It’s official: New South Wales has slammed the door shut on so-called “conversion practices,” criminalizing the archaic attempts to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity. As of this week, anyone delivering conversion therapy that causes serious harm could land up to five years behind bars. And if they try to dodge the law by sending someone out of state for it? That’s another three years.
This isn’t just a policy change — it’s a long-overdue validation for survivors who’ve been carrying invisible scars for decades. Chris Csabs, co-founder of SOGICE Survivors, knows the damage firsthand. At 16, he was so consumed by self-loathing that he willingly entered into “treatment” that included exorcisms and forced counseling. “I wasn’t functioning,” he said, reflecting on the years that followed. “I was very, very broken.”
But that brokenness, as Csabs now sees, was never inside him — it was in the ideology that told him he needed to be “fixed.”
From Trauma to Legislation
The journey to this moment has been anything but easy. On the eve of the ban’s enforcement, survivors, activists, and lawmakers gathered at Parliament House in Sydney. “The room was electric,” Csabs said. “This has been a long road for a lot of us.”
The new law targets “any sustained effort” to change someone’s identity — be it through counseling, spiritual coercion, or pseudoscientific therapies. Religious teachings and parental conversations are still allowed, but the line is clearly drawn: if it’s about making someone not gay, it’s not okay.
NSW joins Victoria, ACT, and South Australia in banning the practice outright, while other states have taken partial steps or are still playing catch-up. But NSW’s move sends a bold message: queer and trans people are not projects to be fixed — they are humans deserving of dignity, safety, and autonomy.
‘Straighten Up’ Advice Nearly Killed Him
Huss Hawli, another survivor and LGBTQ+ advocate, shared his harrowing story of being outed at 16 and then pressured into “therapy” by his own community. “They told me to sleep with a woman,” he recalled, still visibly shaken by the memory. “This was all happening when I was suicidal.”
Nearly two decades later, the trauma still echoes in his life — a reminder that these so-called therapies don’t “cure” anything. They just cause deep and lasting harm.
That harm isn’t theoretical. Research cited at the event shows over two-thirds of LGBTQ+ people have been exposed to conversion messaging, often beginning in school. The fallout includes academic failure, unemployment, abuse, self-harm, and suicide. “Over 80% consider suicide. More than 60% attempt self-harm,” said Professor Tiffany Jones, a health and education expert.
Not Just Symbolic — It’s Life-Saving
LGBTQ+ advocates aren’t calling this a happy ending — but they’re calling it a hell of a good start. Anthony Venn-Brown, a former preacher and activist, said he never thought he’d see the day. “It’s going to make a huge difference,” he said.
Teddy Cook of Equality Australia put it bluntly: “NSW has made it clear that administering lies to a queer or trans person that they can and should change who they are is against the law.”
And Attorney General Michael Daley didn’t mince words: “You’re not broken. You do not need fixing. No one needs to be saved from who you are — and no one needs to be saved from you.”
The impact of this move on the LGBTQ+ community is immeasurable. Beyond the legal protections, it’s an emotional and cultural landmark. It tells queer kids across the state — especially those growing up in religious or conservative communities — that they are not alone, not defective, and not in need of “healing.”
As Csabs said, this legislation is “a critical step,” but education and mental health support must follow. Survivors, he believes, should be empowered to keep telling their stories — not just to heal, but to dismantle the systems that harmed them in the first place.
Because while the therapy may be banned, the ideology behind it still lingers. And that, more than anything, is what needs fixing.