Boris Johnson. (Hollie Adams/WPA Pool/Getty)
A conversion therapy ban will be announced in Tuesday’s (11 May) Queen’s Speech, according to ITV and BBC journalists.
ITV reported that the specific details of the ban are “still being worked on”, and that prime minister Boris Johnson has made banning the horrific practice a “personal priority”.
The BBC’s Jessica Parker shared on Twitter the Queen’s Speech was unlikely to give any specific timeframe for a conversion therapy ban and said it was “understood a consultation will be launched before any legislation is introduced”.
Sources, she said, have explained that the “short” consultation will look at how to “protect” professionals such as therapists and teachers as well as religious freedom. However, she said, the ban will cover both conversion therapy for gender and sexual identity, and will come with a victim’s support fund.
Blood donors will be asked gender-neutral questions for the first time from June (Jonathan Brady/PA)
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Questions asked of blood donors are to change from next month in a bid to make the process more inclusive.
Anyone wishing to donate blood, plasma and platelets will be asked the same sexual behaviour questions, regardless of their gender.
The change, which will take effect from June 14, will mean more people from LGBT+ communities will be eligible to donate, NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) said.
BBC News
By Hazel Shearing
image copyrightGetty Images
The fee to apply for a gender recognition certificate has been cut to £5, the government has announced.
Ministers pledged in September to slash the cost of legally changing gender from £140 after deciding against wider reforms.
Women and Equalities Minister Liz Truss said the reduction removed a barrier for transgender people.
A consultation was set up in 2018 to explore potential reforms to the way transgender people can apply for a gender recognition certificate (GRC) in England and Wales. This allows someone s acquired gender to be recorded on their birth and marriage certificates.
The existing process - which requires two medical reports - had been criticised as costly and bureaucratic.