In April, the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) began enforcing a new law criminalizing anti-conversion therapy, which now includes praying with someone about their gender or sexual identity and even encouraging abstinence for Christians who experience same-sex attraction. On the website Anti-Discrimination New South Wales, a government body that administers and investigates anti-discrimination, it’s explained that “praying with or over a person with the intent to change or suppress their sexuality or gender identity is unlawful … even if that person has asked you to pray for them to be able to change or suppress their sexuality or gender identity.”
NSW’s Conversion Practices Ban Act 2024 is part of a trend of laws that seek to outlaw “conversion therapy,” the clinical practice of forcibly changing someone’s gender or sexual identity. What makes the NSW law different is how broadly “conversion therapy” is defined beyond a traditional clinical setting.
In an interview with The Washington Stand, Arielle Del Turco, director of the Center for Religious Liberty at the Family Research Council, said, “This is a terrible new law in this Australian state, and they aren’t even trying to hide it. According to the state government’s own admission from their website, this law will prevent a pastor or any believer from praying with someone who is asking for prayer for freedom from gender identity issues.”
This prohibition extends not just to private prayers and requested counseling from a pastor but also to statements made publicly during sermons.
The NSW government webpage explains that “a religious leader preaching to or praying for their congregation” may be considered an illegal conversation practice if it’s determined there is “intention to change or suppress an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity.”
Another concerning feature of this law’s breadth is how far, geographically, it seeks to reach. According to the same NSW government website, people outside NSW who are praying or pastoring NSW residents online in a way that violates this law can be fined or face three years in prison. The maximum prison sentence for those within NSW who commit an illegal conversion offense is five years.
Proponents of the law argue that the law still allows for things like preaching and praying and that those that are attacking the law are simply taking it out of context. For example, the law allows for “A religious leader preaching to or praying for their congregation, a religious leader praying for or providing pastoral care for an individual, a parent or guardian respectfully discussing sexuality or gender with their child – including offering advice and guidance or expressing a belief or religious principle, or a health practitioner providing supportive, affirming care.”
However, what these proponents fail to accurately represent is that the law allows for all of these actions only if “there is no intention to change or suppress an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity”.
Therefore, if a pastor preaches a sermon and someone claims that the sermon intended to change their sexual orientation or gender identity, then the pastor could be charged. Even a parent could be arrested if their child claims that the parent intended to change their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Anyone who “feels” like they are under attack could file these charges and it would be very difficult for the defense to argue against this feeling. This law, therefore, could be a major tool used to attack any person who refuses to accept the LGBT+ agenda within the state.
Biblical Connection: The Bible makes two things very clear: God is the one who created man male and female and parents are responsible for the upbringing of their children. This law attacks both biblical concepts.
PRAY: Pray this movement to drive away biblical principles on human sexuality will be defeated and not spread to other nations.