangelicals are afraid that a ban will in reality criminalise pastors and ordinary church activities.

There is also a growing movement of ex-LGBT people, including many Christians, who say they were helped by therapy.

Liam Hayden, of X-Outloud, said at a conference earlier this year that it was therapy that helped him break free from unwanted same-sex attraction.

"Through the counselling and through understanding where the problem came from, I was able to then bring those issues before God and I was then able to receive healing from it and let it go to God ... Today I am here, I'm still living, it hasn't harmed me," he said.

"If someone wants to take that [therapy] away from me, then you might as well have come into my room and pushed me out the window that day.

"If shame was removed by God and through counselling, if my traumas have been healed so greatly, then does this prove that I was harmed, that I was a victim? Or that I am healed and am a victor?"

News
The first Christmas song to be sung in churches
The first Christmas song to be sung in churches

Every Christmas, people sing the song “While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night”. Unlike many other songs and carols that include elements of non-biblical tradition and myth, this song is pure Scripture. It was the first Christmas song authorised to be sung in the Church of England. This is the story …

The story of the Christmas Truce of 1914
The story of the Christmas Truce of 1914

On Christmas Eve in 1914, many men were in the trenches fighting the war, but the spirit of Christmas halted the conflict for a brief period. This is the story …

Report highlights injustices experienced by Christians in the Holy Land
Report highlights injustices experienced by Christians in the Holy Land

Jerusalem Church leaders have released a report detailing the struggles and challenges currently faced be Christians living in the Holy Land.

Have you lost the wonder of Christmas?
Have you lost the wonder of Christmas?

For you who have been followers of Jesus Christ for a long time, maybe the pain and suffering of this world and the darkness you have had to live through this past year has gotten you down to the point of complete and utter discouragement. But all is not lost.