This week, Senator Barry Ward looks at a private members bill to ban so-called “conversion therapies”, which seek to change a person’s . Barry is joined by one of the sponsors of this cross-party legislation, Senator Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael – Cork South-Central), and practising psychotherapist Stella O’Malley, who is opposed to the bill.



You can read the Prohibition of Conversion Therapies Bill 2018 and track its progress here. 



Jerry Buttimer was Fine Gael’s first openly gay TD and the first Chair of the Fine Gael LGBTQ+ group. You can follow Jerry Buttimer on Twitter @jerrybuttimer, on Instagram @jerrybuttimer, on Facebook, or find out more about him on his website.



Stella O’Malley is an author and practising psychotherapist in County Offaly; she is the founder of Genspect, an organisation for parents of gender-questioning children. Stella is a member of the Association of Professional Counsellors and Psychotherapists.



[Erratum: Please note that the podcast contains a mistake in saying that Stella is a member of the Irish Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists, when she is, in fact, a member of the Association of Professional Counsellors and Psychotherapists (please see a detailled explanation here); we are happy to clarify this.]



You can follow Stella on Twitter @stellaomalley3, on Facebook, or find out more on her website. She also presents the “Secrets of the Motherworld Podcast” with Lisa Marchiano.



The Irish Legislation Podcast is presented by Senator Barry Ward. Follow Barry on Twitter @barrymward; Instagram @barrym_ward; Facebook at BarryWard.ie; or his web site: www.barryward.ie.



E-mail barry.ward@oireachtas.ie with any comments or suggestions.