Debate contribution: Conversion Practices (Criminalisation) Bill: Second Stage

Debate contribution by Ms Emma Sheerin on 15 September 2026.

MLA: Ms Emma Sheerin
Party at the time: Sinn Féin
Date: 15 September 2026
Type: Debate contribution
Business: Private Members' Business
Heading: Conversion Practices (Criminalisation) Bill: Second Stage
Assembly identifier: Official Report component 5706235

Text

I thank the Member for giving way. I appreciate that she is trying to give some sense of the practical realities of what she sees as dangers to parenting. I am not a parent, and I have a degree of sympathy for somebody who is trying to parent teenagers. However, she is talking in generalisations. The Bill criminalises somebody who tries to suppress a child's sexual identity. Does the Member accept that nobody would be criminalised unless they tried to implement homophobia? What rationale could there be for a parent's trying to change their child's identity other than their thinking that there is something wrong with being gay?

108 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Awaiting analysis

This record has not been analysed yet. It is not counted in any total until it has been assessed.

Disagree with this assessment?

Classifications can be challenged. A person reviews every challenge, and any change is recorded publicly above with its reason.

Challenge this classification