A Traitors star has welcomed the bid by the Government to ban conversion practices saying it send a “clear signal” to LGBT+ people that they are “not broken, you don’t need to be cured”.
Matthew Hyndman who once faced such so-called therapy said he was asked in his 20s to “publicly repent” for being gay or leave his evangelical Christian community behind.
Hyndman, who was also known as Matty during January’s series of the gameshow, has now backed a ban on such practices which could see people fined or imprisoned for carrying them out.
The draft Conversion Practices Bill, covering England and Wales, was being published on Thursday after a Labour manifesto commitment from 2024 to do so.
The Government said the “landmark” ban would protect LGBT+ people from “physical and psychological abuse to change who they are” while a charity helping people affected welcomed it as a “vital first step toward addressing conversion practices as a distinct form of harm”.
The Bill defines conversion practices as conduct that aims to change someone’s sexual orientation or transgender identity through abusive acts that seriously harm the victim.
Speaking at an event in London as a draft Conversion Practices Bill was published on Thursday, he said he had been an evangelical Christian missionary on a ship sailing around the world as he wrestled with his sexuality.
He said: “I was so embarrassed that I was gay. I was so deeply embarrassed and ashamed, and I didn’t tell a soul. This was not something that I was willing to even utter, because as far as I was concerned, it was the worst sin.”
He said he had for a long time been “completely in denial about my sexuality”, but when it became known he was gay, he was confronted with the prospect of conversion practices.
“I was basically given a choice to publicly repent in front of the entire ship’s community and agree to go through counselling, or go.”
He said he considers himself “one of the lucky ones” because he was able to walk away, but that had not come without its hardships.
“In order for me to walk away, in order for me to say no, there was such a huge risk,” he said. “The risk was that I would lose everyone I know and love. My vocation, my community, everything was so intertwined, particularly when you have a faith, it’s so intertwined.
“So for me to say no was for me to reject the belief of my entire community and walk away. And I did, thankfully. I consider myself one of the lucky ones because I did, I walked away, and I said ‘no, actually, I think I know who I am’.”
He spoke of his belief in the importance of a ban on such practices – which are aimed at changing someone’s sexual orientation or transgender identity and can involve anything from exorcisms to prayers.
Hyndman added: “I think it (a ban) just sends a really clear signal, as well.
“Anyone who is currently experiencing this, anyone who has, they’re hearing from the highest point that this is wrong and that it should not be happening to you. You’re not broken, you don’t need to be cured.”
Hyndman, who is originally from Northern Ireland, appeared at the Alliance Party conference in March to back the party’s bid to ban conversion practices there.
