SO-CALLED gay conversion therapy should be immediately banned in Scotland, LGBT rights campaigners demanded yesterday.

Representatives of End Conversion Therapy (ECT) Scotland were giving evidence at a meeting of Holyrood’s equalities, human rights and civil justice committee. 

Conversion therapy, also known as a cure or reparative therapy, refers to any form of treatment or psychotherapy which aims to change a person’s sexual orientation or to suppress their gender identity.

MSPs are currently considering a petition, submitted last year by Blair Anderson, Tristan Gray and others, to end the practice as soon as possible.

The draft policy agreement for the new SNP-Scottish Greens government already includes a pledge to bring forward legislation to this effect by 2023. 

Campaigners have warned that any ban must be fully comprehensive and prohibit “counselling” that takes place with apparent consent. 

Mr Anderson stressed that the practice is a form of torture, to which consent is impossible.