Responding to news that the UK’s first-ever LGBTI conference 'Safe To Be Me' has been cancelled after a boycott of more than 100 organisations in response to the Government’s stance on conversion therapy, Patrick Corrigan, Amnesty International UK’s Head of Nations and Regions, said:

“LGBTI people who suffer persecution and violence in countries around the world have become collateral damage in the Government’s failure to defend the rights of trans and non-binary people at home.

“Tragically, the UK has squandered a golden opportunity to be a much-needed beacon for LGBTI rights internationally. All because of an apparent unwillingness to protect trans and non-binary people from the dangerous practice of conversion therapy.

“Having let down the LGBTI community at home, the Government has now failed LGBTI people around the world.

“Amnesty stands in solidarity with LGBTI communities everywhere.

“A ban on conversion therapy that excludes trans and non-binary people is not a real ban on conversion therapy. Human rights cannot be applied selectively.”