Oxford Pride Condemns Conversion Therapy Open Letter
Church leaders and an LGBTQ+ charity from Oxfordshire have condemned a letter signed by Christian ministers opposing a ban on conversion therapy.
The letter to Equalities Minister Liz Truss was written in response to a consultation on outlawing the “potentially harmful” practice.
It is signed by 2,500 ministers and pastoral workers, and says banning it would breach their legal rights.
But Oxford Pride said it was “disgusted and disappointed” by the letter, according to the BBC.
According to NHS England, conversion therapy tries to change someone's sexual orientation or gender identity.
It warns that all forms of the practice are “unethical and potentially harmful.”
In October, the government opened a public consultation on its plans to make administering “talking therapy” for under-18s or non-consenting adults illegal.
The letter describes conversion therapy as a category “so broad as to be essentially meaningless” and legislation to ban it “strongly risks” criminalizing ministers.
It said while signatories “do not consider that there is a particular defect or deficiency those who identify as LGBT have [the] internal desires to commit sexual sin... are certainly defects and deficiencies”.
In response Oxford Pride said: “Of this letter, 18 ministers are from Oxford churches. Six of which are from St. Ebbe's Church.
“We do not believe that these signatories act in a loving, or indeed Christian way.
“They believe we are 'defects', and they would have us go through harm to change ourselves.”
The Bishop of Dorchester, the Right Reverend Gavin Collins, who is responsible for 326 churches in the Diocese of Oxford, said:
“The letter has undoubtedly upset a lot of people.
“It puts out a message that people aren't safe or welcome in our churches, and it cuts across the settled view of the Church of England that coercive conversion therapy is unacceptable and should be banned.
“I am disappointed that the authors have used an open letter to diminish people who are in faithful same sex relationships and those who are transgender.”
He added: “I am clear that we are all made in God's image, that all are welcome in His church and that everyone has a place at the table.”
Jayne Ozanne, a member of the General Synod and chair of the Ban Conversion Therapy Coalition, wrote in her blog that the letter had a “self-dramatizing and intransigent attitude” which hampered the sharing of the Gospel.
Ms. Ozanne, who herself was subjected to the practice, added: “It is precisely because these Christian leaders think that what they do is both loving and acceptable that we need this legislation in the first place.”
In 2017 The Church of England agreed conversion therapy had “no place in the modern world, is unethical, potentially harmful and not supported by evidence.”
Read related myGwork articles here:
9 In 10 People Think "Conversion Therapy" Should Be Totally Banned By UK Government
Tory Government’s Long-Awaited Conversion Therapy Ban Hits Yet Another Roadblock
Liz Truss Says Free Speech And Religion Are More Important Than Outright Conversion Therapy Ban
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