Miriam Cates, an evangelical Christian, has long protested the rights of trans people and has been the forefront of one of many attacks on the trans community across the globe.
Cates, along with others, have demanded that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak drop the proposed conversion therapy ban, as they believe that this practice should continue. Conversion therapy is a harmful practice in which individuals who identify as LGBTQ+ are forced to learn hateful things about the queer community and themselves as an attempt to change their sexual orientation or their gender identity. These practices, as alleged by those who support them, are made in an attempt to “cure” those in the community.
The protests have been enough motivation for Sunak to drop this long-overdue ban, hitting yet another blow to the trans community as they once again find themselves in a ongoing battle. Upsettingly, the strong transphobia from Cates and her accomplices have been enough for Sunak to completely roll back on the law and set it back for the next election.
This is the ignorance that follows our dear community on a daily basis. While it seems that progress is made in some areas, a few people can do so much damage to the progress we have so far made.
Opponents also argue that the ban of transgender conversion therapy would be a risk to the well-being of children and that it would “criminalize therapists.” Conservatives always bring up children as an excuse to ban trans people from even having the most basic human right of existing. Yet, they will always try to force their dangerous and harmful beliefs on their children which disconnects a child from the rest of the educated society.
LGBTQ+ activists, however, rightfully argue that conversion therapy can be really harmful because it can have many severe long-lasting phycological stress on individuals who have gone through this rather disgusting and de-humanizing experience.
Our community is experiencing one of the slowest progressions of freedom that we can all agree has revived the massive amount of attacks on our community. More specifically, our trans folks have experienced several rights that they once had denied all because hate is allowed a place in humanity.
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