Prayer and pa: why gay nversn therapy is still legal spe dangers | LGBTQ+ rights | The Guardian

Contents:

• ‘THE MISTN OF CAMERON POST’ REVIEW: GAY-CONVERSN DRAMA IS TIMELY, TOO TIMID
• 5 THGS I LEARNED AT A 'PRAY AWAY THE GAY' CAMP
• TEXAS TEEN SENT TO 'PRAY AWAY THE GAY' CHRISTIAN MP BY PARENTS BY LREN ABRAM PUBLISHED JUNE 8, 2016 NEWS FOX 13 TAMPA BAY SHARE COPY LK EMAIL FACEBOOK TWTER LKEDIN REDD ARTICLE PHOTO: GOFUNDME SAN ANTONIO (FOX 26) - A 17-YEAR-OLD GIRL HAS BEEN SENT AWAY BY HER PARENTS TO A 'PRAY AWAY THE GAY' CHRISTIAN MP EAST TEXAS. NOW OTHER FAY MEMBERS ARE ATTEMPTG TO RAISE MONEY TO SUE FOR HER EEDOM.  OVER THE WEEKEND OF JUNE 4, A GOFUNDME PAGE TLED 'SAVE SARAH' WAS SET UP FOR THE TEEN BY HER JOEY JORDAN, AN ACTOR WHO PLAYS WN SCHOTT ON THE SHOW 'SUPERGIRL'--AND STAT THAT HER PARENTS "BELIEVE THAT HOMOSEXUALY IS A S AND ABNORMAL", AND THAT SARAH WAS SENT AWAY AGAST HER WILL TO THE FACILY FOR TROUBLED TEENS TO 'PRAY AWAY THE GAY.'" THE REALIZATN OF SARAH'S SEXUALY DREW HER PARENTS' ATTENTN WHEN WAS TIME TO GO TO PROM, AND SARAH ELECTED TO TAKE HER GIRLIEND.  JORDAN STAT THAT "STEAD OF PREPARG FOR LLEGE AND PETG THE STATE BATE TOURNAMENT, SHE’LL BE DOG FORCED LABOR EVERY DAY AND ENDURG BIBLE-BASED 'THERAPY' FOR HER 'DISEASE.'" “I N'T BELIEVE BETIFUL, SMART, CREDIBLE KIDS LIKE MY SARAH ARE STILL BEG TOLD THAT BEG GAY IS WRONG,” JORDAN, 31, WROTE ON FACEBOOK. “BUT 'S WORSE THAN THAT FOR SARAH ... SHE'S BEEN PLACED AT A REMOTE BOARDG FACILY TO HELP ‘PRAY AWAY THE GAY’ FOR A YEAR WH NO MUNITN TO THE OUTSI WORLD.” THE REMAG FAY MEMBERS HAVE HIRED A WELL-KNOWN AT-BASED LAW ATTORNEY WH A LOT OF EXPERIENCE LIGATG LGBT ISSU. THE FAY CLAIMS THAT THE MONEY RAISED BY THE GOFUNDME PAGE WILL BE ED TO PAY FOR ATTORNEY FE. RELATIV SAY THAT THEY ARE A HURRY TO EE SARAH OM THE MP BEE SHE'S SENTIALLY CUT OFF OM THE OUTSI WORLD.  LIKE MANY YOUTH MPS, SARAH IS "NOT ALLOWED PHONE LLS OR EMAIL OR ANY FORM OF PUTER MUNITN." SHE IS ALSO NOT ALLOWED VISORS AND NNOT LEAVE THE PROPERTY. SARAH ALLEGEDLY TRIED TO N AWAY OM THE MP, BUT WAS UGHT BEFORE LEAVG THE PROPERTY.  THE GOFUNDME PAGE HAS SUPPORTERS THAT HAVE E TOGETHER TO RAISE MORE THAT $46,000. DAILY NEWSLETTER
• ‘PRAY AWAY THE GAY’ HAS GONE AWAY. WHY ARE GOVERNMENTS TRYG TO STOP IT?
• RELATIV LOOK TO EE TEEN WHO WAS SENT TO ALLEGED 'PRAY AWAY THE GAY' MP
• FORMER 'EX-GAY' LEARS DENOUNCE 'CONVERSN THERAPY' IN A NEW DOCUMENTARY
• IS IT POSSIBLE TO PRAY THE GAY AWAY?
• KATY PERRY ON SEXUALY: I ED TO ‘PRAY THE GAY AWAY’ YOUTH MPS
• PRAYER AND PA: WHY GAY NVERSN THERAPY IS STILL LEGAL SPE DANGERS
• ‘PRAY AWAY’ REVIEW: ATONG FOR AN ANTI-GAY STANCE
• KATY PERRY SAYS SHE ‘PRAYED THE GAY AWAY’ AS A YOUTH
• MY HELLISH YOUTH GAY CONVERSN THERAPY AND HOW I GOT OUT

‘THE MISTN OF CAMERON POST’ REVIEW: GAY-CONVERSN DRAMA IS TIMELY, TOO TIMID

Sundance jury-prize wner about youth sent to "pray the gay away" mps is heartfelt, tenr and too close to an 'Afterschool Special' for fort. What a shame that this well-meang look at the absurdy of gay nversn mps — won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance this year — lacks the teeth to make s pots stick. Danforth, The Mistn of Cameron Post is set 1993, before giant stris gay civil liberti such as the legal right of same-sex upl to marry all 50 stat had kicked .

She’s quickly sent off by her relig guardian to God’s Promise, a mp where she n be -gayed before ’s too late.

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

Cred Akhavan and -wrer Cecilia Fgiuele for dodgg riture when alg wh the anizatn’s cluels unselors, the formerly gay Reverend Rick (John Gallagher Jr.

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. " That is, they assumed that bee he was gay, 's bee his ntrollg mother and adbeat dad had nfed and irreparably trmatized his genals.

TEXAS TEEN SENT TO 'PRAY AWAY THE GAY' CHRISTIAN MP BY PARENTS BY LREN ABRAM PUBLISHED JUNE 8, 2016 NEWS FOX 13 TAMPA BAY SHARE COPY LK EMAIL FACEBOOK TWTER LKEDIN REDD ARTICLE PHOTO: GOFUNDME SAN ANTONIO (FOX 26) - A 17-YEAR-OLD GIRL HAS BEEN SENT AWAY BY HER PARENTS TO A 'PRAY AWAY THE GAY' CHRISTIAN MP EAST TEXAS. NOW OTHER FAY MEMBERS ARE ATTEMPTG TO RAISE MONEY TO SUE FOR HER EEDOM.  OVER THE WEEKEND OF JUNE 4, A GOFUNDME PAGE TLED 'SAVE SARAH' WAS SET UP FOR THE TEEN BY HER JOEY JORDAN, AN ACTOR WHO PLAYS WN SCHOTT ON THE SHOW 'SUPERGIRL'--AND STAT THAT HER PARENTS "BELIEVE THAT HOMOSEXUALY IS A S AND ABNORMAL", AND THAT SARAH WAS SENT AWAY AGAST HER WILL TO THE FACILY FOR TROUBLED TEENS TO 'PRAY AWAY THE GAY.'" THE REALIZATN OF SARAH'S SEXUALY DREW HER PARENTS' ATTENTN WHEN WAS TIME TO GO TO PROM, AND SARAH ELECTED TO TAKE HER GIRLIEND.  JORDAN STAT THAT "STEAD OF PREPARG FOR LLEGE AND PETG THE STATE BATE TOURNAMENT, SHE’LL BE DOG FORCED LABOR EVERY DAY AND ENDURG BIBLE-BASED 'THERAPY' FOR HER 'DISEASE.'" “I N'T BELIEVE BETIFUL, SMART, CREDIBLE KIDS LIKE MY SARAH ARE STILL BEG TOLD THAT BEG GAY IS WRONG,” JORDAN, 31, WROTE ON FACEBOOK. “BUT 'S WORSE THAN THAT FOR SARAH ... SHE'S BEEN PLACED AT A REMOTE BOARDG FACILY TO HELP ‘PRAY AWAY THE GAY’ FOR A YEAR WH NO MUNITN TO THE OUTSI WORLD.” THE REMAG FAY MEMBERS HAVE HIRED A WELL-KNOWN AT-BASED LAW ATTORNEY WH A LOT OF EXPERIENCE LIGATG LGBT ISSU. THE FAY CLAIMS THAT THE MONEY RAISED BY THE GOFUNDME PAGE WILL BE ED TO PAY FOR ATTORNEY FE. RELATIV SAY THAT THEY ARE A HURRY TO EE SARAH OM THE MP BEE SHE'S SENTIALLY CUT OFF OM THE OUTSI WORLD.  LIKE MANY YOUTH MPS, SARAH IS "NOT ALLOWED PHONE LLS OR EMAIL OR ANY FORM OF PUTER MUNITN." SHE IS ALSO NOT ALLOWED VISORS AND NNOT LEAVE THE PROPERTY. SARAH ALLEGEDLY TRIED TO N AWAY OM THE MP, BUT WAS UGHT BEFORE LEAVG THE PROPERTY.  THE GOFUNDME PAGE HAS SUPPORTERS THAT HAVE E TOGETHER TO RAISE MORE THAT $46,000. DAILY NEWSLETTER

Later ssns would clu pper heatg ils, needl my fgers, and electric shocks, " all while Sam was shown gay porn. In fact, he got so ed to reprsg his te self that, even after he me out, he wasn't entirely sure how to be: When he got to llege and first enuntered the gay muny, he immediately "me out a ball of glter. " He embraced a sparkly, Freddy Mercury-stage-show-liftyle bee he saw a bunch of out-and-proud homosexuals and thought that was how was done.

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

"I'm very flamboyant, and that's partly bee of how I was troduced to the ia of other gay men existg.... Go to a hardware store on the day of the gay pri para and you might hear an old du wh a beer gut lament, "Why do them gays have to be so flamboyant?

But if you see somebody sportg an outlandish stume, 's not about makg homosexualy look fun to help "turn kids gay" (if Sam's gayns uld survive electroshock torture, then we're pretty sure another kid's straightns n survive a few paras and some sequ boas); 's about showg closeted gay kids that homosexualy isn't tomatilly a lifetime of misery. For more sir perspectiv, check out 5 Reali of Beg Gay a Country Where It's Illegal and 6 Shockg Reali of the Secret 'Troubled Teen Indtry'.

I had so eply ternalized the homophobia that my pastor spewed, I was bld that everythg I did was normal and healthy.

RELATIV LOOK TO EE TEEN WHO WAS SENT TO ALLEGED 'PRAY AWAY THE GAY' MP

I sent her a Facebook msage sayg, "I'm gay, " admtg to someone for the first time the thg I uld barely adm to myself. The pastor talked about needg to save the sancty of marriage at all sts, advotg agast supportg gay marriage. This was siar to the stance outled earlier Mike Pence's 2000 ngrsnal mpaign webse, advotg that:"Congrs should oppose any effort to put gay and lbian relatnships on an equal legal stat wh heterosexual marriage...

Oppose any effort to regnize homosexuals as a 'discreet and sular mory' entled to the protectn of anti-discrimatn laws... When my iend Ryan fally me out, he was told, "He uldn't be a Christian if he was gay, " and was asked to, I'm livg New York Cy and gog to school Greenwich Village, the first person my fay to attend llege. I'm enjoyg beg the part of the cy where the gay rights movement started and veloped--where there are more hot men than one young twk n handle.

Article SAN ANTONIO (FOX 26) - A 17-year-old girl has been sent away by her parents to a 'pray away the gay' Christian mp East Texas. Over the weekend of June 4, a GoFundMe page tled 'Save Sarah' was set up for the teen by her Joey Jordan, an actor who plays Wn Schott on the show 'Supergirl'--and stat that her parents "believe that homosexualy is a s and abnormal", and that Sarah was sent away agast her will to the facily for troubled teens to 'pray away the gay.

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

'" “I n't believe betiful, smart, credible kids like my Sarah are still beg told that beg gay is wrong, ” Jordan, 31, wrote on Facebook. She's been placed at a remote boardg facily to help ‘pray away the gay’ for a year wh no munitn to the outsi world. 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. A 17-year-old girl whose parents sent her to an alleged "pray away the gay" Christian boardg school Texas is the subject of an onle fundraiser by relativ attemptg to 'save' the girl om the program.

Jordan said Sarah’s parents “believe that homosexualy is a s and is abnormal, ” and that Sarah was sent agast her will to the school bee she wanted to take a girl to her high school Sarah's mom told The At Amerin-Statman that Heartlight Mistri do not perform so-lled "gay nversn therapy" and she did not send her dghter to the school on May 13 bee of "her sexualy. ” The filg said was “absolutely repugnant” to assume Heartlight was anti-gay bee was a Christian school.

IS IT POSSIBLE TO PRAY THE GAY AWAY?

"The webse do not label Heartland as an anti-gay or "pray away the gay" school, though do have some referenc to a qutn-and-answer sectn, a parent asks what he should do after his llege-aged son told him he was gay. “I n't believe betiful, smart, credible kids like my Sarah are still beg told that beg gay is wrong, ” Jordan wrote a Facebook post. We provi a safe place for youth who are gay, lbian, bisexual, transgenr, queer, qutng or allied to learn, grow, and share their experienc.

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.

KATY PERRY ON SEXUALY: I ED TO ‘PRAY THE GAY AWAY’ YOUTH MPS

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.

PRAYER AND PA: WHY GAY NVERSN THERAPY IS STILL LEGAL SPE DANGERS

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. 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. 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.

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

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. 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.

KATY PERRY SAYS SHE ‘PRAYED THE GAY AWAY’ AS A YOUTH

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.

”Conversn therapy, also known as reparative or ex-gay therapy, has been wily discreded as uhil and effective but persists many parts of the untry, ually through church, and is a battleground issue for gay rights mpaigners and those who argue that banng would curtail relig some nservativ seek to ph back agast recent advanc rights for gay and transgenr people, a move is unr way to add an implicly pro-nversn therapy plank to the Republin party platform that will be approved at s nventn Cleveland next Christopher, the Texas-born thor of Hidg om Myself, a memoir about his experience wh nversn therapy, said the GOP’s platform plans are “very troublg. I thk ’s a backlash om gay marriage and gay rights and gay equaly, they’re really doublg down and the ‘ex-gay’ platform is one of their ways of rollg back, ” he said.

MY HELLISH YOUTH GAY CONVERSN THERAPY AND HOW I GOT OUT

Photograph: Elijah Nouvelage/RtersLast month a California urt heard a challenge om a mister to the state’s first--the-natn ban (enacted 2012 and effective 2014) on licensed therapists attemptg to change the sexual orientatn of practice gaed h attentn June when a GoFundMe page was set up to raise legal fe to extrite Sarah, a 17-year-old, om a “pray away the gay” mp east Texas where she was allegedly sent by her parents agast her “Save Sarah” mpaign raised $64, 218. It really do take a toll on you, ” he rells a boot-mp type weekend at a retreat about an hour om Dallas where participants unrwent tense physil activy, “then they really try to break you down emotnally, ” that was particularly tough and ed him to qutn not only whether he uld change, but whether he should want bizarre and paful experienc turned him away om the procs, he said, as did beg iends wh a gay man who was happy after takg the ntrastg path of g out and acceptg his a relig hoehold, Sean Sala, 31, said he was his late teens when he went to Livg Hope, an “ex-gay” mistry the Dallas regn then affiliated wh Exod Internatnal, a work which shut down 2013 and apologised for directg “years of undue judgment” at the gay muny.

”Ricky Chelette is executive director of Livg Hope, which scrib self as offerg “support and rourc for leavg homosexualy”.

”Asked if he believed some of the people he has worked wh have changed om beg gay to straight, Chelette said: “If you mean by ‘straight’ they’re no longer dog the gay practic that they may have been dog before as hookg up wh people or havg sex wh other people of the same genr, y, we’ve had people that have done that. “The practice is based on the false premise that beg lbian, gay, bisexual, or transgenr (‘LGBT’) is a mental illns or disorr ed by a velopmental ficiency, trma, and/or unmet emotnal needs, ” the plat stat.