Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge those who are watching from elsewhere.

I am pleased to be able to introduce this Bill in the Seanad. The practice of conversion therapy has been condemned and discredited worldwide by institutions such as the UN Committee against Torture, the European Parliament and the Irish Council for Psychotherapy.

Yesterday, See Change began rolling out its May green ribbon campaign to encourage people to end mental health stigma. It is people's responsibility to maintain and nurture our own mental health and to do everything we can as ordinary human beings to assist our family members, friends, workmates and comrades in coping with whatever mental health challenges present in their lives. We must not fail to take action on the vacancy levels in our mental health services or the budget for such services being raided time and again. The human cost of this to families and communities is devastating.

The "LGBT Ireland" report was launched by former President McAleese in March 2016. One element of it studied more than 1,000 LGBTI young people between the ages of 14 and 25 years. Compared with a study conducted by UCD and Headstrong of youth mental health, LGBTI young people experience twice the level of self-harm, three times the level of attempted suicide and four times the level of severe stress, anxiety and depression.

From my experience, the primary mental health issues faced by my community can be adequately explained by the stigma faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex people. We live in a society where many same-sex couples will not hold hands on the street, "gay" is still a term of abuse on the playground and mental distress is much higher among LGBTQI people.

Addressing the legacy of criminalisation and its impact on our culture is important. Homosexuality was included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disordersuntil 1973. When we reflect on LGBT experiences in mental health services, Professor Edward McCann and Ms Danika Sharek from the school of nursing and midwifery in Trinity College Dublin and UCD were published in the International Journal of Mental Health Nursingin 2014. Their survey noted negative experiences of mental health services, with 66% of people claiming an assumption that they were heterosexual, 29% claiming a negative reaction when they disclosed their LGBTI identities, 21% citing comments that their LGBTI identities were just a phase, and 13% claiming they were given advice that their orientation could be changed to a heterosexual one. The survey shows that the lingering damage of what was a long-standing policy still reverberates through the system at times.

A thread runs through many of the stories of people who have endured so-called conversion therapy. It is one whereby the individual who has come out to his or her family, having given that moment years of consideration, agrees to see someone on the request of a family member. I can only presume that the individual's willingness is grounded in a love for his or her mother, father, brother or sister and a deep desire for that person's acceptance. Our coming out stories often feature accusations of selfishness, with people asking how someone's coming out will affect them. Such a response can sometimes be just selfish worry, but it can also be as serious as blatant bigotry.

This Bill will help to affirm the identities of those who are struggling with their sexuality and deter others who seek to make interventions based on their fears or prejudices. It will prohibit conversion therapy as a deceptive and harmful act or practice against a person's sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. We define "conversion therapy" as meaning any practice or treatment by a person who seeks to change, suppress or eliminate sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. This definition does not include any practice or treatment that provides assistance to an individual undergoing a gender transition, provides acceptance, support and understanding to a person or facilitates that person's coping, social supports and identity exploration and development, including sexual orientation-neutral interventions.

If enacted, the Bill would make it unlawful for any person to perform, offer to perform or advertise conversion therapy or to remove someone from the State for the purpose of conversion therapy. It also creates further offences that can only be committed by a professional, including referring a person to any other person to perform conversion therapy.

I share people's concerns about the acceleration of turmoil and hate in our fractured world. Sinn Féin is motivated to ensure that Ireland responds to that fractured world, a response that is aggressively focused on building a model, progressive, rights-based republic as a beacon of hope for people everywhere. For such short legislation, the Bill has a significant international dimension. If enacted untouched, this ban would be the most comprehensive prohibition of conversion therapy in the world. A number of months ago, the European Parliament passed a motion that stated: "[The European Parliament welcomes] initiatives prohibiting LGBTI conversion therapies and banning the pathologisation of trans identities and urges all Member States to adopt similar measures that respect and uphold the right to gender identity and gender expression". In banning this farcical practice, we would join Brazil, Malta, Ecuador, ten US states and two Canadian provinces.

Incidentally, a Brazilian judge approved gay conversion therapy last September, thus overturning a 1999 decision forbidding treatments that claimed to "cure" gay people. According to 2017 data from the Department of Justice and Equality, more Brazilians than any other nationality outside the European Union come to study in Ireland. Their influence has been felt and welcomed among our LGBT community. Speaking from the streets of São Paulo at a protest march towards the end of last year, Mr. Carlos Daniel, an activist and organiser, stated:

We have to help people understand that this decision wasn't something small. These types of thoughts are what get us killed here in Brazil every day. We are dehumanised and treated like objects. We have to show everyone that we exist and that the future is ours.

These are the realities that often bring people to our home on this island. We must ensure that anyone who comes to Ireland is respected and that his or her contribution to the diversity of our home is valued. This is why it broke my heart to hear a Brazilian who was the same age as me speaking in a Facebook video recorded at a Pentecostal church in Dublin city about the process through which he had rejected homosexuality only to be applauded and encouraged by the congregation as he was brought through his story by the pastor on the altar.

So-called conversion therapy is happening in Ireland, although the Irish Council for Psychotherapy has stated that efforts to change, manipulate or reverse sexual orientation and-or gender identity through psychological therapies are unethical under its guidelines. Investigative journalism by Hot Pressand Gay Community Newsand comments by former President McAleese on RTÉ Radio 1 in March all shed a light on this harmful and deceptive practice. Organisations such as Courage International that promote the use of conversion therapies are in the State and have been advertised through parish newsletters. They aim to suppress a person's sexual orientation. One of their goals is to live chaste lives in accordance with the Roman Catholic Church's teachings on homosexuality. North of the Border, Core Issues Trust is a registered company that helps to reduce same-sex attraction.

The Bill will make it a criminal offence to remove someone from the State for the purpose of conversion therapy.It is essential that we recognise the importance of faith in this conversation and that some religious people experience psychological distress because they see their sexual orientation and faith as being irreconcilable. I know many people who are both religious and LGBT. Positive exploration can address both the reality of sexual orientation and the possibilities of a spiritually and religiously meaningful life. They can be reconciled. I have no doubt there are huge numbers of religious people who would find the concept of conversion therapy as abhorrent as I do.

This is about legislating for the common good, which is the reason we are here. The intention of this Bill is to ensure that people who are distressed about their sexual orientation or identity are only offered interventions that accept and support that person for who he or she is, and I am asking for the support of the House for this legislation today.