A bill to outlaw so-called conversion practices has been introduced in the Northern Ireland Assembly.
The legislation, if passed, could impose a prison sentence of two years on anyone found to have caused a person “fear, alarm or distress” as a result of an attempt to “suppress” gender identity or sexuality.
Supporters believe it will protect LGBT people from harmful practices. Critics have warned the bill is too broad, which could end up criminalising church leaders or parents for routine conversations.
A formal legal opinion by Aidan O’Neill KC, supported by The Christian Institute (CI), states that the legislation fails to define its terms around coercion. He believes this could penalise parents if they have private discussions with their children about how they dress, or if they dissuade them from gender transitioning, with no defence for acting out of love or concern.
“Prayers and pastoral discussions could be criminalised if their content did not conform to the new state requirements, only to affirm, validate, and support the identity as expressed by an individual from time to time”, the opinion adds.
Simon Calvert, CI deputy director, told Premier Christian News the bill represents a “speech crime” being used by activists who disagree with evangelical Christian beliefs on sex or gender.
“Any conversations in our church which cross the threshold of existing criminal law around abuse, around coercion, around physical abuse, it's an abomination. It is a blasphemy to the gospel and the cause of Christ. But what we know is, that’s already illegal.
“So, what do they want to make illegal? It’s conversations that don't hit that threshold. For us as believers, of course, we have so many mandates. We must speak the truth in love, we must speak with gentleness.
Calvert pointed to the state of Victoria in Australia, which has introduced a conversion practices ban and issued guidance to pastors about what they can pray.
He added: “It says you have to pray with a person in a way that reassures them that they are perfect as they are. Well, the Christian faith doesn’t say that we’re perfect as we are. It says that we’re made in the image of God, it says that we have unique dignity and worth, it says that we are loved, but it certainly doesn’t say that we are perfect. It says that we're sinners in need of a saviour. And why did Jesus die if we’re perfect the way we are?
“So the very idea that the state is issuing approved prayers that clearly contradict the fundamental basis of the Christian faith tells you where this could lead, tells you where the activists want it to lead.”
Opening the debate in Stormont, the bill’s proposer Eóin Tennyson said conversion practices were a “cruel” act that remains in society that makes people “shamed and humiliated simply because of who they are or who they love.”
In response, DUP leader Gavin Robinson said the bill was too vague and that “we can protect people from mistreatment without creating vague new offences that reach into homes, churches and private conversations.