Parents to face 7 years in prison for refusing children sex changes under proposed Scottish plan

If parents refuse to change their child's gender identity, they could face up to seven years in prison for "conversion therapy" in Scotland.  

A proposal was put in motion by the Scottish National Party on Tuesday that referred to not accepting a child's gender change as "conversion therapy."  

"We believe that any effort to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity is harmful, regardless of how an individual identifies," the proposal stated.  

Examples of practices that would fall under criminal prosecution of the written proposal include "preventing someone from dressing in a way that reflects" their "gender identity" and services such as "counselling or any other form of talking therapy" that are " intended to change or suppress an individual’s...gender identity" are considered to be abusive if they are part of a "coercive course of behavior." 

In relation to psychological counseling sessions, the proposal stated, "[O]ne session or type of therapy undertaken by the perpetrator may not cause harm (and so will not be criminalized), but several sessions or types, when taken together, may result in harm" and it would therefore be criminalized.  

Criminal offenses under the proposal also include the intention to bring someone out of Scotland for "conversion practices." In addition, "It would not matter whether the conversion practice was carried out, so long as the person was taken out of Scotland for the purposes of subjecting them to conversion practices. It would not matter whether the change or suppression of their sexual orientation or gender identity is achieved or is, in fact, possible. This offence therefore, does not require any proof of harm having been caused." 

The maximum penalty proposed by the plan would be " imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7 years, or to an unlimited fine, or both."  

Maggie Chapman, the equality spokesman for the Scottish Greens, agreed with the proposal, saying, "Conversion practices are not therapy,” she said. “They are abusive and coercive. They are a form of violence that has no place in a modern or progressive Scotland." 

“Nobody should be told there is something wrong with them or be forced to be ashamed of who they are, just because of their identity.”