Spain Makes Moves to Criminalize Conversion Therapy
Spain’s Socialist Parliamentary Group submitted a bill last month that would elevate the punishment for practicing conversion therapy, and it was approved and sent to the senate just last week.
by Alyssa Steinsiek
Spain is taking a step in the right direction with regards to prohibiting conversion therapy for LGBTQ+ people, and especially minors.
On June 13, the Socialist Parliamentary Group (GPS) proposed to Spain’s Congress of Deputies (one half of Spain’s bicameral legislative body) a bill that would criminalize conversion therapy. Specifically, the bill amends Law 10/1995 and will “penalize conversion therapies aimed at eliminating or denying sexual orientation, sexual identity or gender expression.”
On June 24, the bill was passed with 311 for, 33 against, and one abstention.
As the GPS points out, Spain has been leading the charge in Europe for legally protecting LGBTQ+ citizens. They reference a 2005 marriage equality bill, a 2022 non-discrimination bill, and a 2023 equal rights bill for transgender Spaniards, stating, “Spain has become one of the most advanced countries in the world in respecting the right of LGBTI people to exercise full citizenship, free from discrimination based on sexual orientation, sexual identity, and gender expression.”
In Spain, conversion therapy is defined as “the promotion or practice of aversion, conversion, or counterconditioning methods, programs, or therapies, whether psychological, physical, or drug-based, that aim to modify the sexual orientation, sexual identity, or gender expression of people, regardless of the consent they or their legal representatives may have given.” Right now it constitutes an administrative offense, which has financial repercussions, not a criminal offense, which would have penal repercussions.
The GPS says that they proposed heightening punitive measures to the level of criminal offense because they “are not facing isolated cases but rather one of the most serious forms of attack and denigration of the LGBTI community, especially due to the emergence of new forms of dissemination of these so-called therapies, such as web platforms, social networks, etc.,” and clarifies that this change would elevate the punishment for practicing conversion therapy to the same sort of punishments issued for crimes relating to torture.
Violation of this law would earn offenders six months to two years of imprisonment. The exact time offenders face would be determined by four factors: whether or not the victim of their behavior was a minor; whether or not the offender’s acts were carried out using “violence, intimidation, or deception, or by abusing a position of superiority, need, or vulnerability of the victim due to illness, disability, or any other circumstance;” whether or not the offender "belongs to an organization or association, even a temporary one, dedicated to carrying out such activities;" and whether or not the acts were carried out for profit.
What conservative reporters are truly terrified by, though, is the bill’s non-carceral punishments. Medical professionals or educators could be stripped of their credentials for three to five years longer than the time that they’re imprisoned, and parents or guardians of minors could have their “right of parental authority” suspended for up to five years. In Spain, parents and guardians have a duty to care for the minors in their charge, and failing to properly execute those duties can result in the child’s care being given over to “other relatives, persons, or institutions” as necessary.
Is that really a surprise? Is it at all unreasonable? The prevailing, nearly unanimous opinion of medical professionals across the world has long been that gender-affirming care saves lives, both in children and adults. By the same token, the harmful effects of conversion therapy are well established. We know that subjecting children to these torturous practices does lasting harm. Protecting LGBTQ+ children from conversion therapy is truly a no-brainer, and sometimes that means issuing harsh penalties against those people who want to do them harm.
Now that the amendment has been approved by Congress, it will be sent to Spain’s higher legislative chamber, the Senate, where it will either have additional amendments proposed, be vetoed outright (which requires a unanimous vote), or be approved. The Senate has two months to make its decision, and I truly hope they pass the bill unamended, so that queer kids in Spain are thoroughly protected from the abhorrent evils of conversion therapy.
Alyssa Steinsiek is a trans woman journalist who reports on news relevant to the queer community and occasionally posts on BlueSky.
