7. Statement by the Deputy Minister for Social Partnership: Conversion Therapy

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:01 pm on 26 April 2022.

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Photo of Hannah Blythyn Hannah Blythyn Labour 5:01, 26 April 2022

I very much welcome and appreciate the position and the support taken by colleagues in Plaid Cymru on this really important issue and one that, as you said, creates real harm and horrors. That's why it's very important, alongside the action we're taken towards a ban on conversion therapy, that we raise awareness of the horrors and the harm that it does cause, at the same time as making sure that the services that are there to support people are adequate, and can be improved where they need to be. And the way in which we should be doing that is actually—officials and policy officials will be talking, and I will also myself be talking directly to survivors of conversion therapy, because it's nothing about us, without us, and I think it's very, very important that not only are the LGBTQ+ community part of this working group towards implementing the ban, but people's experiences actually shape what we do, not least to actually really hit home with the horror that is conversion therapy. One of the things that struck me when this kind of came to the fore weeks ago, and there was a lot of press around it, was people saying to me that they're shocked to actually realise this could still potentially happen in today's society, and I think it's really important to make people aware that this is why we need to take action, and the devastating consequences it has on the LGBTQ community.

I just want to touch on the points that you just made, Sioned, around this toxic—and I'm not going to use the word 'debate', because I think it's absolutely wrong to use that word, because it's people's lives we're talking about; it is not a debate. But that actual just toxic narrative, where it's been used to attack people, and I'm not just blaming any political party, but in the media as well, and particularly on social media—. You worry that history is repeating itself, because much of those attacks are very similar to the vilification that the gay community faced 40 years ago at the height of the AIDS epidemic, and I think the only difference here is that, within this Chamber, within this Government, we have a duty to show leadership and speak up for the communities that have been attacked, and not just stand in solidarity, but to take action like we are with the conversion therapy ban.