Law makes it an offence to perform so-called ‘therapy' on anyone under 18 and comes with sentence of up to three years' imprisonment.
New Zealand has banned conversion practices, with near unanimity, after all but eight National party members voted in favour of the law.
Conversion “therapy” refers to the practice, often by religious groups, of trying to “cure” people of their sexuality, gender expression or LGBTQI identity.
The legislation, which was passed on Tuesday evening, makes it an offence to perform conversion practices on anyone aged under 18, or with impaired decision-making capacity, with a sentence of up to three years' imprisonment. It also makes it an offence to perform conversion practices that cause “serious harm”, irrespective of age. That carries a sentence of up to five years' imprisonment.The justice select committee received nearly 107,000 public submissions on the law – the highest number of public submissions received on a piece of legislation in New Zealand.
Speaking to the house, the deputy prime minister, Grant Robertson, said the law would right some of the wrongs caused by conversion practices.
“I grew up in a religious churchgoing household in the era of homosexual law reform,” he said. “When I finally gathered the courage to come out to my parents, I was met with love … but not everyone is or was so lucky.
“To all those who have been affected by conversion practices or attempts at them, we want to say, this legislation is for you. We cannot bring you back, we cannot undo all of the hurt, but we can make sure that for the generations to come, we provide the support and love you did not get and protect you from the harm of those who seek to try to stop you from being who you are.”
Posting to Facebook, the minister Kiri Allan shared her own experience of conversion practices as a 16-year-old. “I went through conversion therapy (it wasn't called that, but that's what it was) through my church. I desperately tried to ‘pray the gay' away – to be accepted by my family, community and church.
“My ‘illness' & ‘weakness' to temptation was etched as sin into my skin. It took a long time to shake that shame and trauma. Tonight our Parliament will ensure this practice is banned in our country for good. For our next generation of babies, I am so incredibly relieved. Thank you to everyone that championed this change.”
The founder of the Conversion Therapy Action Group, Shaneel Lal, said: “The ban on conversion therapy is a win for humanity, not just the queer community. Queer rights are human rights. Queer people do not need to be tolerated or accepted, we need to be liberated.”
The UN independent expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity found conversion practices caused “significant loss of self-esteem, anxiety, depressive syndrome, social isolation, intimacy difficulty, self-hatred, shame and guilt, sexual dysfunction, suicidal ideation and suicide attempts and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder”.
New Zealand has the highest youth suicide rate in the OECD, and that rate is higher among LGBTQI+ youth. Research from 2019 found 79% of trans and non-binary New Zealanders had seriously contemplated suicide and two-fifths had self-harmed in the past 12 months.