Former 'Ex-Gay' Lears Denounce 'Conversn Therapy' In A New Documentary : NPR

Contents:

• ‘PRAY AWAY’ REVIEW: ATONG FOR AN ANTI-GAY STANCE
• FORMER 'EX-GAY' LEARS DENOUNCE 'CONVERSN THERAPY' IN A NEW DOCUMENTARY
• PRAY THE GAY AWAY
• NETFLIX’S ‘PRAY AWAY’ DOCUMENTARY WILL REMD YOU THAT GAY CONVERSN IS STILL GOG ON
• PRAY AWAY: THE HARROWG TE STORY OF THE "EX-GAY" MUNY THE FILM
• NETFLIX FILM ‘PRAY AWAY’ DOCUMENTS AB BY GAY CONVERSN THERAPY
• NETFLIX'S 'PRAY AWAY' LOOKS BEHD THE CURTA OF THE 'EX-GAY' MOVEMENT
• PRAY AWAY GO DEEP INTO THE 'EX-GAY' MOVEMENT THAT BEGAN THE '70S
• NETFLIX'S 'PRAY AWAY' IS A HUMANIZG LOOK AT 'GAY CONVERSN' THERAPY SURVIVORS
• STREAM IT OR SKIP IT: ‘PRAY AWAY’ ON NETFLIX, A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT THE DEVASTATG IMPACT OF CONVERSN THERAPY & THE ‘EX-GAY’ MOVEMENT
• PRAY THE GAY AWAY

‘PRAY AWAY’ REVIEW: ATONG FOR AN ANTI-GAY STANCE

Stat, nversn therapy remas enmic many nservative, relig muni—and as Pray Away documents, is groundg a new generatn of believers s rhetoric as part of larger culture wars beg waged over gay and trans rights. But many of the movement’s early lears and figureheads have sce rented; many s g out (or back out) as gay and speakg out about the harm they experienced—and that they ed. This was also a product of [his] havg grown up a homophobic and transphobic environment, both terms of the world he was raised , but also specifilly the relig worldview.

And jt like much of male Christiany, Catholicism remas a homophobic and transphobic environment for many people. Many of the subjects Pray Away discs their experience the ex-gay movement, at least retrospect, as not changg their sexualy as much as enuragg them to supprs . One thg I’ve learned om spendg time this world is, let’s say, [when you’re part of] a fah muny that’s homophobic or transphobic and you fd a Bible study group or a nversn therapy support group happeng at your church—that may actually be the first time you feel any fort, sharg any part of your inty.

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

As well as tellg the stori of a number of the ex-gay movement’s former lears, Pray Away featur the activist Jefey McCall, who se himself as both an ex-gay and ex-trans dividual. Do you see many parallels between the ex-gay and the transn movements, as well as the wir moral panic over trans people?

The anti-trans sentiment that we’re seeg build our world is fely a ntuatn of the ex-gay movement and the nversn therapy movement. My uncle went through hell; I was very prepared to make a film about straight, homophobic people makg LGBTQ people hate themselv—but that’s not what I found.

PRAY THE GAY AWAY

Our re creative team [workg on the documentary] was prised of people wh a direct relatnship to the issu: gay and trans nversn therapy survivors, queer people who grew up evangelil. Do you see the ex-gay movement as ever “dyg out, ” as Yvette Cantu Schneir, prevly an ex-gay lear and policy analyst wh the anti-gay Fay Rearch Council, puts at one pot?

The fact is that many church might stay they’re agast nversn therapy, but if a trans kid or a gay kid to their pastor, the silence n be afeng. Cast & crewUser reviewsTrivia2021PG-131h 41mFormer lears of the "pray the gay away" movement ntend wh the aftermath unleashed by their actns, while a survivor seeks healg and acceptance om more than a of lears of the "pray the gay away" movement ntend wh the aftermath unleashed by their actns, while a survivor seeks healg and acceptance om more than a of lears of the "pray the gay away" movement ntend wh the aftermath unleashed by their actns, while a survivor seeks healg and acceptance om more than a of productn, box office & pany Vios1More like thisReview Like some we n see same topic but om two different perspectiv: the first one - those who n away for better, the 2nd - those who still pray for somethg they shouldn't.

Movi|‘Pray Away’ Review: Atong for an Anti-Gay Stance ADVERTISEMENTIn this documentary, people who had promoted the ia that sexual orientatn uld be changed exprs their AwayDirected by Kriste StolakisDocumentaryPG-131h 41mThe Netflix documentary “Pray Away” profil several people who, the public sphere and the ntext of Christiany-cloaked “nversn therapy, ” peddled the ia that homosexualy uld be changed, and who now regret the sufferg they ed. Michael Bsee, a founr of Exod Internatnal, nsired one of the major anizatns that preached that sexual orientatn uld be changed, was both an early promoter and an early harms nversn therapy , and the tactics , aren’t news at this pot, and “Pray Away” is more tertg when foc on how most of s subjects eventually embraced gay and bisexual inti spe havg formerly been so public their homophobia. The Film Will Premiere at the Tribe Film Ftival on June 16Feature-length documentary Pray Away, which exam the endurg harm of nversn therapy and the “pray the gay away” movement, is g to Away will have s world premiere at the Tribe Film Ftival on June 16 and will go on to play Doc10.

NETFLIX’S ‘PRAY AWAY’ DOCUMENTARY WILL REMD YOU THAT GAY CONVERSN IS STILL GOG ON

Scully, Alexis Mart WoodallLogle: Former lears of the "pray the gay away" movement ntend wh the aftermath unleashed by their actns, while a survivor seeks healg and acceptance om more than a of trma. It's a movement that's born out of a larger culture of homophobia and transphobia that still persists the majory of Christian church today. It wasn't until the suici of his iend, who was also part of the "ex-gay" movement, that he reevaluated everythg.

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

Interview highlights clu extend web-only answers and have been eded for length and clary: Interview Highlights Thomas on how he joed the "ex-gay" movement and Exod Internatnal I was out of the closet the '80s. They also had a group for the gays, and unrneath all of that olns there was this toxic theology that said that you need to overe homosexualy.

Stolakis on what the ex-gay and nversn therapy movement looks like today Conversn therapy and the ex-LGBTQ movement has always been practiced lolly. It's bee very lennial-driven bee there are younger people who've grown up homophobic and transphobic environments who are ready and willg to take the place of people like Randy. In this Emmy-nomated documentary, former lears of the "pray the gay away" movement ntend wh the aftermath unleashed by their actns, while a survivor seeks healg and acceptance om more than a of trma.

NETFLIX FILM ‘PRAY AWAY’ DOCUMENTS AB BY GAY CONVERSN THERAPY

” If that phrase sounds faiar, ’s bee many people, pecially those who lived through the 80s and 90s, will rell the prevalence of the words “pray away the gay, ” or “pray the gay away.

” This documentary chronicl the history of the “anti-gay” and “gay nversn” relig movement that tore through the Amerin Christian landspe towards the end of the 20th century. And almost claimed my those who don’t know much about the “anti-gay” and “gay nversn” relig iologi, is a seri of Christian beliefs rooted two foundatnal ncepts. First is the ia that beg LGBTQIA+ (some mon scriptns clu: “an active homosexual, “a self-proclaimed practicg homosexual, ” or “one who rejects the sex they were assigned by God at birth”) is an tomatic ticket to eternal sufferg hell.

If someone admted the feelgs, tried to embrace the “solutn, ” but ultimately were not succeedg (bee “gay nversn” don’t work), they would be shamed by the muny ntuoly until one of two thgs happened: they were manipulated to believg they had nverted om their LGBTQIA+ inty, or they broke. But high school, when I me to terms wh my own inty as a gay man, the dangero iologi reached a different level of impact on me. ” Based on the trailer and other rmatn available about the movie pre-release, the movie appears to tackle head-on the past and prent of the “anti-gay” and “gay nversn” movements Christiany.

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

The first thg that Netflix’s Pray Away documentary do is remd viewers that gay nversn therapy is not a thg of the past. It’s shockgly siar to the ttimony given by the lears of the ex-gay movement over thirty years ago, several of whom are featured Pray Away after leavg the movement and formally apologizg to the LGBTQ muny.

John Plk, for stance, was the poster child for the “former homosexual” who succsfully nverted to the straight liftyle. He appeared wh his wife Anne on the ver of Newsweek magaze 1998, and both of them appeared on talk show after talk show to reunt how both of them were gay, but ma a nsc effort to change. Plk soon joed the board of the Christian anti-homosexualy group known as Exod Internatnal, which was found 1976 and disband 2013.

PRAY AWAY GO DEEP INTO THE 'EX-GAY' MOVEMENT THAT BEGAN THE '70S

Bee I was dishont, ed people the dience—people that were stgglg wh homosexualy or had gay feelgs—to feel like, ‘There mt be somethg wrong wh me, bee I’m not like him. (Plk’s wife Anne cled to be terviewed for the documentary and ntu to spread anti-gay msagg as the head of a new Christian ex-gay mistry. Her story is particularly tragic—after g out to her mom at 14, she was forced to see a man named Ricky Chelette who ran another relig ex-gay therapy anizatn lled Livg Hope.

Rogers fally left the ex-gay movement after bearg wns to an emotnal, televised group therapy ssn 2013, which survivors of the ex-gay movement unload their trma onto Exod print Alan Chambers. Chambers, too, was so shaken by the stori shared by the “ex-ex-gays” that he and others disband Exod that year, issug a public apology to the LGBTQ muny.

NETFLIX'S 'PRAY AWAY' IS A HUMANIZG LOOK AT 'GAY CONVERSN' THERAPY SURVIVORS

You n’t help but wonr if McCall, like the ex-gay lears before him, will ever look back on that phone ll and acknowledge how much damage he likely ed. 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 tells the story of the 'pray the gay away' movement and explor the ep and lastg effects of nversn therapy.

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.

STREAM IT OR SKIP IT: ‘PRAY AWAY’ ON NETFLIX, A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT THE DEVASTATG IMPACT OF CONVERSN THERAPY & THE ‘EX-GAY’ MOVEMENT

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.

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.

PRAY THE GAY AWAY

Netflix has released the trailer for Pray Away, a new documentary that vtigat the abe brought on by gay nversn therapy programs — featurg terviews wh the program lears themselv.

The film centers on Exod Internatnal, an Evangelil gay nversn program that began as a Bible study group between five gay men who wished to help each other leave the “homosexual liftyle. ” Shortly after s ceptn the Seventi, the group received 25, 000 letters om LGBTQ people askg for help, leadg Exod Internatnal to rapidly grow to the largt gay nversn therapy program the world.