UK ministry opposes Barclays cancellation as clergy oppose country’s conversion therapy ban

Barclays Bank is at the center of a fight between a nonprofit Christian fundamentalist ministry and LGBTQ activists over the practice of conversion therapy.

The battle is ongoing at a hearing in Belfast while back in the UK, the government announced this week that it has extended its deadline on consultations it has instituted to ban the controversial practice.

Barclays has decided to cancel banking services from Core Issues Trust (CIT) due to its support for men and women facing unwanted homosexual behavior who willfully seek to change their sexual preferences, expression and / or gender identity .

Based in Northern Ireland, CIT offers talk therapy, specifically what is known as “SAFE-T” (Exploring the Fluidity of Sexual Attraction in Therapy).

Department CEO Mike Davidson took legal action against Barclays for damages and unlawful discrimination against his Christian beliefs and political views after the bank canceled the association’s account. It is supported by Christian Legal Center of the nonprofit advocacy group Christian Concern.

Barclays lawyers are working to get the case closed.

“More than two years later, we are still seeking justice in this matter. Barclays Bank has shown a worrying lack of attention or remorse for the impact this has had on our ministry and the precedent that it could create for other businesses, ”Davidson said in a statement. statement, noting that the case began in July 2020. “Can you imagine the outcry if an LGBT charity had been treated this way? “

Meanwhile, it is alleged that CIT received more than 300 annoying phone calls and a myriad of intimidating messages from LGBTQ activists as well as a threatening text to Davidson expressing a desire for family members of its staff to be raped and killed. .

“The coordinated campaign has put tremendous pressure on our department and key service providers to cancel their services, an action we consider discriminatory,” Davidson said. The incidents, he said, took place long before the government’s proposal to ban “conversion therapy” came into play.

“If a social media crowd can get a bank to shut down a Christian ministry account, then there is nowhere to go for Bible-true Christian ministries,” he added.

“The vitriol aimed at LGBT activists’ Core Issues Trust has been building for more than a decade,” said Williams, CEO of Christian Concern. “Calls to ban ‘prayer of hate’ and ‘conversion practices’ show that if it is therapists now, then it will be church leaders.”

News week contacted Barclays, who declined to comment.

The London-based multinational bank has a long history of defending LGBTQ rights. It was named a Star Performer in the Stonewall UK Workplace Equality Index in 2017 and identified as one of the Top Performing Employers for Creating Inclusive Workplaces for LGBTQ Employees across its UK operations. It was the first bank to feature a same-sex couple in a mainstream TV commercial and has sponsored Pride in London since 2014.

As this dispute unfolds, the government will now continue to receive comments regarding the ban on conversion therapy. The deliberation was originally due to conclude today, but has now been extended by eight weeks “to ensure that the broadest possible views are taken into account, in the development of the legislation. “.

It was after 1,500 Christian ministers and pastoral workers signed an open letter to British Foreign Secretary and Minister for Women and Equalities Elizabeth Truss in response to the consultation she first presented to Parliament on October 29, 2021. In general, they expressed their loyalty to orthodoxy, the historical Christian teaching on sexual ethics and their objection to the sanction that could lead to the criminalization of it.

Opponents of conversion therapy view the practice of counseling and / or psychotherapy that attempts to change sexual orientation or gender identity to be harmful. They view homosexuality as a mental illness that needs to be cured negatively.

Supporters, mostly Christians, note that LGBTQ activists take the stance that most benefits their cause. As believers in Christ, they consider it reasonable to seek therapy to change unwanted sexual feelings, which, prior to the intervention of the LGBTQ lobby, won the approval of the psychiatric community.

News week contacted Truss through his government office for equality and received an email response from a member of his press team:

“The ban will not prevent religious leaders from offering support on issues of sexual orientation and transgender identity,” said Alice Booth, chief press officer. “We know that for believers, the support of their religious leaders and communities can be vital. The ban will only cover those who seek to change a person to be what they are not. rather than offering impartial support. “

She also said that the freedom to express the teachings of any religion would not be affected, but that religious practices “carried out with the intention of changing a person’s sexual orientation or transforming them or becoming transgender will be. taken into account in the proposals ”.

Truss had previously expressed his view, which was published under the announcement of the extension of the consultation period on the government’s webpage.

“We are absolutely committed to stamping out conversion therapy and want to hear all perspectives on the best ways to do it,” it read. “We are absolutely committed to a ban that will ensure that LGBT people can live their lives free from the threat of harm or abuse, while protecting freedom of expression and protecting those under the age of 18 from be channeled into an irreversible decision about their future. “

Meanwhile, those who oppose the ban have said they are prepared to face criminal charges if such a ban is introduced. The signatures of those urging the government to drop the proposal came from a wide range of British churches, including Pentecostals, Presbyterians and the Church of England. They also noted that it could be used against Christian parents who could also be criminalized for loving counseling and teaching given to their own children and said the category of conversion therapy is defined too broadly.

As the Rev. Matthew Roberts, Minister of Trinity Church York, wrote, “It is deeply concerning that the government appears to be considering legislation that would criminalize normal and loving Christian ministry, while preventing us from helping young people who are caught. in the horrific damage done by transgender ideology. “

“As Christians we seek to help young people who seek to follow Jesus Christ understand these issues from the perspective of biblical teaching concerning God’s creation of man and woman and His purpose for him. marriage, ”wrote Dr Julie Maxwell, a youth worker. at St. Mary’s Basingstoke, Church of England, member of the General Synod.