UK: Alarming Rise in Promotion of LGBTIQ+ Conversion Therapy

The United Kingdom is facing a dangerous surge in efforts to promote so-called LGBTIQ+ conversion therapy, with Amnesty International warning of a rapidly growing and well-funded anti-rights movement targeting queer lives and hard-won freedoms.

In a damning new analysis released on 10 July, Amnesty reveals that spending by anti-LGBTIQ+ groups advocating for the discredited and harmful practice of conversion therapy – aimed at changing a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity – has skyrocketed by a staggering 165% between 2019 and 2023.

The report maps the financial and strategic rise of 65 anti-rights organisations operating in the UK — including UK arms of powerful US groups, ultra-conservative Christian advocacy bodies, and anti-abortion “crisis pregnancy centres” — with a common goal: to undermine human rights protections and reverse progress on equality, particularly for LGBTIQ+ people.

Coordinated Attack on LGBTIQ+ Rights

While the anti-rights network targets a range of freedoms — from abortion access to gender equality — the report emphasises that LGBTIQ+ people are a major focus. Conversion therapy, described by the United Nations as a form of torture, remains legal in the UK despite repeated government promises to outlaw it.

Amnesty found that 12 groups promoting conversion therapy are operating in the UK. They showed the largest rate of growth in spending over the last four years among all categories analysed.

The organisation described the threat as a “deliberate and coordinated attack on human rights, led by actors who are weaponising misinformation, fabricating moral panic about abortion care and LGBTIQ+ people and exploiting existing prejudice to sow divisions and distract us from the real issues that matter.”

American Influence and Big Money

The research reveals that many of these anti-rights organisations are tied to US-based lobby groups, including the notorious Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF).

The ADF, instrumental in overturning Roe v. Wade in the US, set up shop in the UK in 2015 and has since ramped up its influence, increasing its UK spending by 187% to nearly £4 million in the past four years.

Amnesty says that these transatlantic ties are helping to import a culture war strategy that has proven effective in the US — one that frames LGBTIQ+ identities and reproductive rights as existential threats to traditional values.

Crisis Pregnancy Centres and Government Funding

The report also exposes the growth of anti-abortion “crisis pregnancy centres”, which present themselves as neutral but reportedly spread misinformation to deter pregnant people from seeking abortions. Spending at nine of these centres jumped by 46%, with some receiving National Lottery and government funds.

This convergence of anti-abortion and anti-LGBTIQ+ agendas is a hallmark of the broader anti-rights strategy, which Amnesty says aims to “roll back our hard-won rights, undermine equality protections and rewrite the rules on who deserves dignity and freedom.”

For LGBTIQ+ communities, the increase in organised efforts to legitimise conversion therapy — often under the banner of “religious freedom” or “parental rights” — is deeply troubling. The continued delay in legislating a ban sends a dangerous message that queer and trans lives are still up for debate.

“Powerful anti-rights groups want a world where you are not free to love who you love, be who you are, or make choices about your own body. A world where women’s freedoms are controlled, and LGBTI+ people are criminalised,” warns Amnesty.