New Zealand lawmakers on Tuesday overwhelming passed legislation to ban the widely discredited practice of attempting to forcibly change the sexual orientation of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals.
The legislation was passed by the New Zealand Parliament by a vote of 112-8 after it was introduced last year by the ruling New Zealand Labor Party of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
“It’s a great day for our Rainbow communities, and a proud day for all New Zealand,” the political party said in a statement.
“Conversion practices are based on the false idea that people are wrong or broken because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Such practices and ideas have no place in a modern, inclusive country like Aotearoa,” it said, referring to New Zealand by its indigenous Maori name.
