Ending conversion "therapy"

The government has introduced a bill to outlaw homophobic conversion "therapy":

Practices intended to change or suppress someone's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression, also referred to as gay conversion therapy, will become a criminal offence under legislation announced today.

Minister of Justice Kris Faafoi said today the Conversion Practices Prohibition Legislation Bill had been introduced to Parliament.

Measures proposed in the Bill were aimed at ending conversion practices which didn't work, were widely discredited, and caused harm to rainbow communities and the wider community, Faafoi said.

Good. This "therapy" is basicly an attempt to torture and bully the gay away. Despite the name, it serves no therapeutic purpose whatsoever. Instead, its directly discriminatory, an attempt to stop people being who they are, and we should all be glad that the government is outlawing it.

The bill is here. It makes it clear that actual medical practice or just the mere expression of bigoted religious beliefs do not qualify. Instead, it is aimed at discriminatory and harmful quackery. There are significant safeguards against prosecution. It looks good, and the sooner Parliament passes it, the better.