Conversion Practices - Abeera's Story

Abeera is a lesbian woman of colour who loves her family as much as she loves playing football. Just when she feels like she’s hit her stride, her parents tell her that it’s time to grow up and give up her happiness to live a life more in line for what they expect of her.

This is an account of what conversion practices might look like for a person undergoing them in Scotland today. Conversion practices are acts which deliberately try to change or suppress a person’s sexual orientation and/or gender identity. You can find out more about them here, and our campaign to end them in Scotland here.

While some forms are illegal, some are not, or operate in grey areas of the law. Conversion practices happen across a range of settings: in institutions and in the home, in religious settings and secular spaces, and by so-called professionals as well as family members.

Content note: This story contains descriptions of conversion practices, including  parental abuse.

You can read Abeera’s story here. The story was illustrated by Dan Swanton.