An idea in the making

My idea for my Major Multimedia Project came to me whilst over summer, as in July 2018, the government announced a new LGBT Action Plan where they are looking into the ban of conversion therapy in the UK. Originally, I was taken back and thought to myself how hadn’t it already been banned? More and more questions started to develop in my mind and this is when I realise that the best way to answer them was to speak to key people and let the UK public know the answers I come across.

Through days and days of researching, this topic is larger than what I initially thought in the UK. I knew it was a big issue in America with the conflict between society and religion, however, in the UK it’s not just religion but it’s the NHS and the government and a rich history with experiments on homosexual men.

The masterplan is to speak to Michael King or Annie Bartlett who are both academics and experts of the history of conversion therapy in the UK with several published articles briefing the history of the psychology behind it. Then I would really want to hear from a case study to bring the emotion to the piece, talking about the feelings and what conversion therapy does to a person/what they go through. Then Core issues trust who is a religious charity organisation who believe that homosexuals should be able to have the opportunity to be able to receive conversion therapy. We will then hear from the Secretary of State for Health as to why the NHS has only now welcomed the ban and talk on the therapy as they’ve been offering it for so long. We will then hear from Diana Johnson MP who has been sceptical of the NHS offering these services and her view on the suggested ban and what the future is for LGBT people.

This is a BBC Radio 4 Documentary aimed at the Seriously… Podcast website released ideally in February alongside LGBT History month. Aiming this at an older audience as they will be interested in what happened in the past and what was going on whilst they were alive. It would be a male audience as most of the research in the documentary is relevant to gay men.

I will have to look at the more precise details of this documentary and get it all prepared for the pitch on the 12th October.