The organiser of a protest calling for a ban on transgender conversion therapy wants to show Oxford “transphobia will not be tolerated”.

Protesters will take over Bonn Square on April 19 at 6pm to call for a blanket ban on LGBT+ conversion therapy. READ MORE about this here>>>

It follows a partial U-turn from the Government on plans to entirely scrap the practice.

READ MORE: Oxford protesters to call for total ban on transgender conversion therapy

The Government has said a ban on conversion therapy for lesbian, gay and bisexual people will go ahead but transgender conversion therapy will not be banned. 

Alana Stewart from Oxford Against Conversion Therapy described transgender conversion therapy as “extremely damaging”.

She said: “Trans people are an important, real, and integrated part of the queer community here in Oxford.

“The Government have been going back and forth on their promise to ban conversion therapy for four years, following the Government’s 2018 National LGBT Survey that demonstrated the ongoing prevalence of conversion practices in the UK.

“Over the past four years, the Government have taken a backseat whilst countless more members of the queer community have been needlessly subject to these practices. Their recent backslide on banning conversion practices for trans people, is another significant example of their negligence towards our community.”

Oxford Mail: People take part in a demonstration outside Downing Street in London, to protest against the exclusion of transgender people from a ban on conversion therapy. Picture: PA Media People take part in a demonstration outside Downing Street in London, to protest against the exclusion of transgender people from a ban on conversion therapy. Picture: PA Media

She added: “We want to send a clear message to the Government that there is no satisfactory conversion therapy ban that doesn’t include trans people.

“That’s why we are protesting on the 19th, and we hope at the very least to come out in solidarity for anyone affected by this and to show Oxford that transphobia will not be tolerated.”

The exclusion of transgender people from the ban has had an “devastating” impact on the community in Oxford, says Chrissie Chevasutt.

Ms Chevasutt, an outreach and development worker with transgender, intersex and non-binary people at St Columba's United Reformed Church, said: “What this has done has caused real anxiety, real fear within individuals and within the community. Everyday I am hearing, seeing and listening to trans people who are frightened that this Government and the nation is turning against them.”

Oxford Mail: People take part in a protest outside Downing Street in London, over transgender people not being included in plans to ban conversion therapy. Picture: PA Media People take part in a protest outside Downing Street in London, over transgender people not being included in plans to ban conversion therapy. Picture: PA Media

Debbie Brixey, chair of Oxford Pride, which is supporting the protest, wants local councillors, members of parliament and “everybody who has got a voice” to make it clear the exclusion of transgender people is “unacceptable”.  

She said: “This is not a minority issue, which is what people seem to think. It is a matter of equality, it is a matter of human rights, and if you take human rights away from one part of the community where do you stop with that?

“Are they going to take it from somebody else again?”

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