The All Nations Centre - Project Focus

What’s happening?

Cardiff University has chosen to use the All Nations Centre as a venue for exams, and have rented it for other events in the past. 

The All Nations Centre is home to the All Nations Christian Church, who wrote a letter in 2021 protesting plans to introduce measures against conversion therapy. Given the large LGBT+ population in Cardiff University, the choice to use this venue is controversial and potentially harmful to students.

The Measures that they protested

The measures protested are:

• A ban on conversion therapy.

• Support for victims of conversion therapy.

• Strengthening the case for disqualification from holding a senior role in a charity for churches/places that use conversion therapy. 

• Removing profit streams for conversion therapy.

• Introducing Conversion Therapy Protection Orders to protect potential victims nationally and internationally.

• Exploring further measures to prevent the promotion of conversion therapy.

What is conversion therapy?

Conversion therapy is a discriminatory “treatment” for LGBT+ people which suggests that anything outside of cisgender heterosexuality is a mental illness that needs to be cured. These therapies can go from counselling and psychoanalysis to extremes such as brain surgery, electric shock therapy, or hormonal castration. It attempts to recondition LGBT+ people to the cisgender, heterosexual norm. 

Expanding on the issues with conversion therapy.

NHS England warns that all forms of conversion therapy are unethical and potentially harmful. There was a protest in Cardiff against conversion therapy back in 2022, demanding that the government committed to the above measures, with attendees referring to it as “torture” and stating that it is an infringement of transgender rights. 

Cardiff University needs to change venues

Previous organisations, such as BAPO have in the past changed venues after realising the values that the All Nations Centre holds, and this writer is calling on Cardiff University to do the same, as the use of this venue undermines the pro-LGBT+ values that Cardiff University seems to promote. 

Sources

BAPO Regional Conference - Cardiff - Venue Change | BAPO

Church leaders object to ban on ‘conversion therapy’ for gay people | The Cardiffian

‘Torture won’t fix me’ Protestors gather in Cardiff against transgender conversion therapy | Wales Online

What we do | All Nations Centre

All Nations Centre | All Nations Church

Conversion therapy | Wikipedia