Over eight months from August 2023 through to March 2024, ex-gay, reparative/conversion “therapy” survivors and LGBTQ advocates worked publicaly and behind the scenes to see so called conversion “therapy” made illegal in New South Wales. On Fri 22 Mar 2024 the Conversion Practices Ban Bill 2024 was passed, which is an Act to ban practices directed to changing or suppressing the sexual orientation or gender identity of individuals, including by creating offences and a civil complaints scheme in relation to the practices; and for related purposes.

Read behind the scenes and other stories HERE.   Read the surivivor stories that had an impact HERE.

On May 9th a number of those involved gathered to celebrate the win at Thai Pathong, Newtown.

Anthony Venn-Brown OAM, who in 1972 was one of the first in the world to experience conversion “therapy” in a Christian context, and is the founder and CEO of Ambassadors & Bridge Builders International (ABBI), spoke briefly at the celebration.

It’s so good to pause and reflect about what has happened.

I look around the room at the people that are here tonight and journeys that they’ve had, and what it was like to have to share your story over and over and again, as if nobody had ever heard those stories ever before. But let me remind you, that they hadn’t.  There are times when we were with Chris Minns, he’s the premier, by the way, and Penny Sharpe and others, , I’m so , used to telling my story, but there were times when I saw the tears.

I saw how deeply some of these people, particularly during the consultation with the Department of Justice, the Department of Health. It was so moving to have you share your stories in such a beautiful way. I’m not sure if you are aware how deeply you touched those people.

You know I’ve been this game for 23 years, and I want to tell you something spectacular happened during those few weeks that we were together trying to move this government to pass legislation to ban something which has traumatized us, which has caused people to take their lives and say NO MORE!!! And you are the people who made that happen.

How beautiful for us to have this moment where we can share this together and just say thank you to each and every one of us for the contribution that you’ve made.

And of course, it’s not over. We have religious discrimination. We have the Cumberland Council wanting to ban books on same-sex parents. It will not be over in my lifetime and I’m 73. It will not be over in your lifetime. There will always be something we need to do to make our world a better place for LGBTQ people.

Thank you to Equality Australia, for all your representations, for all your expertise, for all the stuff that you did behind the scenes, that I had no idea about what to do or where to go. Without you, it would never have happened.