Role in banning conversion therapy In the summer of 2017, Lal was volunteering at
Middlemore Hospital when a church leader walked up to them and offered to pray their gay away. When Lal refused, the church leader wished hell upon them. Lal's speech at the 2019 Youth Parliament to ban conversion therapy received a standing ovation. Following this, Lal was targeted online with homophobic abuse. In an interview with
Breakfast in 2020, Lal labelled conversion therapy "state sanctioned torture". Lal told interviewer
Jenny-May Clarkson that numerous queer people pray to God to "heal them, or kill them".
David Farrier defended Lal in his blog
Webworm, and the subsequent media attention led to Elers's opinion column being
cancelled. Lal founded the Conversion Therapy Action Group in 2019 to work towards ending conversion therapy in New Zealand. Lal worked with the
Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand to deliver a petition of over more than 150,000 signatures to ban conversion therapy. In July, the Minister of Justice,
Kris Faafoi, introduced the
Conversion Practices Prohibition Legislation Bill. Lal criticised the Bill, calling it an "inadequate bill that fails to ban the practice or compensate the victims". Lal argued that the Conversion Practices Prohibition Legislation Bill would not allow the police to prosecute offenders and would allow conversion therapy to continue. The Justice Select Committee hearing submissions on the Conversion Practices Prohibition Legislation Bill received over 100,000 submissions following Lal's online campaign, breaking the record for the number of submissions. In February 2021, the Minister of Justice announced that a ban on conversion therapy would be enacted at the end of 2021 or in February 2022, at the latest. Lal claimed that this was "an astounding commitment" because at that point, Labour had not done foundational work towards their goal. Leading up to the second reading of the Bill, Lal launched a petition asking the
Labour Party to amend the Bill through Supplementary Order Papers at the Committee of the whole House. Lal argued that the Labour Party ignored the voices of queer people and put forward an inadequate and ineffective Bill after the select committee process. The petition asked the Government to remove the 18-year age limit to include all ages, to remove the provision that the
Attorney-General needed to give consent for prosecutions and to provide ACC coverage for the harm caused by conversion therapy. The Labour Party did not accept any recommendations. The Conversion Practices Prohibition Legislation Bill passed at third reading on 15 February 2022. Lal stated that it was "disheartening" that the bill only protected children (because people over 18 would have to prove they suffered "serious harm" under a strict legal definition) and did not include
Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) coverage for mental harm. Nonetheless, Lal said that New Zealand's ban on conversion therapy is a win for humanity, not just the queer community, and asserted that queer rights are human rights. Lal stated that they received a death threat after the passing of the Conversion Practices Prohibition Legislation Bill. Lal dismissed the threats and instead called for celebration. Lal told VICE World News that the ban on conversion therapy is a gift to future generations of queer people. In 2022,
Vogue magazine published an online article in celebration of Lal's efforts to ban conversion therapy in New Zealand. Vogue wrote that "Lal's call for New Zealand to reform the laws around conversion therapy have made a major impact".
Investigation into Bethlehem College In 2022, Lal shared an article to their Instagram detailing how
Bethlehem College in Tauranga requires all students and their families to demonstrate a commitment to the belief that marriage is only between a man and a woman. Former and present students responded to the Instagram post, accusing the school of abuse. Lal said the students made allegations including victim blaming of people who alleged they were raped, racism and blackface incidents, and conversion therapy practices. Lal started a petition calling for the
Education Review Office to launch an independent investigation into Bethlehem College and for the Ministry of Education, the Minister of Education and the Associate Ministers of Education to support the investigation. Lal said that when they "posted about the issue of homophobia at Bethlehem College, I did not realise the gravity of the abuse the former and present students have been experiencing at Bethlehem College."
Advocacy to lift the "gay blood donation" ban Since May 2022, Lal has argued that the
New Zealand Blood Service should allow gay men in monogamous relationships, who have had sex only with each other in the last three months, to donate blood. Researchers estimate that about thirty-five thousand people would be able to give blood if New Zealand Blood Service took this approach. Lal says the blanket ban on gay blood donation rules out people who could safely donate blood but who are not allowed to because they are gay. In February 2023, Lal advocated for New Zealand Blood Service and Medsafe to use individualised donor behaviour criteria to determine eligibility of blood donors. Lal wanted the question to be "have you had sex with more than one person, or a new person, in the last three months?” instead of asking questions about a donor's sexuality. Lal claimed that if the "stars align", the Sex and Prevention of Transmission Study "will provide [New Zealand Blood Service] with the necessary scientific evidence to make a proposal to Medsafe to utilise an individualised risk assessment for gay men wanting to donate blood". Lal believes that the blanket ban on gay men giving blood should be removed.
Other advocacy In 2022, Lal launched a petition calling the Labour Party to protect queer people, women and disabled people from hate speech. The petition gained over 10,000 signatures. Lal wrote in their
New Zealand Herald column that "the Labour Party's failure to prohibit anti-queer hate speech will embolden anti-queer groups, extremist religious groups, and right-wing groups to incite violence against queer people." Following a 2022 arson attack on
RainbowYOUTH's Tauranga Drop-In Centre, Lal set up a Givealittle campaign which raised $84,000. Lal is calling on the Pacific Islands to decriminalise homosexuality. Pasifika communities have celebrated Lal for their advocacy for queer Pasifika voices and issues.
The Coconet wrote that "Shaneel Lal is a multifaceted and intersectional activist. They have been vocal and influential in bringing to light various issues around racism, transphobia, indigenous land issues, systemic injustice and much more. At the 2021 Auckland Pride March, Lal confronted anti-queer Christian protestors. In 2023, Lal helped organise a counter-protest of a women's rights rally organised by the British anti-transgender activist
Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull in
Auckland. Keen-Minshull was escorted out of Albert Park after she was assaulted by a protestor, and cancelled her other rally in New Zealand.
Other work Lal advised the Minister of Education,
Chris Hipkins for three years as a member of the Minister's youth advisory group. Lal has sat on Amnesty International's Youth Task Force. Lal has served as a Global Youth Leader for Open Government Partnership. In November 2025, Lal was nominated for
Labour Party preselection in
Wellington North at the
2026 New Zealand general election. They were unsuccessful, with
Ayesha Verrall being selected as the Labour candidate. == Awards and recognition ==