Dear supporters,

I’m happy to announce that the ACT has passed its Sexuality and Gender Identity Conversion Practices Bill!

Please read the following media release from survivor groups:

SOGICE Survivors and Brave Network optimistic about ACT Conversion Practices law

The ACT Government has today passed its Sexuality and Gender Identity Conversion Practices bill.

SOGICE Survivors and Brave Network, Australia’s primary advocacy groups for survivors of LGBTQA+
conversion ideology and practices, are extremely pleased that our nation’s capital has adopted legislation that unequivocally states that LGBTQA+ people are not disordered.

“In passing this law, the ACT government has sent a strong message that conversion practices, whether performed by a health professional, a religious leader or any other person, are not to be tolerated,” Chris Csabs from SOGICE Survivors said.

The law prohibits conversion practices that occur in both formal and informal contexts, whether paid or unpaid, for both children and adults, focusing on the intent of the ‘practitioner’. It covers LGBTQA+ people – not just one or two segments of the community – and includes a powerful and unprecedented affirmation of the psychological equality of LGBTQA+ individuals.

Brave Network and SOGICE Survivors will continue to advocate for the legislation to include all of our recommendations, specifically the adoption of our definition of conversion practices which includes the intention to ‘suppress’ an individual’s orientation or gender identity, as well as the need for explicit reference in legislation to advertising, referrals, and therapeutically fraudulent false and misleading claims. The legislation gives expansive investigative powers to the Human Rights Commission, though survivors are concerned by the inclusion of conciliation strategies that may retraumatise people who have experienced the uniquely harm caused by conversion ideology and practices.

Brave Network and SOGICE Survivors encourage the ACT Government to reject claims from conservative opponents that the definition of ‘conversion’ in the bill is too broad.
“This law is ground-breaking as the first Australian example of legislation that successfully separates pseudoscientific conversion ideology from legitimate religious theology, rejecting the myth that the damaging and misleading claims at the heart of conversion practices are a core part of religious tradition,” Nathan Despott from Brave Network said.

Brave Network and SOGICE Survivors look forward to continuing their work with LGBTIQA+ and religious communities in the ACT, growing awareness and developing responses to the proliferation of conversion ideology in our nation’s capital. We also encourage other Australian jurisdictions to make use of the lived experience and expertise of survivors when forming their own, hopefully even more effective, strategies for combating LGBTQA+ conversion practices, so that Australia truly can be a world leader in change for equality.