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

Debate contribution by Mr Gordon Lyons on 22 September 2026.

MLA: Mr Gordon Lyons
Party at the time: Democratic Unionist Party
Date: 22 September 2026
Type: Debate contribution (made as a minister)
Business: Private Members' Business
Heading: Conversion Practices (Criminalisation) Bill: Second Stage
Assembly identifier: Official Report component 5741479

Text

I am grateful to the Member for giving way. I assure her and the House that what Mr Tennyson insinuated about me is not correct at all. Crimes are crimes, and, whether they happen in public view, behind closed doors or in a domestic setting, they should be dealt with appropriately and fully. I am not giving any excuse for those sorts of behaviours simply because they take place in the home. My point is very clear: I do not believe that some of the things that would be captured by the Bill should be criminal. I do not think that parents should have to worry about that, but I believe that that is what the Bill would do. I suspect that Mr Tennyson knew what I meant. I think that he is deliberately misrepresenting my position and throwing mud in the hope that some of it will stick. If anyone believed what he said, I hope that my comments have cleared that up.

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

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