Conversion therapy doco tells harrowing story

The TVNZ documentary Beyond Conversion looks back at the origins of the practice in New Zealand, the sometimes fatal harm it did and its path to finally becoming illegal, while also telling three powerful stories of people who had experience of it.

It also highlights to what extent conversion therapy was still in use right up to becoming illegal on 15 February 2022, when the Conversion Practices Prohibition Legislation Bill was passed.

Dr John Fenaughty is a senior lecturer in social work at the University’s Faculty of Education and Social Work and an expert in the health and wellbeing of the rainbow community, especially in school settings.

He is the principal investigator on the Identify Survey * which focused on what it was like to be a young (14-26) rainbow person in Aotearoa.

It revealed that as recently as September 2021, young people were reporting practices like exorcisms, ‘boot camp’ style activities, prayer circles and being advised to snap a rubber band on their wrist every time they had ‘impure thoughts’ about someone of the same sex.
 

It also discovered that young people had approximately two and a half times the odds of a suicide attempt in the past year if family members or church leaders suggested they had conversion therapy.

“We have criminalised and pathologised homosexuality for centuries, and now people like psychologists and even many church leaders are openly admitting that was wrong,” says Dr Fenaughty.

He says many of the objections to the bill after its first reading came in the form of parents worrying that they would be criminals for “simply talking” to their children about the issue of sexuality and offering advice.

“We can’t criminalise people for their ignorance on this issue, but we can make sure that the facts are out there. So we now have a law saying these practices are not appropriate and that we as a society don’t condone them. Instead we are saying that these people are normal, natural and valued, and deserve protection.”

He believes the documentary did a good job of shedding light on the issue for a wide audience, and also as a validation for those who have suffered from such practices to know they were not alone.

“One of the most powerful things in the documentary is the job it does of affirming and putting a human face to the potential trauma from practices that have been sold and gaslit to queer and trans people as “loving” or “therapeutic”, ” he says.

As well as Dr Fenaughty and his commentary, the film features activist Shaneel Lal, who spearheaded the movement to get conversion therapy banned in Aoteaora, and Labour list MP Marja Lubeck and Green Party MP Dr Elizabeth Kerekere, who were among those to champion the bill all the way to its final reading.

The Conversion Practices Prohibition Legislation Bill received 106,700 submissions during its select committee stage, more than any other bill has ever received in New Zealand.

The Act states its purpose as: recognising and preventing harm caused by conversion practices and promoting respectful and open discussions regarding sexuality and gender.

It is now against the law to change or suppress a person’s sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.

*An article based on the Identify Survey data has just been accepted for publication by the Journal of Youth and Adolescence.