Pressure is mounting on the Government to outlaw gay conversion therapy.
A petition from the youth arms of the Labour and Green Party to ban the practice will be presented to Parliament on Wednesday after receiving over 15,000 signatures.
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The petition called the therapy, which aims to suppress same-sex attraction, dangerous and harmful to the rainbow community.
"It can cause anxiety, depression, and in extreme cases suicide as it invalidates the identities of our rainbow community. We believe in their right to be free from such 'treatment'," the description said.
Young Greens co-convenor Max Tweedie says the treatment has been discredited.
"I think it's just really irresponsible to be offering this as a sort of solution because it doesn't work and I'm hoping that we can make sure that this can't continue to harm people," he said.
Mr Tweedie believes the Government is warming to the idea of banning the practice and hopes it will follow through on the petition.
"We've seen kind of a softening from the Government over the last three weeks in their position on this," he said.
"Hopefully the Government is able to enact a ban on conversion therapy so we can protect the rainbow community from this really harmful practice."
Newshub.
