EU Commission plans non-binding recommendation to ban conversion practices

The European Commission announced Wednesday in Brussels that it will issue a non-binding recommendation next year urging all 27 EU member states to ban conversion practices targeting LGBTQ people, stopping short of a full union-wide prohibition sought by activists.

The move responds to a European Citizens' Initiative that gathered more than 1.1 million signatures calling for binding legislation, such as a new directive or amendments to existing equal treatment laws. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stated, "Conversion practices have no place in our union." The executive flew the LGBTQ flag at its Brussels headquarters to mark the announcement, which came days before the city's annual Pride parade.

Commissioner for Equality Hadja Lahbib described the practices, which aim to change or suppress a person's sexual orientation or gender identity, as involving methods such as verbal abuse, isolation, forced medication, electroshock, physical or sexual violence, and exorcism. "Conversion practices are built on a lie, the lie that LGBTQ people need to be fixed," Lahbib said. "You cannot torture away a person's identity."

According to a 2024 report by the EU Agency for Fundamental...