Shaneel Lal – Inclusion Impact Award 2020
On 18th September, 2020, Shaneel Lal became the winner of the Impact Award for Inclusion. Launched in 2019 by the team at Inspiring Stories, The Impact Awards celebrates young New Zealanders making a difference with $25,000 awarded across five categories – climate, enterprise, inclusion, global and wellbeing.
A driving force behind the Conversion Therapy Action Group, Shaneel is a survivor of conversion therapy in Fiji, who’s advocacy has received support from various psychological associations, alongside political parties’ policies. After decades of relatively progressive and anti-discriminatory legislation the queer community in New Zealand seems well protected, but there are serious loopholes in New Zealand’s justice system - one of these loopholes has enabled the physical and psychological torture of many in the queer community, with a practice that is still legal in New Zealand – Conversion Therapy.
After 3 long years of volunteer led action and cross government lobbying, a critical shift is on the horizon – a blanket ban on Conversion Therapy. The new Government has made a public promise to ban conversion therapy, so now is a critical time to show support, campaign and shed light on the fact that this practice still exists in Aotearoa.
Shaneel and the Conversion Therapy Action Group is looking to use the $5,000 funding to help increase public awareness and increase their advocacy efforts, including providing training to help upskill allies in advocacy, to help fund a documentary that will tell the stories of survivors of conversion therapy. It will raise awareness of the reality of the LGBTQIA+ community in NZ.
We caught up with Shaneel to hear more about their experience of winning and learn about the Impact journey so far - the challenges, strategies and key advise around how to build a movement!
“I became the Youth MP for Manukau East in 2018 and was allowed to speak at Youth Parliament. At Youth Parliament, I exposed the abhorrent practice of gay and gender conversion therapy. It gained a lot of interest by people; however, there was a group of people willing to commit to this work”.
Q: What does receiving an Impact Award mean for you?
A: The Impact Award has immediately connected me to many people who are willing to give their support to end gay and gender conversion therapy in Aotearoa New Zealand. Relationships are critical to grassroots movements, and therefore building these connections are crucial to achieving our goal. The Impact Award has also provided funding for projects but more importantly, for a campaign to end conversion therapy. Raising awareness about the state of conversion therapy and amplifying the voices of survivors and victims of conversion therapy need to be the focus of the conversation when moving to ban conversion therapy.
Q: What do you think The Impact Awards means for New Zealand & our emerging leaders?
A: Activism, while rewarding, can be overwhelming draining. It usually includes fighting for your livelihoods, and when people always have to defend their human rights, it can become frustrating and tiring. The Impact Awards provides multiple things to someone like me. One, it is recognition of the work activists have put in. When the fight becomes tough, and your work may begin to seem meaningless, it is powerful to know that someone is watching and supports you. Movements have needs, and they can be costly. The Impact Award provides some relief and even boosts the work of young leaders through financial support. It also increases the reach of the young emerging leaders.
Q: What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced on your impact journey, and how did you overcome it?
A: The journey to ban gay and gender conversion therapy has been a mix of long periods of hopelessness and small successes. We have hit more walls than wins, so sometimes it feels like we are not making any progress at all. But history gives us an important lesson: persistence is key. It took three attempts to legalise homosexuality, but people never gave up. Banning conversion therapy started with a simple petition which gained the support of 20 thousand New Zealanders which became a members bill to the entire Government committing to ban gay and gender conversion therapy. But the fight is not over. The Government is yet to move on a ban. And this fight is for everyone who believes in equality, justice and human rights. To my cis-gendered-heterosexual allies, pull up, this is your fight too.
Q: How have you funded or resourced your idea(s) for impact, and what advice would you have for other people looking to fund or resource theirs?
A: The Conversion Therapy Action Group has not received any funding; however, we have found other ways to promote our work. We partnered with Gus Fisher Gallery to host a panel on conversion therapy. It was important in getting our message out to people, answering questions and addressing any concerns. I have worked with Rainbow Law at the University of Auckland to do workshops to upskill people to advocate for conversion therapy ban. While receiving funding may be the ideal and allows flexibility, there are other opportunities that people should be open to exploring such as collaborating. If people are unable to receive funding, they should ask if the organisations can help them in other ways.
Q: How did you go about getting people onboard with your idea and build a team?
A: I did not start the work to end conversion therapy. Many activists came before and built the momentum. However, the movement stalled, and no attention was being paid to the issue by the public or the Government. I became the Youth MP for Manukau East in 2018 and was allowed to speak at Youth Parliament. At Youth Parliament, I exposed the abhorrent practice of gay and gender conversion therapy. It gained a lot of interest by people; however, there was a group of people willing to commit to this work. I founded the conversion therapy action group alongside Max Tweedie, Baz Robson, Shannon Novak and Neihana Waitai. We worked with political parties, medical bodies, survivors and activists in other parts of the world fighting the same battle to figure out the right solution for Aotearoa. We must build a larger movement of people ready to fight for justice.
Q: If someone is keen to make an impact but doesn’t know where or how to start – what advice do you have?
A: There are many ways to make a difference. It is easy to fall into the trap of doing everything, but that usually results in achieving nothing. I believe that it is crucial to find something you care about and put your time and energy into it. Spreading yourself thin over too many things is not effective and not the best use of your efforts. If people do not feel ready to start their movement, join a campaign that already exists. People tend to have a limited view of what they can contribute, but there are so many things a movement needs; from designers to petitioners to people who can write letters to MPs. Everyone can make an impact.
