‘Conversion Therapy’ and the University of Birmingham c.1966-1983
Between c.1966 and 1983, the University of Birmingham employed and promoted researchers who orchestrated so-called ‘conversion therapy’* for same-sex love and desire and gender nonconformity. As the result of an individual coming forward to the media in December 2020, someone who had been subjected to what was termed ‘aversion therapy’, a form of ‘conversion therapy’, an investigation was established to ascertain what had happened at the University.
The resulting report was published in June 2022 and was headed with a clear apology from Vice-Chancellor Adam Tickell for the harm caused, who added: “I would like to commend the bravery of those from the LGBTQ+ community who have spoken out about their own experience of these practices. We understand the impact that conversion therapy has on individuals and unreservedly condemn this practice. We are unequivocal that conversion therapy is unethical, degrading, and harmful.”
The University of Birmingham is committed to the recommendations of the report. A taskforce was established in the wake of the report, which will oversee the University developing partnerships to help end ‘conversion therapy’, as well as explore how to improve representation and inclusion practices and embed knowledge across the institution.
* For the purposes of this work, we use the definition of conversion therapy in the Memorandum of Understanding on Conversion Therapy in the UK (updated 2022), endorsed by the British Psychological Society and the Royal College of Psychiatrists among many others. ‘Conversion therapy is an umbrella term for a therapeutic approach, or any model or individual viewpoint that demonstrates an assumption that any sexual orientation or gender identity is inherently preferable to any other, and which attempts to bring about a change of sexual orientation or gender identity, or seeks to suppress an individual’s expression of sexual orientation or gender identity on that basis.
These efforts are sometimes referred to by terms including, but not limited to, ‘reparative therapy’, ‘gay cure therapy’, or ‘sexual orientation and gender identity change efforts’, and sometimes may be covertly practised under the guise of mainstream practice without being named.