*This letter is open to everyone to sign, you don’t have to be a current or former UoB student *

*Due to an overwhelming response, we have extended the deadline of the open letter to Friday 18th December at 11am*
 
Today it was brought to our attention that the University of Birmingham undertook ‘conversion therapy’ against at least one individual, as recently as the 1970s.

The testimony of Chris*, which can be read in more detail here, is incredibly shocking and upsetting. We are in complete solidarity with him and thank him for bringing this atrocity to light.

We are appalled, not only that the University of Birmingham chose to administer these cruel and violent practises in the first place, but that they continue to deny any  responsibility or culpability. The university’s refusal to acknowledge Chris’ experience is a continuation of the violence they enacted. We echo Chris’ call for a full and complete acknowledgement of what he experienced.

We demand that the university make all records of the practice of ‘conversion therapy’ public, and open an inquiry as to their extent.

We demand also that the university financially compensate Chris for the deeply unethical, violent, and distressing actions that they undertook against him in the 60s and 70s, and the subsequent decades of trauma. We demand that any other potential victims who may come forward at a later date receive the same financial compensation.

Further to this, we demand that the university engage in a programme of victim and community lead transformation, beginning with the redistribution of their funds to organizations that support and uplift the LGBTQ+ community. Beginning with organisations such as Unmuted, Birmingham LGBT centre, Gendered Intelligence, and African Rainbow Family.

With Love, Rage and Solidarity,
The Women and Non-Binary Student’s Association and 2020-21 UoB Intersectional Feminist Campaign

*Not his real name