Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee
Conversion Practices
Letter from the Revd Canon Marion Chatterley, Vice Provost, St Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh, 9 November 2021
Dear Committee members
I write to express my views on the subject of Conversion Practices. My interest in this matter stems from my ministry, over many years, as Chaplain to people living with HIV. In the context of that work, I encountered a number of older gay men who had been subjected to these practices. I am in no doubt that long-term damage was caused and that those men lived with the consequences of the interventions. In at least one case, the ‘therapy’ contributed to an internalised homophobia which, in turn, led that person into dangerous sexual encounters and eventually to him contracting HIV.
If I may elaborate – as a result of the self-hatred that resulted from my client’s feelings that he ‘ought’ to be different, he was unable to allow himself to commit to a relationship that would have offered friendship, companionship, sexual connection and the stability that comes from planning for the future together. Instead, he rejected any such opportunities and found himself seeking out anonymous sexual encounters that were sometimes dangerous and rarely what he was looking for.
Conversion Practices within a religious context are usually offered in the context of prayer. They may be quite dramatic – commanding ‘evil forces’ to leave the person. I would ask the committee to consider that there are many approaches to prayer and a range of understanding of what is happening when we pray. Biblical sources, supported by theological voices over many centuries, point to prayer being about engagement with God, an act that is primarily about listening rather than telling. I would suggest that it is not our business to ask God to change what God has made – that each one of us, made in the image of God, is a whole and complete person who does not need to be corrected by some divine intervention. Lesbian and gay people, intersex people, trans people – all are who they were created to be. To pray for that to change is to pray for God to change something/someone that is not broken. I would suggest that our brokenness comes from our life experiences, not from the essence of our being.
I am sure that others have made submissions on other important aspects such as human rights and the rights of the child. They are better qualified than me to do so and, for that reason, I will not address those issues.
I simply ask that the committee puts first and foremost the need to respect the humanity and integrity of each and every member of our communities and ensuring that Conversion Practices are illegal in Scotland would go some way towards achieving that goal.
Revd Canon Marion Chatterley
Vice Provost