Conversion Therapy Prohibition (Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity) Bill [HL]

Lord Paddick Excerpts

Friday 9th February 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Paddick (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, let me be clear where I stand on a couple of issues before I start. Among other subjects, I studied philosophy of mind and philosophy of religion at university. I studied the latter because I was and am a Christian. I am also a twin and, reading John’s Gospel, along with Thomas, I said:

“My Lord and my God”—


on the evangelical side, you understand.

At university, we examined the essence of personal identity. We concluded that the mind, not the body, is what makes someone the person that they are. A person disfigured beyond recognition is still the same person, but some who suffer serious head trauma, for example, change personality. A friend in Australia experienced this, describing his husband as “not the person I married”. A transgender man who honestly believes their female body does not reflect their true identity should be considered a man; their mind and not their body is the essence of their identity. That is my honestly held belief.

Like the noble Lord, Lord Winston, and my noble friend Lady Featherstone, I have received threats and abuse from both sides for even expressing an opinion on the subject, for even meeting those on both sides of the argument—so much for free speech.

Al Gore, the former Vice-President of the United States, once described climate change as an inconvenient truth. That is how I view my Christian beliefs set against my homosexuality. I believed that, with God’s help, I could be happy in a heterosexual marriage. I married Mary with genuine intentions to live together until death parted us. However, what I believed was achievable with God’s help turned out to be my version of Paul’s thorn. Eventually, I had to accept the way that God had made me, and my wife, who has been a great support to me ever since, accepted that as well.

But I still suffer from low self-confidence and self-esteem as a result of people constantly telling me I was not good enough just because I am gay. My parents told me that homosexuality was abhorrent, so I felt I could not even discuss it with them. I was bullied at school because of it. My police colleagues targeted people like me, and my church told me it was sinful. Being constantly told that you are not good enough, that there is something wrong with you, that yes, God made you a loving, caring, sensual individual but you cannot love the person whom you truly love because they are of the same sex damages you. Conversion therapy is an intense version of the same thing.

By all means, have an open discussion with someone about who they are or who they are attracted to, if that is what they want, without judgment and without blame, where the question, “Are you sure you’re straight?” is as valid as, “Are you sure you’re gay?”. It should not be a conversation designed to steer someone in one direction or another, to ensure that they conform with what the other person in that conversation wants them to be. If someone cannot be objective about gender identity and sexuality because of their own honestly held beliefs, they should not be having that conversation.

I was a young police sergeant in Brixton when I took pity on two frozen female officers who were on foot patrol one night. I gave them a lift in my police car. They were whispering to each other in the back seat, and I asked them what they were talking about. One of them said to me, “Sarge, why don’t you just be yourself?” It changed my life. There is nothing more limiting, more damaging, more inauthentic, than trying to be something or someone you are not. How many times do we criticise others for not being genuine? Yet conversion therapy is designed to do just that—to stop someone being genuine. Hence my joke, “I hate actors because they are constantly trying to be someone they are not”.

Of course, some people may be unhappy with their gender identity or sexuality, but the first question to those seeking help should be, “If your family, your friends, your religion, society generally, completely accepted you and loved you for who you are, would you really want to change?” As the noble Baroness, Lady Burt of Solihull, said, we should be concentrating on helping people to accept themselves for who they are, not forcing them into being something that they are not. This Bill as drafted may not be the answer, but something needs to be done to prevent lasting harm, damage that begins in childhood, as the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Butler-Sloss, has said.