Debate contribution: Conversion Practices (Criminalisation) Bill: Second Stage
Debate contribution by Mr Eóin Tennyson on .
- MLA
- Mr Eóin Tennyson
- 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 5741325
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I have not finished. As I have said, the test before us is not whether a term is contested; it is whether the courts could interpret it and apply it proportionately.
I am glad that most of our judiciary have a bit more wit than Members when it comes to interpreting those terms and do not come up with such ludicrous assertions as have been made in the Chamber. First of all, this is not the first time that "gender identity" has been written into Northern Ireland law. There is legislation on the census that includes reference to gender identity, so the repeated claims that this would be the first time that that has been written into law are false, inaccurate and not true. Secondly, I have pointed Members to a statutory definition provided in the equivalent UK legislation that refers to trans men, trans women and people who are non-binary or questioning their identity. I have told Members that, if they want that legislative clarity and want to replicate that definition, that is a conversation to which I am open. The truth is that those Members are not interested in the statutory definition. If we took those Members at their word, there would be a statutory definition for every word in the Bill, which is not how legislation works. The Bill would be 400 pages long if that is how we wrote it. That argument is not being made in good faith. It is being made to make light of people whose gender identity does not align with their sex. I have been open about the fact that I respect the rights and dignity of transgender people in our community, and Members will not bait me in the Chamber into diminishing those people. I will not do it.
299 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not qualifying”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.38 (qualifying needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not qualifying).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- Assessed as legitimate policy scrutiny (0.69).
- The text criticises or condemns the framing or division (0.77).
- 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 | 0.17 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.06 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.07 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.12 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.30 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.69 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.38 | Between thresholds |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing | 0.20 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.01 |
| Criticises or condemns it (chosen) | 0.77 |
| Adopts it | 0.02 |
| 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.
Disagree with this assessment?
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