Debate contribution: Conversion Practices (Criminalisation) Bill: Second Stage
Debate contribution by Mrs Diane Dodds on .
- MLA
- Mrs Diane Dodds
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 15 September 2026
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Private Members' Business
- Heading
- Conversion Practices (Criminalisation) Bill: Second Stage
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5706257
Read the official Assembly record
Text
No. Sorry, I was going to sit down, but no. Further commentary on the Bill is provided by the Women's Rights Network. The Women's Rights Network is well known for its views on safe spaces for women and on the fact that sex is immutable and unchangeable, so I am a woman and will always be one. That is important to remember. It is also important that, when we consider legislation, we consider all the views in the round. The Women's Rights Network and one of the solicitors who works with it, Ruth Paterson, said:
"the proposed law could have implications for therapists, teachers, coaches and religious leaders. What is most concerning ... is that the bill cements into law, the concept of gender ideology, which is widely contested in society, and it has the"
— power —
"to criminalise those that do not affirm non binary, gender fluid and a wide range of undefined ‘gender identities’."
That is really important, and it relates to clause 6. The KC also pointed that out in his analysis of the Bill. Clause 6 states that a person's
"sexual orientation or gender identity includes— (a) what the victim considers it to be, and (b) what the person considers it to be."
It further states:
"(2) A reference to a victim’s sexual orientation includes the victim having no sexual orientation towards other persons."
That is a first in law in Northern Ireland. We are writing law in Bills that do not have equality impact assessments, that are based on very limited research and that do not have clear definitions but that have very stringent criminal penalties.
272 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met every documented threshold for a qualifying culture-war activity.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.66 (qualifying needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not qualifying).
- Criteria met: Dog-whistle messaging (0.79).
- Assessed as legitimate policy scrutiny (0.68).
- The text adopts the identity-based framing in its own voice (0.96).
- Subject area: Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues.
- The text adopts a strongly antagonistic or dog-whistle framing, which qualifies even alongside legitimate scrutiny.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.47 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.37 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.09 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.79 | Yes |
| Controversy escalation | 0.33 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.68 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.66 | Between thresholds |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing | 0.02 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.02 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.00 |
| Adopts it (chosen) | 0.96 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues | 1.00 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.00 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
| Irish language, Ulster-Scots and language policy | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 01:21 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9. This record has been assessed 3 times; the latest assessment is shown.
Disagree with this assessment?
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