Conversion Therapy: A Letter for New Zealand by an LGBT Ally

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id="fe15">My name is Alsie Gray, from Whangarei, Northland. I am 22 years old and an ex-Christian. I come from a religious background and went to youth groups frequently, as well as spent seven years in Christian schooling. While I do appreciate many aspects that I learned from my childhood and teenhood, I have many issues with how some of the Church/religious community treats other people’s lives — as if they think they should have control over what people think.This especially comes into account when it comes to the LGBT community, gays are shunned from church groups to this day or simply disrespected for participating in “sin”. When I was younger, I was confused by this — I wanted to love people no matter what, and these behaviors seemed to go against that. It saddened me — but because I was Christian too, I too believed that love was meant to be between a man and a woman, simply because it was “how it was meant to be naturally.” But I never, ever wanted to treat a fellow human-like they were lower than I because they loved the same sex. That, to me, was rude and mean.Conversion therapy shocked me when I learned about it, especially when I looked at the old practices that were legally done in hospitals like Electric Shock Therapy. The older LGBT community has a lot more physical trauma to work through due to this barbaric act. While I’m glad this practice has since been discontinued, Conversion Therapy still creates mental trauma, especially if they are forced into it at a young age. Younger LGBT kids are more malleable mentally, and mindsets can be formed and set. If you are told that

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you “can’t be gay” and that your feelings are a perversion, a kid will accept this as truth if repeated over and over, and they will force their natural attraction away to be normal. Over time this is taxing and emotionally damaging, as you are suppressing a key part of your sexuality. This is cruel to our fellow humans and should not be practiced.I know this to be true — religious people cannot simply be convinced that being gay is okay. Many older Christians have it ingrained in their moral that same-sex relationships are not normal, or that they are “disgusting and unnatural.” I have been around enough people in my religious circle to know that arguing with them won’t simply make them LGBT allies — but we can teach them to be more sensitive towards others’ life choices and to respect their LGBT friends and family despite what the Bible may be interpreted as.Jesus would not appreciate such hatred towards His people as he loved the sinners just as much as the disciples and Christians that followed his teaching. We learn this in Luke 7:36–50 when he rebukes the Pharisees for looking down at an adulterous woman that approached Jesus. A common phrase I heard was to “love the sinner, not the sin.” Whether homosexuality is a sin or not, we should choose to love anyway.I hope desperately that Churches will not be allowed to be exempt from this practice, as it may as well not be considered “illegal” at all. Cruelty is cruelty, no matter what kind of rose-colored glasses you attempt to put over it will do.Sincerely,Alsie Gray</article></body>

Conversion Therapy: A Letter for New Zealand by an LGBT Ally

New Zealand’s Parliament is putting a bill through to ban conversion therapy. It has turned out that putting this through won’t be so easy…

Before I start, here’s a little background for those that may not know, or do not live in New Zealand. At this moment, our Parliament is currently bringing the Conversion Practice Prohibition Bill forward for reading. Conversion Therapy is a method that religious communities use to make gay people straight since it is considered a sin. Because of backlash from many Churches and religious organizations, they are considering exemption requests as an option for these organizations. Another angle is the hope to ban it for under 18s to prevent emotional and mental damage, but leave it as an option for adults.

On the positive side, they are also currently taking submissions for this Bill until the 8th of September 2021 — if you are a New Zealander, a part of the LGBT community, or support the community, I highly advise you to get involved and send your support as soon as possible — anything you write for the sake of our LGBT community in New Zealand will help to bring this Bill forward.

My name is Alsie Gray, from Whangarei, Northland. I am 22 years old and an ex-Christian. I come from a religious background and went to youth groups frequently, as well as spent seven years in Christian schooling. While I do appreciate many aspects that I learned from my childhood and teenhood, I have many issues with how some of the Church/religious community treats other people’s lives — as if they think they should have control over what people think.

This especially comes into account when it comes to the LGBT community, gays are shunned from church groups to this day or simply disrespected for participating in “sin”. When I was younger, I was confused by this — I wanted to love people no matter what, and these behaviors seemed to go against that. It saddened me — but because I was Christian too, I too believed that love was meant to be between a man and a woman, simply because it was “how it was meant to be naturally.” But I never, ever wanted to treat a fellow human-like they were lower than I because they loved the same sex. That, to me, was rude and mean.

Conversion therapy shocked me when I learned about it, especially when I looked at the old practices that were legally done in hospitals like Electric Shock Therapy. The older LGBT community has a lot more physical trauma to work through due to this barbaric act. While I’m glad this practice has since been discontinued, Conversion Therapy still creates mental trauma, especially if they are forced into it at a young age. Younger LGBT kids are more malleable mentally, and mindsets can be formed and set. If you are told that you “can’t be gay” and that your feelings are a perversion, a kid will accept this as truth if repeated over and over, and they will force their natural attraction away to be normal. Over time this is taxing and emotionally damaging, as you are suppressing a key part of your sexuality. This is cruel to our fellow humans and should not be practiced.

I know this to be true — religious people cannot simply be convinced that being gay is okay. Many older Christians have it ingrained in their moral that same-sex relationships are not normal, or that they are “disgusting and unnatural.” I have been around enough people in my religious circle to know that arguing with them won’t simply make them LGBT allies — but we can teach them to be more sensitive towards others’ life choices and to respect their LGBT friends and family despite what the Bible may be interpreted as.

Jesus would not appreciate such hatred towards His people as he loved the sinners just as much as the disciples and Christians that followed his teaching. We learn this in Luke 7:36–50 when he rebukes the Pharisees for looking down at an adulterous woman that approached Jesus. A common phrase I heard was to “love the sinner, not the sin.” Whether homosexuality is a sin or not, we should choose to love anyway.

I hope desperately that Churches will not be allowed to be exempt from this practice, as it may as well not be considered “illegal” at all. Cruelty is cruelty, no matter what kind of rose-colored glasses you attempt to put over it will do.

Sincerely,

Alsie Gray