The Scottish government has delayed its plans to outlaw “conversion practices,” opting to see if a U.K.-wide approach can be worked out instead.
Conversion practices, as defined by the Scottish National Party, are those that seek to change, suppress and/or eliminate someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity. The party recently held a national consultation during which it characterized such practices as “damaging and destructive.”
Many Christian counselors and organizations have expressed grave concern. The Christian Institute threatened legal action if the government went through with its plan, pointing out that supporters of the plan were “openly calling for it to cover ‘casual conversations,’ ‘gentle, non-coercive prayer’ and ‘repentances.’ They expressly want it to target ‘conservative evangelicals.’”
The Evangelical Alliance stated: “Underlying many of the problems with these proposals is the implicit characterization of Christian teaching on sex and sexuality as inherently harmful. Therefore, there is significant risk that these measures would lead to the criminalization of such activity, including prayer [and] discipleship, even in cases where support is sought and desired by an individual.”
But the plan was paused when First Minister John Swinney left it out of his 2024-2025 legislative agenda on Sept. 4. He noted, though, that he is still committed to ending conversion practices. He explained to members of Parliament that leaving the measure out of his plan was a pragmatic step “to avoid some of the difficulties we found ourselves in in relation to the gender recognition legislation.”
Swinney was referring to a bill the Scottish government passed in 2023 that would have made it easier for people to legally change their gender, but it was blocked by the U.K. government.
In July, King Charles III announced that a draft bill will be brought forward in the U.K. Parliament to ban conversion practices.
Swinney’s agenda states, “We will prepare legislation for introduction to the Scottish Parliament should a U.K.‑wide approach not be achievable.”
