Sponsored by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the 2022 Global Interfaith Commission on LGBT+ Lives Conference (GIC+) brought together over 150 religious leaders from 30 countries and a range of faiths, along with academics and lay leaders, to agree a set of Safeguarding Principles to protect LGBT+ people from harm.
The initiative is led and administered by the Ozanne Foundation and builds on the success of the 2020 GIC+ Conference, which launched the Dignity of All Declaration that has since been signed by hundreds of religious leaders from around the world.
Delegates, including four Anglican Primates, the Chief Rabbi of Poland and the former President of Ireland, Dr Mary McAleese, analysed specially commissioned research into the abusive practices of ‘conversion therapy’ experienced by LGBT+ people living in Hungary and the Caribbean. The two reports provide hard evidence of the harm inflicted on LGBT+ people, particularly LGBT+ children and young people, in cultures that are hostile to them. The research was overseen by an Advisory Board of research professionals and conducted with the support of local non-governmental organisations. It shows the significantly higher levels of suicide attempts, suicidal thoughts and self-harm experienced by those who have undergone ‘conversion therapy’, often encouraged and practised by their parents, healthcare professionals and religious leaders, compared to those in the LGBT+ community who have not experienced any form of ‘conversion therapy’.
