Australia’s Conversion Practices Ban Act 2024, which took effect last week, effectively makes some prayers unlawful, The Washington Stand reports.
According to the government of New South Wales, the law seeks to “ban practices directed to changing or suppressing the sexual orientation or gender identity of individuals, including by creating offences and a civil complaints scheme in relation to the practices; and for related purposes.”
Anti-Discrimination New South Wales, a government entity, explained that while the law “does not prohibit prayer,” it does make “praying with or over a person with the intent to change or suppress their sexuality or gender identity” unlawful. “It is unlawful even if that person has asked you to pray for them to be able to change or suppress their sexuality or gender identity,” the group said.
“General comments about celibacy and abstinence in broad statements of belief are not unlawful,” the group further stated. “However, telling a person in a same-sex relationship that they must stop being sexually active and become celibate could be regarded as suppressing a person’s sexuality and may be unlawful, depending on the circumstances.”
Australians are permitted to make statements of “belief or principle about gender, sexuality, marriage, celibacy or homosexuality in documentation or on a website” so long as it is “not targeted at an individual to change or suppress their sexual orientation or gender identity,” the group added.
Laws targeting prayer have also been enacted in Scotland.
According to a September 2024 letter sent by the Scottish government, “activities in a private place (such as a house) within the area between the protected premises and the boundary of a Zone could be an offence if they can be seen or heard within the Zone and are done intentionally or recklessly.” The letter included a link for citizens to “report a group or an individual that you think is breaking the law.”
“[J]ust a few months ago, the Scottish government began distributing letters to citizens whose houses lay within so-called safe access zones, warning them that even private prayer within their own homes may amount to breaking the law,” Vice President JD Vance said during the Munich Security Conference, noting that with the law, the government is urging its citizens to report those “guilty of thought crime.”
“Free speech, I fear, is in retreat,” he said.
