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

Debate contribution by Ms Sian Mulholland on 22 September 2026.

MLA: Ms Sian Mulholland
Party at the time: Alliance Party
Date: 22 September 2026
Type: Debate contribution
Business: Private Members' Business
Heading: Conversion Practices (Criminalisation) Bill: Second Stage
Assembly identifier: Official Report component 5741070

Text

Thank you, Mr Tennyson. Some of the conversation has been about counselling, and one of the most powerful observations that I made when preparing for the Bill was with an accredited and regulated counsellor in my constituency who works with people affected by conversion practices. She deals with the therapeutic fallout from those practices. Some of the explanation for psychological harm and the test for harm was the tension between attachment and authenticity. The explanation that came to me for that psychological harm is that everyone needs attachment. We need acceptance from our friends and communities. For many of us, it will come from our churches as well. We also need the authenticity. We need to be able to live honestly as ourselves. The harm arises when someone is forced or made to believe that they cannot have both. When someone comes to believe that belonging depends on suppressing, denying or being someone else, that is where the real psychological damage begins. I do not believe that anyone should ever be made to choose between belonging or being themselves. That is the harm that the Bill seeks to address, and we have broad agreement on that. Turning to the concept of faith, some Members spoke about Christianity and faith being under attack. Some comments got to the heart of what they believe Christianity to be. I stand here as someone with a strong faith, as a Christian, and I believe that my Christianity reinforces the things that I have said. I believe that every person, as Ms Sheerin said, is made in the image of God and possesses an inherent dignity. When I look at my own faith, however, and at who I look up to, I believe that the God whom I follow is someone who went towards those who were rejected and pushed to the margins, so I do not recognise my Christianity in any treatment that leaves another person feeling broken, defective, ashamed or in need of being changed. That is the crux of conversion practice: it is an interpretation of the Bible that equates homosexuality with being wrong and broken.
Just give me a second until I finish this bit, Brian, and I will then come back to you. People of faith have interpreted scripture differently through the ages on issues from slavery to women's leadership and civil rights. However, there are many like me — many of them have been in contact with me — who have a faith grounded in social justice; a faith that leads them to ask whether people are being harmed and whether we are protecting the vulnerable. I am concerned that some of what we have heard does Christian faith a disservice. I do not believe that all the comments in the Chamber on faith speak for every Christian in Northern Ireland, and I do not believe that their position should be presented as the only possible Christian concerned response. I will allow you in, Mr Kingston.

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

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