Spain’s national parliament in Madrid, the Congress of Deputies, approved on Thursday 28 June the reform of the Criminal Code which imposes prison sentences for so-called ‘conversion therapies’, defined as acts, methods or procedures aimed at modifying, suppressing or nullifying a person’s sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.

The bill, sponsored by the Social Democrats PSOE, was passed with 178 votes in favour, 32 against (Vox) and 137 abstentions (PP), and will now proceed to the Senate.

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The legislation provides for prison sentences of between six months and two years, as well as fines equivalent to between eight and twenty-four months’ earnings, for anyone who carries out such practices “even with the consent” of the person concerned or their legal representative.

Until now, such conduct could already be penalised through administrative channels, with fines ranging from 10,000 to 150,000 euros as set out in the Trans Law passed in 2022, but it did not constitute a criminal offence under the Criminal Code.

‘Legal ambiguity’ causes concern

During the parliamentary debate, María de la Cabeza Ruiz, parliamentarian of the hard-right party Vox described the initiative as “utter nonsense” and accused the left of seeking to impose its views “by means of the Criminal Code”.

A key fact for understanding the actual context in which the previous legislation was applied is that in Spain there has, to date, been no final administrative sanction for conversion therapies.

Of the 23 complaints lodged in the last three years, 20 have been filed and only one remains under investigation, with the outcome as yet unknown; this raises the question of whether what is being reported under that label actually meets the definition the law aims to target.

That very “legal ambiguity” was precisely one of the arguments put forward by the Conservative party PP, which abstained from the vote and announced its intention to “improve” the text during its passage through the Senate.

Other parties, such as the Catalan separatists Junts, also emphasised the need to define precisely what constitutes a conversion practice, to prevent the legislation from ultimately affecting legitimate psychological or spiritual support.

Spanish Evangelical Alliance defends pastoral support when requested

The Spanish Evangelical Alliance (AEE), an organisation that has been working for religious freedom for almost 150 years, had already set out its position when the bill was tabled by the governing PSOE party, in a statement from its board one year ago.

The organisation criticised the fact that the debate is based on “distorting the concept”, attributing “a pejorative term” to support practices and projecting “a false image of manipulative and torturous treatments”, ultimately seeking to impose “intimidating prison sentences”.

For the AEE, personal and pastoral support initiatives aimed at people who freely wish to restore harmony between their biological sex and their gender identity “have nothing to do with manipulation or torture”, as they do not seek to convert anyone but rather “to provide help to those who freely ask for it” and are never carried out “without the informed consent” of the person requesting it.

The evangelical organisation also denounced a fundamental contradiction in the legislation: whilst the Trans Law defends a person’s right to self-determination to transition, the new legislation imposes prison sentences on those who wish to take the opposite path.

“Changing in one direction is enshrined as good, but changing in the opposite direction is condemned,” stated the press release, which also warned that, should the law be passed, “it will pave the way for having to exercise conscientious objection as the only legitimate and democratic recourse”.

The AEE concluded by calling on MPs to vote “in good conscience”, on the understanding that this was a matter of respect for fundamental rights and not of ideology.

FEREDE's warning to the government

Following news of the bill’s passage in Congress, the Federation of Evangelical Religious Organisations of Spain (FEREDE) wanted to make it clear that its position on this matter “is neither new nor improvised”.

The federation had already warned in 2022 about the ambiguity of the concept of “conversion therapy” and the risks that imprecise wording could pose to religious freedom, freedom of conscience and voluntary pastoral care.

At the time, FEREDE submitted a report to the Government and the Directorate-General for Religious Freedom, which was also forwarded to all parliamentary groups; it subsequently maintained contact on the matter with representatives of the People’s Party in Parliament.

The federation emphasises that its concern is not directed at abusive or coercive practices – which it expressly rejects – but rather at the risk that overly broad wording might end up affecting spiritual or family support provided freely and voluntarily. For this reason, FEREDE states that it will await the final approved text in order to accurately assess its legal scope before adopting a more detailed position.

Next steps

The reform is now proceeding through the Senate, where the PP has already announced that it will seek to introduce amendments. Both the Evangelical Alliance and FEREDE have stated in their respective press releases their intention to monitor the process closely, with the aim of ensuring that the final wording does not end up affecting pastoral and spiritual support offered freely and voluntarily within faith communities.

In the United Kingdom, Christians have also responded to new plans of banning and criminalising 'conversion practices'.