Phillipson: Badenoch Has No Interest in Backing LGBT+ People

Bridget Phillipson didn't mince words. The equalities minister accused Kemi Badenoch of having “no interest in supporting LGBT+ people” or promoting tolerance at all, after the Conservatives pulled their backing for a planned ban on so-called conversion therapy.

The Tories say their problem is the bill's reach — specifically how it handles gender identity. The draft legislation, published in June, is now out for consultation and would carry jail sentences of up to five years for abusive attempts to change someone's sexuality or gender identity that cause serious harm.

Badenoch lit the fuse last week, saying the bill would “mean that parents start getting arrested for parenting their children”. She agreed with a journalist who suggested that could happen if parents refused to let their child identify as a cat. Government officials push back hard on that: the bill sets a high bar for an offence, requiring abuse, serious harm and an attempt to change the person.

It's a striking reversal. As equalities minister in a previous Conservative government, Badenoch backed a legal ban on conversion therapy, saying in 2021 she wanted people to have “the freedom to live their life as they see fit without fear or intimidation”.

Phillipson went further, framing the shift as a chase for Reform votes. “In chasing Reform into the gutter, Badenoch's Conservatives have shown their true colours: no interest in supporting LGBT+ people, no interest in calling out abuse of LGBT+ people, and no interest in a tolerant, modern Britain,” she said, noting that political and international consensus on the issue had held for almost a decade.

Many Conservative objections trace back to a Policy Exchange report last week. It argues the bill's protections for non-binary identities could stretch as far as people who identify as “catgender”, that conversion practices are comparatively rare, and that existing laws already cover any offences involved. A Conservative spokesperson defended Badenoch, saying she had met Keira Bell — a young lesbian prescribed puberty blockers and testosterone who later had a double mastectomy she came to regret — and warning the bill risks criminalising “honest, exploratory conversations” young people should have before being led towards life-changing surgery.