By Alexandra Smith and Michael McGowan
Former Pentecostal preacher Anthony Venn-Brown has spent decades supporting people who were told they were broken and needed fixing. But it was an email from a young gay man called Matt that really reinforced to Venn-Brown how dangerous – and deadly – gay conversion practices can be.
Matt wrote to Venn-Brown to thank him for his autobiography, which told the story of a young boy from the Sutherland Shire who went to a church “rehabilitation” centre in the late 1970s in the hope of being cured of his homosexuality. He ultimately came out as gay aged 40.
Anthony Venn-Brown has long supported young people who have been subjected to gay conversion practices.Credit: Flavio Brancaleone
Like Venn-Brown, Matt, 34, had also been through gay conversion programs. But this was the heartbreaking line for Venn-Brown in Matt’s email: “I made a lot of friends in my years of conversion therapy. Out of 40, only six are still alive. One died naturally, the rest suicide.”
Venn-Brown, 73, was in the public gallery of NSW Parliament on Wednesday when Attorney-General Michael Daley introduced the government’s bill to ban gay conversion practices, which was a Labor election commitment.
Speaking before the introduction of the bill, Premier Chris Minns said every person in NSW deserved to be respected for who they were.
“It is intolerable that we have a situation in NSW where children can be told something is wrong with them and that they need to be fixed,” Minns said. “I’ve personally met with survivors of conversion practices and know how important it is that we put an end to this.”
Sydney MP Alex Greenwich, who introduced his own gay conversion bill last year but withdrew it to work with Labor on its version, said the legislation made it clear that “LGBT people are not broken, we do not need to be fixed and if you try, you have broken the law”.
The bill will include exemptions, including expressing a belief through a sermon, taking offence at religious teachings, and seeking guidance through prayer. Parents are not included in the ban.
Chief executive of Faith NSW Murray Norman said while it was not perfect, “our communities’ concerns have been heard”.
However, the bill is likely to prove divisive within the Coalition party room. On Wednesday, Greenwich criticised Opposition Leader Mark Speakman for not meeting with victims’ groups before its introduction and pleaded with the Coalition for a respectful debate.
But Speakman – who said the Coalition had not expected the legislation to be introduced until later this year – insisted the opposition would examine the bill “closely and in good faith”.
However, he did not commit to supporting it. Nor did shadow treasurer Damien Tudehope, a leader of the party’s conservative faction.
Asked whether he expected members of the party’s right to have issues with the bill, Tudehope said: “I expect people who get elected to public life to form views in relation to those issues which they have and to express those views.
“But until we actually see it, and have further discussions with stakeholders in respect of what they see as issues relating to the bill, it’s hard to form a view about whether the opposition should be supporting the bill or not.”
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