A key human rights lawyer is warning that the current agenda by leftists to attack and destroy any counseling that offers help for those with unwanted same-sex attractions and the like probably violates international human rights laws.
The comments from Jason Coppell, KC, comes just as the United Kingdom’s lawmakers are preparing to consider a bill that would outlaw “conversion therapy.”
Such counseling actually is not a “conversion therapy” but mostly includes a series of discussions in which someone with those unwanted attractions or feelings is counseled on how to deal with them.
The LGBT community worldwide repeatedly has condemned and attacked such therapy, and the therapists who offer those patients help, because of their ideology that their LGBT identity is innate.
Recognizing the fact that such therapy helps some individuals destroys the claim that those feelings are unchangeable.
It is the Christian Institute commissioned the opinion from Coppell.
Coppell said of the private member’s bill, “I consider that the Bill… if passed, would constitute a serious intrusion into the legitimate activities and practices of Christian churches and religious communities, which would be contrary to their rights protected by the ECHR, and so to the Human Rights Act 1998. They would also interfere with the legitimate expression of gender critical views, again in a manner which would be likely to breach ECHR rights.”
He continued, “The Bill [is] broad in scope. [It] would apply both to practice which seek to ‘change’ sexual orientation or transgender identity and practices which seek to ‘suppress’ sexual orientation or transgender identity i.e., to change conduct. [It] would apply to acts which cause no injury or distress; and, indeed, to acts to which the person in question consents. [It] would apply across a wide range of settings, including social and religious settings (although, the Bill … would exempt at least some conduct of parents vis-aÌ€-vis their children). Whilst some attempt has been made to craft exemptions or exceptions so as to ensure that the practice of religion is not prohibited, the central prohibition in the Bill …remains a wide one, applying to churches and other religious organizations, and to those expressing certain views, including gender critical views, outside those settings.”
Such attacks on talk therapy have become common across the United States, with multiple jurisdictions adopting laws that ban counselors from talking to patients about leaving an LGBT lifestyle, but allowing them to encourage those very choices.
Coppell said, “The Bill …would, if enacted, interfere with a number of rights protected by the ECHR. [It] would (by way of example) restrict the ability of religious organizations to express their beliefs (both within their own communities and to the wider world) and the ability of gender-critical persons to express their beliefs to persons who profess a gender identity which is inconsistent with those beliefs. Such restrictions are likely to interfere with (at least) the right to respect for private and family life (Article 8 ECHR); the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion (Article 9 ECHR); the right to freedom of expression (Article 10 ECHR); and the right to freedom of assembly and association (Article 11 ECHR).”
Coppell is known for his role in leading court cases dealing with Brexit and COVID.
He concluded, ‘It is very difficult to see how the wide-ranging interference with fundamental rights contemplated by the Bill …could be justified. Put shortly, the Bill …would criminalize expressions of personal conviction even if they are made without expressions of hatred or intolerance, or improper purpose or coercion, or abuse of power. Restrictions of that nature run contrary to the consistent case law of the European Court of Human Rights.”
Simon Calvert, of the institute, said, “If passed this would result in criminalizing Christians and gender-critical parents for conversations which most people would consider perfectly reasonable. This is not about protecting people from abuse. That is already illegal. … It is about punishing people for talking.”
WND SPECIAL REPORT – “IT’S TRUMP VS. SWAMP PSYCHOPATHS”: From the Biden administration’s enthusiastic support for amputating body parts of troubled children, to its obsession with bringing as many millions of illegal aliens, terrorists and Chinese soldiers as possible into America, it is increasingly clear that many of this nation’s current leaders are, to put it plainly, stark raving mad.
Indeed, psychiatric experts are finally documenting how the symptom profiles of scary conditions like “Borderline Personality Disorder” and “Narcissistic Personality Disorder” PERFECTLY MATCH today’s top leaders.
One groundbreaking peer-reviewed study published in 2023 documents how left-wing extremism is closely associated with “psychopathic tendencies.” Likewise, retired psychiatrist Brad Lyles, M.D., explains how “one way of understanding the increasingly outlandish beliefs and behaviors of the left is through the lens of Borderline Personality Disorder.” And one of America’s top forensic psychiatrists, Lyle Rossiter, M.D., described Barack Obama’s mental state as “Malignant Narcissistic Personality Disorder.”
Consider a typical description of sociopathy: “Sociopaths are often well-liked because of their charm and high charisma, but they do not usually care about other people. They think mainly of themselves and often blame others for the things that they do. They have a complete disregard for rules and lie constantly. They seldom feel guilt or learn from punishments.” Remind you of anyone?
From Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to their presidential Cabinet – including Attorney General Merrick Garland, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra – all of these people “have a complete disregard for rules and lie constantly.”
But it’s not just Democrat leaders. Multiple surveys now show how rank-and-file Democrats are TWICE as likely to be diagnosed with a mental disorder as Republicans – from depression to bipolar disorder to schizophrenia to narcissistic personality disorder. All this and much more is stunningly laid out in the March edition of WND’s critically acclaimed Whistleblower magazine, “IT’S TRUMP VS. SWAMP PSYCHOPATHS.” Don’t miss it – you will see the whole political-cultural-spiritual war raging in the U.S.A. in a whole new light.
WHISTLEBLOWER is available in both the popular print edition and a state-of-the-art digital version, either single issues or discounted annual subscriptions.
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