Is It Possible to Pray the Gay Away? | Psychology Today

Contents:

• NETFLIX'S 'PRAY AWAY' LOOKS BEHD THE CURTA OF THE 'EX-GAY' MOVEMENT
• PRAY AWAY: THE HARROWG TE STORY OF THE "EX-GAY" MUNY THE FILM
• PRAY THE GAY AWAY
• ‘PRAY AWAY THE GAY’ HAS GONE AWAY. WHY ARE GOVERNMENTS TRYG TO STOP IT?
• IS IT POSSIBLE TO PRAY THE GAY AWAY?
• 5 THGS I LEARNED AT A 'PRAY AWAY THE GAY' CAMP
• WHAT DO “PRAY THE GAY AWAY” MEAN?
• FORMER 'EX-GAY' LEARS DENOUNCE 'CONVERSN THERAPY' IN A NEW DOCUMENTARY

NETFLIX'S 'PRAY AWAY' LOOKS BEHD THE CURTA OF THE 'EX-GAY' MOVEMENT

When Amerin documentarian Kriste Stolakis set out to make her but feature film, she knew she wanted to she a light on the “ex-gay” movement, which nsists of those that believe a person’s genr inty or sexual orientatn n be changed. Really is a movement of hurt people hurtg other people, of what ternalized homophobia and transphobia looks like when is wield outward.

Shot before the Covid-19 panmic, the film chronicl the rise — and subsequent fall — of Exod Internatnal, a nversn therapy anizatn that, acrdg to the team behd the the film, began as a Bible study group the 1970s nsistg of five evangelil men who were lookg to help one another leave the “homosexual liftyle. But years after risg to stardom the relig right, many of the “ex-gay” lears, whose own same-sex attractns never went away, have sce e out as LGBTQ and disavowed the very movement that they helped to grow. Stolakis’ list of terviewe “Pray Away” clus Randy Thomas, the fal vice print of Exod Internatnal; Yvette Cantu Schneir, the former head of Exod’ women’s mistri; and John Plk, one of the most bt-known “ex-gay” people the world.

PRAY AWAY: THE HARROWG TE STORY OF THE "EX-GAY" MUNY THE FILM

“Somethg my team and I talked about a lot makg this film is, this really is a movement of hurt people hurtg other people, of what ternalized homophobia and transphobia looks like when is wield outward, ” said Stolakis, whose other directorial creds clu “The Typist” and “Where We Stand. ”While many former lears have renounced and spoken out agast the “pray the gay away” movement, Stolakis said “the larger culture of homophobia and transphobia, ” particularly relig muni, has allowed the movement to ntue wh younger lears, even wh the dissolutn of Exod Internatnal 2013 and the legalizatn of same-sex marriage the U.

PRAY THE GAY AWAY

Alone, nearly 700, 000 lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr adults have been subjected to some form of nversn therapy durg their lifetime, acrdg to a 2019 report om the Williams Instute at the UCLA School of Law. ”Wh “Pray Away” set to but more than 190 untri on Netflix this week, Stolakis wants to make one thg clear to every prospective viewer: The “ex-gay” movement was never led by jt “a uple of bad appl.

”“As long as that larger culture of homophobia and transphobia exists — be our church, any relig muny, our polil sphere or our culture — some versn of nversn therapy and the ex-LGBTQ movement will ntue, ” she explaed. Pray Away has only jt been released on Netflix this week, but 's been grippg dienc ever documentary, which was directed by Kriste Stolakis, tells the story of the -founrs of Exod Internatnal and the leadg figur of the ex-gay what spired to Stolakis to make the film and where are some of the film's key characters now?

‘PRAY AWAY THE GAY’ HAS GONE AWAY. WHY ARE GOVERNMENTS TRYG TO STOP IT?

***TRIGGER WARNING: THE BELOW ARTCLE DISCUSSES THEMES OF ABUSE AND GAY CONVERSION THERAPY***. Pray Away tells the story of the 'pray the gay away' movement and explor the ep and lastg effects of nversn therapy.

It foc on the -founrs of Exod Internatnal, which was formed 1976 and beme a leadg force the ex-gay movement. Much of the teachg behd suggts that those who are gay mt be sufferg om mental health problems due to eher sexual or physil abe by a parent or aquate or toxic parentg. Exod Internatnal was a non-prof, ternomatnal Umbrella anisatn, that sought to help people who wished to change their homosexual sir.

The anisatn, which was formed 1976, believed that nversn therapy and the re-orientatn of sexual attractn was possible or that they uld more lloquially “pray the gay away”. Bsee went on to bee an outspoken cric of Exod and the ex-gay movement and on 27 June 2007 Bsee - wh follow former Exod lears Jeremy Marks and Darlene Bogle issued a public apology for their rol the group. He was the founr of Foc On The Fay's ex-gay mistry Love Won Out and the former chairman of Exod Internatnal North Ameri.

IS IT POSSIBLE TO PRAY THE GAY AWAY?

He later renounced his ex-gay stat, nied that nversn therapy is effective and issued an apology for the harm he had ed 2013. Livg her life as an openly gay woman, Rodgers found acceptance a new Christian muny and ntu to talk about her experienc as a survivor of nversn therapy orr to help at-risk LGBTQ 2021, she also released her tobgraphy, Outlove: A Queer Christian Survival Story, and lnched the Outlove Project - which along wh the Trevor Project seeks to help at-risk LGBTQ youth and prevent suici and self-harm.

Exod Internatnal, evangelilism’s flagship ex-gay mistry, shut down 2013 after former lear Alan Chambers said had ed pa and harm to too many people and that more than 99 percent of those who’d sought help there hadn’t actually experienced an orientatn change. While mistri cludg Exod Internatnal and Foc on the Fay ed to preach that homosexual sire should be elimated, most evangelil church, pastors, and mental health profsnals today emphasize chasty amid sir that might last a lifetime. Even the Nashville Statement, a 14-pot manifto by the plementarian Council of Biblil Manhood and Womanhood, matas that homosexual sire may never change.

The revelatns surroundg Marc Bachmann's psychotherapy practice along wh his statements equatg gay people to barbarians reflect the eply held view among too many people that homosexualy is a psychologil or moral choice that n be altered and ed should be. As someone who profs to help gays and lbians bee "straight, " Dr.

5 THGS I LEARNED AT A 'PRAY AWAY THE GAY' CAMP

There are several nservative relig anizatns, like Exod Internatnal and Homosexuals Anonymo, that claim to have helped people change their sexual orientatn through prayer, unselg, or a batn of both. Moreover, there are licensed mental health profsnals who practice what are lled reparative or nversn therapi signed to make gay people heterosexual. The bt-known group of such clicians is the Natnal Associatn for Rearch and Therapy of Homosexualy (NARTH), led by psychologist Joseph Nilosi.

He and his followers claim that gays and lbians suffer om a damagg blend of childhood trma, shamg their fai of orig, and chronic unmet needs for love and affectn om their same-sex parents. Reparative therapy supposedly helps gay clients bee heterosexual by workg wh them to amelrate toxic feelgs stemmg om their damaged childhoods.

Robert Spzer, a proment psychiatrist who, oddly enough, led the charge to remove homosexualy as a disease om the Diagnostic and Statistil Manual, had unrtaken rearch wh 200 women and men who unrwent reparative therapy and believed themselv to be "cured" of homosexualy, as evinced by their abily to engage sexual relatns wh the oppose sex, marry heterosexually, and nceive children. In fact, there are many reports of people unrgog treatments offered by ex-gay mistri who not only return to homosexualy but have also been trmatized by this so-lled therapy.

WHAT DO “PRAY THE GAY AWAY” MEAN?

The real diseas are homophobia and heterosexism, not homosexualy. It is important to regnize that the great majory of psychotherapy profsnals argue vociferoly that such "treatment" is uhil bee homosexualy is not an illns — rather the "illns" is our tolerance of sexual and genr behavrs fallg outsi rtrictive societal norms. I also tell clients that reparative and nversn therapi, bis beg effective, are psychologilly harmful to gays and lbians, which is another reason I do not remend them and will not assist clients procurg such treatment.

People like Marc and Michele Bachmann believe that acceptg and even celebratg gay and lbian people will evably lead to the moral cle of our society. "Wh my first weeks therapy, I was told every other gay person on Earth had been executed.... By the end of the so-lled 'treatments, ' I believed the ernment was lookg for me bee the gays had brought AIDS to Ameri and that I now had this disease ragg through me.

FORMER 'EX-GAY' LEARS DENOUNCE 'CONVERSN THERAPY' IN A NEW DOCUMENTARY

" That is, they assumed that bee he was gay, 's bee his ntrollg mother and adbeat dad had nfed and irreparably trmatized his genals. In fact, they uldn't fd any trma to blame Sam's homosexualy on at all. 4 They Physilly Torture You For Beg Gay.