Deputy Ozanne was accompanied by family and friends to Windsor Castle for the investiture, which she said was ‘a huge honour’.
As well as her aunt and uncle she was joined by Bishop Paul Bayes and Dean David Ison, who had helped her form the Ozanne Foundation, a charity set up to work with religious organisations around the world to address prejudice and discrimination against the LGBT+ community. It ceased operations last year.
Her OBE was announced in this year’s New Year’s Honours and was given for Deputy Ozanne’s services to religion and equality based on sexuality and gender. She was particularly active in the movement for an international ban on pseudo-scientific conversion practices and founded the Ban Conversion Therapy Coalition in 2020. She said that her investiture was made even more special because that was when she learned that a draft bill banning conversion practices was to be published the following day.
‘It was a huge honour to receive my OBE at Windsor Castle from the Prince of Wales, who expressed concern that conversion practices still occurred in the UK,’ she said.
‘I am delighted and relieved that after eight long years we finally have a draft bill to ban the terrible scourge of conversion practices, which is far more prevalent in our society than many would choose to believe.
‘The devil as always is in the detail, and I remain concerned as to whether the ban will fully cover “praying the gay away” and the thorny issue of consent.’
She said she had herself consented to years of prayer by friends who wanted to ‘help me lead a Godly life’ by trying to make her straight.
‘The emotional toll of it all nearly killed me,’ she said. ‘It is particularly damaging to young and vulnerable LGBT+ people who want to please their family and religious leaders by consenting to these practices.’
She looked forward to playing a part in the scrutiny process ahead of the legislation being finalised and she hoped others would engage constructively with it too. ‘Together we must end this harmful practice that has been allowed to continue in the UK for far too long,’ said Deputy Ozanne.
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