BBB Senate faction opposes conversion therapy ban despite earlier support

The Senate faction of the BBB has come out against a proposed ban on so-called conversion therapies aimed at changing a person's sexual orientation. The position marks a shift from the party’s stance in the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament, where BBB supported the bill introduced by lawmakers from D66, VVD, GroenLinks-PvdA, SP, and Partij voor de Dieren.

Henk Marquart Scholtz, a senator for the BBB, described the proposed legislation as “substandard” during Tuesday’s Senate debate. He pointed to a critical assessment by the Council of State, which argued that a ban on conversion therapy could prove difficult to enforce and questioned whether it would add meaningful legal protections beyond those already provided by existing criminal law.

“I do not necessarily consider attempting to change someone’s sexual orientation to be reprehensible,” the BBB senator also said, to the astonishment of part of the Senate. “The only condition is that no coercion is used.”

He argued that banning such therapies would conflict with freedom of expression. Boris Dittrich of D66 responded that the fundamental rights at stake are those of children who are pressured into being “cured” of their homosexuality.

“It is simply what parents want for their child, in the interest of that child,” Marquart Scholtz responded to critical questions. “If it is done in a responsible manner, then BBB has no objection to it whatsoever.”

The proposal was first sent to Parliament nearly four years ago during the fourth Cabinet of Prime Minister Mark Rutte. It was adopted by the Tweede Kamer on Sept. 9 with the support from a wide range of parties, including center-right and right-wing parties BBB, VVD, NSC, CDA, and JA21, and left-wing and center-left parties GroenLinks-PvdA, PvdD, Volt, SP, and D66.

The five parties who opposed the measure include the far-right PVV, SGP, and FVD parties, as well as Denk and ChristenUnie. It passed the Tweede Kamer after the Dick Schoof Cabinet fell and was in a caretaker status. The BBB was one of Schoof’s coalition partners.

The CDA has six senators, and JA21 brings two more to the table. There are also five independent senators, including Ingrid Visseren-Hamakers, who previously served with PvdD, Pim Walenkamp and Robert van Gasteren who both left BBB, Cees van de Sanden who stopped representing the VVD, and Toine Beukering, who at one point was collegial with JA21.

Despite BBB’s change of position, the proposal still appears likely to pass. The bill’s sponsors can count on a comfortable majority if the other parties that supported it in the Tweede Kamer also vote in favour in the Senate.

Among the other parties that had previously supported the bill, CDA was the most critical. Christian Democrat senator Hugo Doornhof agreed with the bill’s sponsors that conversion therapy can cause “serious harm.”

However, he questioned whether criminalising the practice would actually help. At the same time, he also expressed understanding for the proposal, saying that it helps establish a societal norm. Even without support from the Christian Democrats, the bill would still have a majority.