This was prominent during the second reading of Labour MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle’s Conversion Practices (Prohibition) Bill on 1 March, which eventually became plagued by anti-trans rhetoric unrelated to the real issue at hand. Alicia Kearns, Conservative MP and Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, directly addressed those calling for the ‘LGB’ to be separated from the ‘T’, an argument that has been at the core of the debate surrounding ‘conversion therapy’ in recent years: “By removing the ‘T’, you are suggesting that trans people do not exist. You are suggesting they are lesser than other LGB people and I will not stand for that because it was trans people who stood with gay people at Stonewall, it was trans people who stood alongside for LGB rights. So when you remove the ‘T’, you suggest that they are lesser and, I will happily discuss with you the intricacies of legislation, but when you choose to eradicate, then that is wrong.”

The legislation, which was brought forward in the form of a Private Members’ Bill and faced opposition from the government in the Commons, ultimately failed to advance to the committee stage – bringing to an end another attempt to outlaw ‘conversion therapy’. Now, survivors of the practice will likely have to wait until after the next general election for such a law to be introduced, which Labour has vowed to do. 

“I am very angry by the total lack of moral backbone shown by the government today who, having been given multiple opportunities by Lloyd Russell-Moyle to make amendments, chose not to do so and opposed the bill,” Ozanne told GAY TIMES after the debate on 1 March. “Lloyd had done what they had not – he presented a bill that had broad consensus across the house. We now know that despite their multiple promises, they have no intention of protecting LGBT people from these abusive practices.”