Friday 17th June 2022
Redbrick Issue 1523, Vol. 87
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The Official University of Birmingham Student Newspaper, est. 1936 Redbrick
UoB Apologises For Historic Conversion Therapy Ellen Knight News Editor
Dan Hunt News Editor
In December 2020, the BBC broke the story of a gay man who, in the 1970s, was referred to a psychologist at the University of Birmingham (UoB) and was subsequently subjected to months of electric shock ‘therapy’ in attempts to ‘cure’ his sexuality. Chris - not his real name - told the BBC that whilst trying to find ‘closure’ from UoB, he was ‘met by an absolute wall of silence’ from the University. The BBC reported that UoB claimed at the time that it had been a ‘private project’ for one individual researcher, yet Chris maintained that all ‘sessions’ took place on the UoB campus ‘with university staff, university students, and university equipment.’ At the time, UoB responded by stating that they were ‘unable to find any evidence that this was a university-sanctioned research project’, but admitted that ‘during the late 1960s and 1970s there may have been some isolated activity of this nature.’ Fast-forward two years, and the University has published a report investigating the conversion therapy research and practice hap-
pening on its campus between the years 1966 and 1983, something UoB has described as ‘a very challenging part of our history.’ In an email sent to students, Vice-Chancellor Adam Tickell said; ‘I understand that many of you will be distressed and angered to learn of the findings of this research. While we cannot change the past, today, we want to formally acknowledge and apologise for the University’s role in the historical research and practices detailed in this report and the harm that they caused.’ Tickell also added; ‘we also want to take this opportunity to apologise for any distress caused by our initial response to media reports.’ The full statement from the Vice-Chancellor can be found online. The report, commissioned in 2020, began its research in summer 2021, chaired by Professor Sarah Beck, Professor Elaine Fulton, and Dr Mo Moulton. Representatives from the School of Psychology, the Guild of Students, and the Rainbow Staff Network were also included, with Dr Rebecca Wynter as the project’s lead researcher. In a statement, the authors of the report wrote; ‘Our discussions have been complex and multivocal, reflecting the multiple identities and experiences in our group. Although we each related differently to this history, its visceral pain has been obvious to all of us. We have asked how it was that the University failed some of the most vulnerable people in our
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community in the past, and how the University might create processes that safeguard them better. We have reflected on the nature of research in an evolving society, recognising our own potential complicity in practices that might someday be understood as harmful.’ The six key recommendations for the University were as follows; ‘the University of Birmingham formally acknowledge its role in the research and clinical practices detailed in this report and the harm that they caused’ and that ‘the University apologise for that harm’, that ‘the University acknowledge and apologise for the distress caused by its initial response to media reports about this 1960s/70s research in 2020’, ‘the University make the results of this research project widely available, at the minimum through a dedicated website, public events, and, where appropriate, archival deposit within the University archives of relevant materials collected’, ‘the University develop a stated policy to provide access and material support to further academic enquiries into this history’, and finally that ‘the University support efforts and campaigns, in
Kitty Grant
coalition with relevant organisations and charities, to ban so-called ‘conversion therapy’ practices aimed at ‘curing’ a minority gender identity or sexual orientation (in other words, LGBTQ+ identities). In addition, we recommend that the University state clearly that any such ban must not restrict the ability of trans and nonbinary people to access gender-affirming therapy and healthcare.’
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