Chris Csabs survived ‘gay conversion’ therapy as a teenager and wants to ensure no one else has to endure the practice.

The Australian campaigner collected more than 40,000 signatures on a Change.org petition addressed to the government, led by newly-appointed prime minister Scott Morrison.

Along with other survivors of Sexual Orientation Change Efforts (SOCE), Csabs put together a series of policy recommendations named “The SOCE Survivor Statement” which has been endorsed by several community leaders and organisations, including Amnesty International Australia.

Csabs sent the statement, the petition, and the thousands on signatures to Morrison and Health Minister Greg Hunt on Australia’s “Wear it Purple Day,” which dedicates the last Friday of August to supporting and empowering young LGBT+ people.

Csabs, an outspoken LGBT+ activists, told PinkNews he hopes the petition may have a lasting impact on policymaking.

“As a survivor myself, I had told my story a few times in the hope that it would make a change. Every time a story popped up in the media people were shocked and surprised that something like this could be occurring in Australia. But after a few days, people forgot and nothing ever changed. So I wanted there to be a way for people to express their outrage that would show politicians that Australians want change,” he said.

In the petition, which he started in March, Csabs described the experience as “traumatic” and still affecting him to this day.

“I was only 16 when my own ‘conversion therapy’ began. I came out to a church leader who wanted me to be ‘cured’ and I began sessions with a counsellor aimed at changing my sexuality. At 17 my church introduced me to the leader of an actual program designed to turn me straight. Eventually, I was desperate enough to try it,” he recalled.