The Welsh Government is seeking legal advice to completely ban conversion therapy – with the aim of making Wales the most LGBTQ+ friendly country in Europe.

Conversion therapy includes any type of treatment or psychotherapy aiming to alter a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. This is based on the misconception that being LGBTQ+ is a mental illness that can be ‘cured’.

Hannah Blythyn MS, the Welsh Government’s Deputy Minister for Social Partnership, said: “As a government, we’ve committed to ensuring that we become the friendliest LGBTQ+ nation in Europe, where no one is left out or left behind.”

Announcing steps to make conversion therapy “a thing of the past”, Ms Blythyn said: “In addition to seeking legal advice to determine all the levers we have in Wales to end the practice of conversion therapy unilaterally; we will educate and raise awareness of the horrors and ineffectiveness of conversion therapy practices by establishing a dedicated campaign in Wales.

“Alongside this, work will be undertaken to better understand the impact of conversion ‘therapy’ on survivors to enable support services to be improved.

“We will establish a working group of experts, to include representatives from faith communities; the health and social care sector; and children and young people’s representatives, alongside LGBTQ+ people to help with this work and advise on key elements as a ban is developed.”

The Welsh Government and the Welsh NHS have signed up to a ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ with the Coalition Against Conversion Therapy.

Organisations that sign the Memorandum commit to not providing conversion therapy in Wales.

Ms Blythyn added: “I am confident that together we can and must rise to the challenge to make Wales the most LGBTQ+ friendly nation in Europe – where every corner of our country is a safe place for LGBTQ+ people to live openly and authentically as themselves.”

In a joint-statement, Wales’ Chief Medical Officer Dr Frank Atherton and NHS Wales Chief Executive Judith Paget said they “fully support” banning conversion therapy in Wales.

They said: “We stand united in our desire to make this abhorrent practice illegal and believe this will offer an important opportunity to support those at risk of conversion therapy as well as victims and survivors.”

The UK Government recently announced it would ban conversion therapy – but only for gay and bisexual people. Trans people would not be included in a UK Government conversion therapy ban.