Five promises. Eight years. Still no ban. Meanwhile, LGBTQ people keep paying the price.

King Charle’s speech in the UK parliament last week marked the fifth time in eight years that a UK government has publicly committed to banning LGBTQ conversion practices.

Here’s the extraordinary timeline:

  • 2018 — Theresa May (Conservative Government)
    The first formal pledge appeared in the UK LGBT Action Plan. The government stated it would bring forward proposals to end conversion therapy.
  • 2019 — Boris Johnson (Conservative Government)
    The commitment was repeated in the Queen’s Speech, signalling legislation was still supposedly coming.
  • 2021 — Boris Johnson’s Government again
    Another Queen’s Speech recommitted to a ban following a national consultation process and mounting pressure from survivors, medical bodies and LGBTQ organisations.
  • 2023 — Rishi Sunak (Conservative Government)
    The government again promised legislation covering sexual orientation and gender identity, but internal divisions and political backlash led to repeated delays.
  • 2026 — Keir Starmer (Labour Government)
    Last week’s King’s Speech again promised draft legislation to ban conversion practices, describing them as “abusive” and recommitting to protections for LGBTQ people.

Five promises. Three Prime Ministers. Two monarch speeches. Eight years. And still, no national ban.

The impacts of delay

Every year of delay has consequences measured not only in headlines or parliamentary debates, but in damaged lives, fractured families, and LGBTQ people quietly learning once again that their humanity is still up for discussion.

For survivors, it becomes a repeating cycle of hope and disappointment. Every delay reopens wounds and reinforces the feeling that LGBTQ people’s dignity and safety remain politically negotiable.

The emotional toll spreads far beyond the survivors themselves.

Parents trying to protect vulnerable children are left uncertain. Mixed messages undermine faith leaders attempting to create safer communities. Allies and advocates experience burnout after years of consultations, campaigns, and testimony that seem to disappear into the political abyss. I know from personal experience that it’s exhausting. And young LGBTQ people still hear the same dangerous message: maybe something is wrong with you.

It’s not a lack of evidence

The practices continue. Not always through dramatic public “therapy” sessions, but through sustained pressure to suppress identity, reject relationships, deny authenticity, and live under shame and fear.

What makes the UK situation particularly painful is that the evidence has never been lacking.

Survivor stories of the harm abound.  Since 2009, mental health bodies and researchers have come up with the same conclusions: conversion “therapy” harms LGBTQ individuals, the damage is often long-lasting, and people have ended their lives because of it.

The barrier has never been a lack of information; it’s been political courage, ideological pressure, and fear of backlash.

Meanwhile, in the EU

Just last week, the European Commission announced plans to push all EU member states toward outlawing conversion practices after more than one million Europeans backed a petition calling for an EU-wide ban. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stated that conversion “therapy”  has “no place in our Union.”

Meanwhile, in the Vatican

At the same time, one of the most remarkable developments came from the Vatican itself.

In a historic Synod report released this month, the Vatican openly acknowledged “the devastating effects” of attempts to change peoples sexual orientation experienced by LGBTQ Catholics. One contributor spoke openly of “the devastating effects of ‘conversion therapies’ and the break-up of families,” signalling a growing recognition within Catholic circles of the profound harm these practices have caused.

Meanwhile, in Australia

It isn’t only the UK that’s been kicking the can down the road.

Victoria, Queensland, Australian Capital Territory, South Australia and New South Wales have enacted bans, but not Tasmania and Western Australia.

The West Australian government first pledged reform in 2022, announcing it would “criminalise practices that seek to change or suppress an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity,” yet later admitted there was “not enough time” to introduce the promised laws before the 2025 election. Despite the Labor Party being re-elected in March 2025, the legislation still has not been introduced. Earlier this year, the government once again promised legislation.

Tasmania first promised legislation to ban LGBTQ conversion practices in 2022, when Premier Jeremy Rockliff said his Liberal Government would act on recommendations from the Tasmanian Law Reform Institute report. Nearly four years later, despite draft legislation and repeated assurances, Tasmania still has no ban.

Meanwhile, procrastination and failed promises protect the ignorance and misinformation touted by religious conservatives while precious LGBTQ lives are being harmed.