A Brighton MP has introduced a bill in Parliament calling for a ban on conversion therapy.

The Conversion Practices (Prohibition) Bill will join 20 other private members’ bills being presented in the House of Commons on December 6.

The bill, proposed by Brighton Kemptown MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle, has the backing of nine Conservative MPs and is likely to have a second reading and debate in the spring of next year.

All major parties had promised a trans-inclusive ban on conversion practices at the last general election.

Conversion therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of attempting to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity to fit in with heterosexual and cisgender norms.

This can include “counselling” sessions, threatening a person with homelessness, corrective rape and exorcisms.

Plans to ban the practice were at one stage scrapped, before being reinstated without including a ban on practices aimed at transgender people.

The government committed to banning all forms of conversion therapy, but the plans were not included in the latest King’s Speech last month.

However, the proposed ban has proved controversial among some religious groups, who have said that prohibiting conversion therapy could jeopardise religious freedom.

Lloyd Russell-Moyle said: “Some of the biggest social reforms in this country have happened via private members’ bills.

“I was overwhelmed with support from all sides of the House for this reform.

“Too many have suffered for too long; we have a responsibility to ensure no one else must suffer from this practice.”

Conservative MP for Romsey and Southampton North and chairwoman of the women and equalities select committee Caroline Noakes has co-sponsored the bill.

She said: “The bill will contain the appropriate safeguards for legitimate forms of therapy, but trying to ‘cure’ someone from being LGBT is abuse, and we must outlaw it.

“Countries around the world have implemented nationwide conversion bans and we’ll be reflecting on those examples to make sure we get our ban right.”

Conversion therapy is banned in 26 countries, with 15 having a limited or indirect ban and 11 banning the practice by any person - including Belgium, Canada, Ecuador, France, Germany, Iceland, New Zealand and Spain.