Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham has announced the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) is committed to ending conversion therapy for all members of the LGBTQ+ community.
So-called conversion therapy, sometimes called ‘reparative therapy’ or ‘gay cure therapy’, is an umbrella term for any practice carried out by an individual or group that attempts to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity so that they identify as heterosexual and cisgender.
In a statement released on International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT), Andy Burnham and members of the Greater Manchester LGBTQ+ Equality Panel announced organisations that support, promote or facilitate any form of conversion therapy will not receive funding or support of any kind from the GMCA.
Mr Burnham said: “I urge all public bodies, organisations and businesses in Greater Manchester to sign up to this commitment.”
This comes after the government’s plans to go ahead with a ban on conversion therapy for gay, lesbian and bisexual people – but not transgender people – were confirmed in the Queen’s Speech on the 10th May.
According to the UK Government’s National LGBT Survey, 13% of transgender people have been offered or have undergone some form of conversion therapy, compared to 7% of all LGBT people.
The Greater Manchester LGBTQ+ Equality Panel’s statement goes one step further than the government’s plans by revoking support for organisations and groups that facilitate, support or promote conversion therapy as a ‘cure’ for transgender people, as well as LGB people.
Manchester City Council Leader Bev Craig, Salford City Mayor Paul Dennett, and chief executives from a range of LGBTQ+ charities in Manchester have all shown their support by signing the statement.
IDAHOBIT is a day that is recognised all over the globe as a day to draw attention to the ongoing discrimination and violence faced by members of the LGBTQ+ community.
May 17th was chosen to commemorate the date the World Health Organisation declassified homosexuality as a mental disorder in 1990.
Main image: “Ban conversion therapy for all“ – The Trans Rights Protest London, April 2022
