Teachers and schoolchildren face prosecution for refusing to use pupil's preferred pronouns under Labour conversion therapy ban, lawyers warn

Published: 13:58 EST, 13 November 2026 | Updated: 13:58 EST, 13 November 2026 Teachers and schoolchildren face the threat of prosecution for refusing to use a pupil's preferred pronouns under Labour's conversion therapy ban, a leading law firm has warned.Schools that follow guidance requiring children to use toilets matching their biological sex could also be accused of ‘abusive conversion practices’ by suppressing their gender identity, lawyers said.Law firm Irwin Mitchell has warned that Labour’s Conversion Practices Bill - currently at the draft stage - 'could create particular difficulties for schools and colleges'.In an analysis of the proposed legislation, the law firm said that because it is so ‘broadly drawn’, it raises difficult questions for schools about ‘where legitimate safeguarding ends and potential criminal conduct begins’.Under the new legislation - which outlaws abusive attempts to change gay and transgender people's sexuality or gender identity - perpetrators could face five-year jail sentences and unlimited fines.Critics have warned that parents could be criminalised for trying to dissuade their children from identifying as the opposite sex, while teachers, headteachers and school governors could be threatened with jail just for following statutory safeguarding guidance.In its analysis, Irwin Mitchell said: 'Will refusing to use a child's preferred pronouns amount to an abusive conversion practice? That's not clear.'And, what about other children who don't want to use preferred pronouns to refer to their classmates or refuse to accept their gender identity? Are you required to compel them to do so, to avoid being accused of encouraging or assisting conversion practices? Activists calling for a ban on conversion therapy at Brighton Pride in 2023‘Again that's not clear. Nor is it as outlandish as you might think. The age of criminal responsibility is 10.’It added that another problem for schools or colleges could be enforcing rules around the use of toilets, changing rooms or boarding accommodation based on biological sex.Lawyers warn that under Labour’s conversion therapy ban a child could argue that this ‘amounts to the same thing as causing them not to have that gender identity or to believe they don't have it’.The analysis says that schools and teachers could face legal consequences for this, adding: 'Could schools and colleges be liable for the actions of their staff? Potentially, yes.’If a corporate body is found guilty, the Conversion Practices Bill states that company directors will be held personally liable too if they have failed to 'take all reasonable steps to prevent the commission of the offence'.Maya Forstater, chief executive of sex-based rights charity Sex Matters, warned that the Conversion Practices Bill ‘is on a collision course with school safeguarding responsibilities’.She said: ‘This bill will cause devastating problems for schools who are trying to perform their central duty of keeping children safe.‘Teachers, headteachers and school governors could be threatened with jail for following statutory safeguarding guidance.’The Conservatives described the legal analysis as ‘deeply troubling’ and said there needed to be ‘clarity for teachers and parents, and children’.A Tory spokesman said: ‘It is deeply troubling to see independent legal analysis which shows that the draft Conversion Practices Bill may compel the use of pronouns and raise questions about the legality of providing single sex facilities in schools.’A Government spokesman said: ‘We do not agree with the analysis put forward of our draft Bill.‘Following statutory safeguarding guidance is clearly not an abusive conversion practice, therefore not within scope of this draft legislation.’