Debate contribution: Conversion Practices (Criminalisation) Bill: Second Stage
Debate contribution by Mr Paul Frew on .
- MLA
- Mr Paul Frew
- 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 5707229
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I thank the Bill sponsor for that, but when he talks about conversion therapies in that regard, he is talking about coaching, instruction, counselling and any form of talking therapy. If that is deemed to have caused "fear, alarm or distress" to the victim, that person will be in trouble with the law. Here is the thing: any person who is already confused about their identity or their sexuality will already be in a state of fear and alarm and be in distress. That is where clause 8 on "Psychological harm", which is in offence number one and offence number two, is really dangerous. I will keep with clause 1 and read on:
"the person has the intent of changing or suppressing the sexual orientation or gender identity".
Let me first talk about gender identity. That term has never been used in law in this jurisdiction. In GB, the term that is used is "transgender identity". I do not know whether the Member wants to take that up now, but perhaps the Member could, at some point in the future, tell me the difference between "gender identity" and "transgender identity". I think that, with "gender identity", he has widened the scope of what it is.
The Member raises a valid point. Given the Bill's use of the undefined "gender identity" rather than the elsewhere-defined, at least in devolved Scottish legislation and Westminster sentencing legislation, "transgender identity", it may reasonably be presumed that the proposed Northern Ireland legislation in the Bill is intended to go wider and to criminalise the attempt to "change or suppress" not only an individual's claim to have a transgender identity but any claim not to be transgender, be that an assertion that one is non-gendered, which is to say that one's gender identity is neither male nor female; a declaration that one is non-binary, which is to say that one's gender identity is not solely male and not solely female; or even a confirmation that one is just cisgender, which is to say that there is no asserted mismatch or disjunction between one's sex and one's gender identity. By using the term "gender identity", is the Bill sponsor's intent to widen its scope to take in not only transgender identity but all the other — non-gendered, non-binary and cisgender — aspects of identity?
387 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.40 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- Assessed as legitimate policy scrutiny (0.82).
- No identity-based framing was identified (0.64).
- Subject area: Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues.
- The overall probability was low and the text did not adopt any identity-based framing.
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 | 0.14 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.10 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.03 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.59 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.23 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.82 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.40 | Between thresholds |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 0.64 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.22 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.00 |
| Adopts it | 0.14 |
| 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 16:22 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
Disagree with this assessment?
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