I was deeply, deeply, deeply skeptical of the Gay Conversion Bill passed last year in NZ that made it a criminal offence to attempt to ‘pray the gay away’.
Don’t get me wrong, I am a huge supporter of the Rainbow Community, I’ve spent most of my broadcasting career demanding equal rights and was a passionate activist in calling for marriage equality, but I felt locking someone up for 5 bloody years for praying the gay away was a jaw droppingly aggresive position to take.
It’s funny on the Left, normally we are the first to point out how counter productive prison is, but when it’s for something we feel really deeply about, like homophobia, we go all jackboot on people.
No one promoting this law change could tell us how many young gay people were actually being forced into conversion therapy each year and it seemed draconain in the extreme if people were agreeing to these payer events in the first place to then turn around and arrest people. Add in the whole possibility you could be prosecuted for denying your transitioning teenager puberty blockers, and the entire law felt like one vast virtue signal rather than a rational response to a legitimate issue.
Look, I have zero time for Christian Witch Drs who think praying to an invisible friendly magical wizard can chase the gay demons away, but if you want to believe in nonsense, that’s your right but I can’t see how throwing someone in prison for 5 years remedied any of that.
When asked if we should criminalise gay conversion, the Ministry of Health said better education was the solution rather than throwing people in prison.
My fear, beyond all the problematic parts of this law, was that all you needed was one fanatic to dig their heels in and become a martyr.
Which is exactly what has happened.
Meet David Riddel who offers the service and is refusing to back down.
Defiant Nelson counsellor ignores ban to continue conversion therapy
A Nelson man is refusing to end his conversion therapy services despite the practice being recently banned by Parliament.
A bill banning the practice of conversion therapy passed in February this year.
I think the law, if you were going to pass it, should have simply made it illegal to offer the service for money and the punishment be large fines, that way you stop anyone making cash from this nonsense and the punishment fits the crime.
Sadly however, the woke wanted a big juicy scary law to show how virtuous they are and now have to see it through.
Throwing David into prison for 5 years will make him a martyr, the exact opposite outcome you wanted going into this.
Our desire on the Left to make a statement with a punitive law will backfire when it gets tested.
This was politically avoidable.
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