More than 370 international religious leaders have signed a declaration demanding a global ban on conversion therapy - the attempt to change a person's gender identity or sexual orientation.
The declaration also asks countries to end criminalisation and violence against people based on their gender or sexual identity.
The pledge, which was led by the Global Interfaith Commission on LGBT+ Lives, was signed by religious leaders from over 35 countries as a way to "affirm the sanctity of life and dignity of all".
"We recognise that certain religious teachings have, throughout the ages, been misused to cause deep pain and offence to those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex," the commission said in a statement. "This must change."
The commission says all human beings of all sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions are a "precious part of creation".
"We affirm that we are all equal under God, whom many call the Divine, and so we are all equal to one another.
"We ask for forgiveness from those whose lives have been damaged and destroyed on the pretext of religious teaching. We believe that love and compassion should be the basis of faith and that hatred can have no place in religion."
South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu is among the declaration's original signatories, along with 12 New Zealand religious leaders.
The Labour Party pledged to ban conversion therapy in October during the election campaign, with the party's Rainbow spokesperson Tāmati Coffey saying more work needed to be done to "keep moving towards a more inclusive New Zealand".
"Conversion therapy has been linked to severe adverse mental health issues, including depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation," Coffey said at the time.
"It is a practice that causes harm and is out of place in the kind, inclusive and modern country we are."
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