Every imported question, contribution and motion, with its classification. Unflagged, uncertain and not-yet-analysed records are all included so the analysis can be checked independently.
I thank the Minister for his intervention. Do we know what the definition of "conversion therapy" is and whether it includes a definition of "instruction"? I will read clause 4(1) again. A person commits an offence: "if the person provides or carries out ... instruction" of another person. That is how wide the offence…
I think that we also need to have a proper understanding of what Second Stage is. Yes, it is about the general principles of the Bill, but it does not just mean that we are being asked whether we are all agreed that we should have a Bill to ban conversion practices, conversion therapy or whatever it may be. The…
Yes, I agree with that. I fear for some Members here who want to rush through legislation, even at this point in the mandate. It does not bode well for the future, let me tell you. If a Bill goes through the House to become an Act and the media and the papers pick up on it in a year's time or in two years' time, doing…
I thank the Member for giving way. I know that some Members seem perplexed that Members from these Benches dare to articulate the concerns of our constituents, whom we are here to serve. It is on that point that my mailbox has been heavily inundated by parents and grandparents who are extremely concerned about the…
I do not think that we can be sure that it will not fall within that because of the very wide definition of conversion therapy, which includes "coaching or instruction". Remember, the Bill talks about "a person" who commits an offence. It is not a therapist or a doctor but "a person". That includes everyone, no matter…
I thank the Member for giving way. After that interesting distraction from the Opposition, I want to get back to the point that he raised. I know that he was moving on from it, but it is important to me. It is the issue around sports and coaching. The Bill sponsor gave the example, and I was interested in hearing his…
I thank the Member for her intervention. Why not do away with Second Stage for all Bills? I am standing because it is really important to define the principles of the Bill by the definitions in the Bill. That is really important. How can you debate the principles of the Bill if you cannot be sure of the definitions of…
Does the Member not agree that Second Stage is about discussing the principles of a Bill? Everything that we have heard from nearly every Member on his side of the House has gone into the minutiae of the Bill. It is for the Committee to do that, if those Members could release the Bill and let it go to Committee. The…
I thank the Member for his intervention. I was going to go further than that, because that covers not only the coaching aspect but the religious instruction aspect, so it covers the two elements of clause 4(b). Let me go on to "instruction". Who is it that gives instruction? A parent. Any parent who does not…
I will give him examples from across Northern Ireland of a couple of organisations that use football to spread the message of the gospel. I can think of one in Ballymena and another in Portadown where the children come together to play sport, after which a biblical message is relayed to them. That is an obvious…
I thank the Member for giving way and promise that this will be my last intervention for a while. I am genuinely at a loss as to the point that the Member is trying to make. Do I understand him correctly? Is he concerned about a scenario in which, for example, a transgender athlete is playing sport, and the coach…
I thank the Member for his intervention. This is really important. If someone in the team, whether it is a female team or a male team, goes to the coach, who does not have the conversation with them or maybe even dismisses them because they cannot talk to the matter, referring them instead to a safeguarding officer,…
I thank the Member for giving way. It is an interesting discussion. We have not really covered this specific point, and it is important that we do, because we need to think out every connotation. The Member explained specifically that the definition of conversion therapy in clause 4 includes coaching and that he…
I thank the Member for his intervention, but his own Bill says: "a person provides or carries out conversion therapy", which is "coaching or instruction" in relation to another person. That is what his Bill states. If the wording were "coaching in a treatment centre" or "coaching in a therapeutic setting", that would…
I thank the Member for giving way. We are at risk of straying into reductio ad absurdum at this point of the debate. The simple fact that someone is a football coach does not mean that, if they had a conversation about sexuality or gender, they would be found guilty of coaching or instructing an individual as part of…
We all have to undergo safeguarding and child protection training. We know that we should never enter that space or entertain that conversation at all. There are ways in which we can refer people, and we can provide them with reassurance, but we certainly would not get into a conversation of anywhere near that depth.
I am sitting here in disbelief. I coach a young girls' hockey team. It is so foreign to me to think that we would, in any way, have such a conversation or entertain it. It just would not happen. I do not know where you are plucking that theory from. It is so far from what actually happens on a Sunday or Monday…