The Traitors star Matty Hyndman celebrates proposed UK conversion practices ban: ‘It sends a clear signal’

The Traitors star Matthew Hyndman has welcomed the UK Government’s proposed ban on conversion practices, saying it sends a “clear signal” to LGBT+ people that they are “not broken.”

Hyndman is the co-founder of the Ban Conversion Practices group, a UK-wide coalition campaigning to end harmful practices that attempt to suppress LGBTQ+ identities.

In 2015, as a 24-year-old missionary, Hyndman was subjected to conversion practices after private online conversations, in which he disclosed his sexuality as a gay man, were accidentally shared in an email sent to his congregation.

Matthew Hyndman was pressured to undergo conversion practices at 24

The email was received by around 100 members of his religious community in Northern Ireland, including his family, pastor and friends back home. Following this, Hyndman was pressured to undergo conversion practices in front of 400 fellow missionaries, to which he refused.

Five years later, he and his close friend Harry Hitchens launched Ban Conversion Practices, a campaign supported by organisations including Stonewall, calling on the UK Government to ban conversion practices once and for all.

Yesterday (25 June), the UK Government published draft legislation that would ban conversion practices, making it illegal across England and Wales to attempt to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity.

“They’re hearing from the highest point that this is wrong” – Hyndman welcoming the UK Government’s proposed ban on conversion practices

Speaking to The Independent following the landmark announcement, Hyndman said: “I think it just sends a really clear signal.”

“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,” he added.

Saba Ali, chair of the Ban Conversion Practices Coalition, called the publication of the Bill a “very special day” after years of “campaigning, repeated delays and broken promises from successive governments.”

“I lost a lot of friends” – Hyndman on refusing to undergo conversion practices

Speaking to Attitude earlier this year, Hyndman, 35, spoke candidly about his own experiences following his traumatic coming-out story.

“When someone is offered conversion practices, whatever that looks like, the risk of saying no is huge. I had to walk away from this vocation that, at that point, I felt very strongly about. I lost a lot of friends. That’s a massive risk, and when someone is at their most vulnerable, their most alone, their most afraid, to be asked to make that decision is massive. Is it any wonder that plenty of people would say yes? That they’ve been trying so far [to pray the gay away] so they might as well try this too?”

The legislation is still at the draft stage and will face further scrutiny before it can become law.