It's as I have said, and written, for years: Watch Europe, watch most especially the United Kingdom, because what the left tries there, the American left looks on with envy - and will attempt here, at the first opportunity. From free speech gun control to taxation to immigration to LGBTQ+ issues, the European left in general is farther down the road than the American left has managed, so their antics are illustrative, as well as cautionary.
Free speech in particular is pretty much a dead letter in the UK. One can find oneself looking at jail bars from the wrong side just for posting an "offensive" meme on social media, and now, a new bill being pushed may well jail parents who try to have a serious conversation with their "transgender" kids. And worse, it's not just parents.
Parents, teachers and doctors risk up to five years in jail if they try to talk their children out of irreversible trans treatments under a “dangerous” new law, campaigners have warned.
On Thursday, Olivia Bailey, the equalities minister, published a draft bill to ban conversion therapy, which aims to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
The bill states that people who use physical or psychological abuse to prevent children from saying they are gay or transgender could face up to five years in jail if convicted.
Critics warn this could put parents and teachers at risk of police investigation and possible jail time for having honest conversations with children.
Under the new law, someone found guilty of conducting abusive conversion practices could face an unlimited fine, a custodial sentence of up to five years, or both.
I have a question: Who gets to decide what "abusive conversion practices" are? Ask yourself, would you trust someone called an "equalities minister" to make this call? Especially when there is possible jail time involved? Five years in the pokey isn't an inconsiderable term; it's probably more than you'd pull down for being convicted in one of the grooming gang cases that's troubling Britain right now.
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There's a tiny silver lining behind this big, black cloud; the proposal reportedly won't toss parents in the klink for trying to talk their kids out of chemical or surgical treatments.
The government’s Office for Equality and Opportunity said talking children out of irreversible trans treatments would not fall foul of the law as the offence would have to be for the intention of changing someone’s identity, be abusive as well as causing long-term harm.
Ms Bailey insisted the new law would not outlaw the expression of beliefs about LGBT identities, or ban exploratory conversations and questioning about someone’s identity.
She stressed that the bill included safeguards for healthcare professionals, therapists and counsellors and a “high threshold” for criminality to protect free speech, so that only acts deemed abusive and likely to create real harm to the person would lead to prosecution.
Seriously, though: How long is that likely to last? Of course, the picture isn't all bleak here; Britain has started to make some progress in dealing with the hideously unfair practice of letting boys and men compete in girls' and women's sports, claiming to be "transgender." But any country with an Office for Equality and Opportunity is likely to try to push this issue further; and lets face it, free speech is a dead letter in Britain.
There has been some pushback:
However, critics say the definition of abuse is drawn too wide and covers “controlling or coercive words or behaviour”, “use of economic pressure” and “use of psychological or emotional pressure” – all of which could be used against parents, teachers and health professionals.
Maya Forstater, the chief executive of women’s rights charity Sex Matters, said: “This is a dangerous proposal that will harm the people it purports to protect.”
“Turning ‘seeking to change someone’s transgender identity’ into a crime will leave teachers and others who must recognise biological sex in order to do their job open to accusations of criminal harm,” she said.
Here's the thing: The government, at any level, has no business getting involved in these conversations at all. What's worse, this horse squeeze may well distract educators, counselors and other people who have actual business interacting with school kids from reporting actual abuse, physical or emotional, by rendering the very notion of abuse so fuzzy that it's impossible to define any longer.
But on the whole, children belong to their parents, not the state. It's not the state's role to determine what kids should and shouldn't be calling themselves. These are issues that should be handled within the family, not in the schools, not in a healthcare setting, but in the homes. If a parent is concerned that suddenly little Mikey decides that he's really Michelle, then parents should be - must be - free to have that talk with Mikey, maybe find out where he got the idea in the first place, and deal with it within the family.
That's not the way the United Kingdom seems to be leaning. And watch them, because the American left is, and that's for sure and for certain.
