Dear supporter,

The UK Government’s crucial consultation on 'conversion therapy' closes on Friday 10 December.

For further background and advice on responding, please watch the recorded version of the popular webinars my colleague Dave and I held recently.

WATCH NOW

One major area of concern, emphasised by Dave in the video, is the impact the plans could have on family life.

The Government says the 'conversion therapy' ban will apply more strictly to under-18s. There is clear potential for it to interfere with Christians raising their children in the faith. Although the consultation document expressly says this is not the intention, the proposals are too vague for us to have any certainty.

Unless the Government gets it right, we think scenarios like these could happen:

• Parents discover that their 15-year-old daughter has been looking at the pro-trans Mermaids website. Aware of its controversial nature, parents use software to ban her from looking at it. She’s distressed and tells her teacher. The teacher believes the girl is actually a trans boy and that the parents are trying to change this. He contacts the police, who interview the parents.
• A dad tells his 14-year-old son that he’s totally against same-sex marriage. The son disagrees. This argument comes up from time to time. The son tells a youth worker about the arguments. He’s distressed by arguing about this with his dad. He tells the youth worker, 'I might want to be in a same-sex marriage one day'. The youth worker contacts the police claiming that the father was trying to change his son’s sexual orientation.

If you haven’t yet, please use the simple briefing in our earlier email to respond. It’s particularly important to emphasise that the ability of parents to bring up their children in accordance with their beliefs must be protected.

Please respond today.

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