Hong Kong’s gay rights advocates fear civil crackdown may undo progress

Theresa May has called on Boris Johnson to ban transgender conversion, four years after she vowed to make the practice illegal.Conversion therapy refers to any form of treatment or psychotherapy which aims to change a person’s sexual orientation or to suppress a person’s gender identity.It is based on an assumption that being lesbian, gay, bi or trans is a mental illness that can be ‘cured’.In 2018, Ms May announced plans to ban conversion therapy, adding ‘No one should ever have to hide who they are or who they love’.But plans never came to fruition and conversion therapy remains legal in the UK.In late March, Boris Johnson dropped plans to ban any conversion therapy, but U-turned within hours following backlash.The Government later outlined legislation – the Conversion Therapy Bill – in the Queen’s Speech which would ban conversion therapy intended to change someone’s sexual orientation in certain scenarios.But it said that, due to the ‘complexity of issues and need for further careful thought’, the legislation would not ban transgender conversion therapy.Huge protests were held outside Downing Street following the news.Writing in the i for the 50th anniversary of the UK’s first Pride, Mrs May has now urged her successor to end conversion therapy once and for all.She wrote: ‘Few people, reading of accounts from trans people, would disagree that they still face indignities and prejudice, when they deserve understanding and respect.‘We need to strive for greater understanding on both sides of the debate.