Content Warning: Conversion “Therapy”/abuse.

Mermaids announces that we will be joining the coalition of LGBTQIA+, trans and HIV organisations who have decided not to sign up to the government’s ‘Safe to be Me’ conference planned for Summer 2022. This is following a culmination of government inaction which has seen them fail to reform the Gender Recognition Act, address the year-on-year rise in transphobic hate crime or develop a comprehensive healthcare strategy for trans and non-binary people.

The government’s latest decision to actively exclude trans and non-binary people from the ban on conversion practices has left us with no choice but to take this action. The government’s own data illustrates that trans people are at much higher risk of being victim to this abhorrent practice than the rest of the LGBTQIA+ community. And yet the government has decided that the forthcoming ban should leave out trans and non-binary people. 

By condoning conversion abuse for our community, the government has completely lost our trust and is in no position to be convening an LGBTQIA+ rights conference on the global stage. Thanks to this government’s actions, the UK is a very long way from being safe for trans and non-binary people.

Mermaids will instead be channelling our energy into actions that we feel will be of the greatest benefit to our service users and community. You can stand with us by asking your MP to support a trans-inclusive ban on conversion “therapy“.