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

Debate contribution by Mr Jonathan Buckley on 22 September 2026.

MLA: Mr Jonathan Buckley
Party at the time: Democratic Unionist Party
Date: 22 September 2026
Type: Debate contribution
Business: Private Members' Business
Heading: Conversion Practices (Criminalisation) Bill: Second Stage
Assembly identifier: Official Report component 5741273

Text

I thank the Member for giving way. The Member has explained, in some depth, why he has made the exemption for medical practitioners. Does that Member agree that, if we are to believe what he has been stating throughout his contribution about the Bill not being intended to create a chilling effect in the family home or in a church setting, he would have defined conversion therapy as what is stated at paragraph (c) of clause 4(1) — "a treatment, or purported treatment" — and would have left out:
"(a) counselling or any form of talking therapy, (b) coaching or instruction"?
By the inclusion of those practices, a chill factor will, in a sense, be created, whether that is in the home, in everyday conversation or on the sporting field. I know that that point was dismissed earlier, but it is a conversation that should rightly be had when we think about how gender identity has impacted on women-only sports and men-only sports — the list is endless. The inclusion of those practices in the definition means that we will inevitably get into that space.

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

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