A Survivor Of Gay Conversn Therapy Shar His Chillg Story | HuffPost Voic

Contents:

• I WAS 19, GAY AND READY TO BE ‘CURED’ BY NVERSN THERAPY
• GAY AND TRANS PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN TO CONVERSN THERAPY ARE SHARG THEIR TRMATIC STORI, AND IT'S A REMR WHY IT NEEDS TO BE ABOLISHED
• GAY 'NVERSN THERAPY': MAN GIVEN ELECTRIC SHOCKS MANDS APOLOGY
• TERRIFYG PHOTOS RECREATE THE HORRORS OF GAY 'CONVERSN THERAPY' CENTERS
• A SURVIVOR OF GAY CONVERSN THERAPY SHAR HIS CHILLG STORY
• CONVERSN THERAPY GAY PORN VIOS
• RULTS FOR : GAY NVERSN THERAPY

I WAS 19, GAY AND READY TO BE ‘CURED’ BY NVERSN THERAPY

Ex-gay mistry.

”The harms of nversn therapySan Francis State Universy found that “pared wh LGBTQ young people who were not rejected or were only a ltle rejected by their parents and regivers bee of their gay or transgenr inty, highly rejected LGBTQ young people were:. 57, 000 youth (ag 13-17) across all stat will receive nversn therapy om relig or spirual advisors before they reach the age of UCLA Williams InstuteStatements by Natnal AssociatnsAmerin Psychologil Associatn:Affirms that same-sex sexual and romantic attractns, feelgs, and behavrs are normal and posive variatns of human sexualy regardls of sexual orientatn inty; reaffirms s posn that homosexualy per se is not a mental disorr and oppos portrayals of sexual mory youths and adults as mentally ill due to their sexual orientatn nclus that there is sufficient evince to support the e of psychologil terventns to change sexual orientatn; enurag mental health profsnals to avoid misreprentg the efficy of sexual orientatn change efforts by promotg or promisg change sexual orientatn when providg assistance to dividuals distrsed by their own or others’ sexual orientatn…Amerin Psychiatric Associatn:… In 1997 APA produced a fact sheet on homosexual and bisexual issu, which stat that “there is no published scientific evince supportg the efficy of “reparative therapy” as a treatment to change one’s sexual orientatn. ”The potential risks of “reparative therapy” are great and clu prsn, anxiety, and self-stctive behavr, sce therapist alignment wh societal prejudic agast homosexualy may rerce self-hatred already experienced by the patient.

GAY AND TRANS PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN TO CONVERSN THERAPY ARE SHARG THEIR TRMATIC STORI, AND IT'S A REMR WHY IT NEEDS TO BE ABOLISHED

Many patients who have unrgone “reparative therapy” relate that they were accurately told that homosexuals are lonely, unhappy dividuals who never achieve acceptance or satisfactn.

The possibily that the person might achieve happs and satisfyg terpersonal relatnships as a gay man or lbian are not prented, nor are alternative approach to alg wh the effects of societal stigmatizatn discsed…Therefore, APA oppos any psychiatric treatment, such as “reparative” or “nversn” therapy, that is based on the assumptn that homosexualy per se is a mental disorr or is based on the a prri assumptn that the patient should change his or her homosexual of US anizatns that have nounced nversn therapy:. Conversn therapy is sometim lled “reparative therapy” or “ex-gay therapy.

GAY 'NVERSN THERAPY': MAN GIVEN ELECTRIC SHOCKS MANDS APOLOGY

Pecially among transgenr In some relig practic, homosexualy and other forms of genr exprsn and inty are sometim viewed as “evil. It may clu g anti-gay slurs and prayers. But provirs, ually unlicensed, n often disguise the terms they e to avoid beg terms clu:Sexual attractn fluidy exploratn therapy (SAFE-T)Elimatg, rcg, or creasg equency or tensy of unwanted same-sex attractn (SSA)Reparative therapySexual reorientatn effortsEx-gay mistryPromotg healthy sexualyAddrsg sexual addictns and disorrsSexualy unselgEnuragg relatnal and sexual wholensHealg sexual brokennsConversn therapy techniqu n lead to feelg “ls than” or “damaged, ” impactg self-teem.

A number of medil and mental health anizatns have issued public statements rejectg the e of nversn therapy bee of many provirs who claim to be qualified to provi nversn therapy are often not licensed mental health practners or medil study found that LGBTQ (lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, or qutng) people who are rejected or discrimated agast are:8 tim more likely to report havg attempted suiciAlmost 6 tim more likely to report high levels of prsnMore than 3 tim as likely to e illegal dgs3 tim more likely to be at high risk of HIV and other STDsAcrdg to rearch, nearly 700, 000 LGBTQ adults the U.

TERRIFYG PHOTOS RECREATE THE HORRORS OF GAY 'CONVERSN THERAPY' CENTERS

“And he said, a voice ee of emotn: ‘False Image’, ” rells Conley Boy Erased, his elegant memoir about the year which his southern Baptist upbrgg llid wh his sexual awakeng as a gay man.

“False Image”, a key te of Love Actn (LIA), referred to anythg and everythg suggtive of Conley’s homosexualy. Detectg and stroyg FIs was how you got the gay out. The methods are cel and equently vlent, om applyg electric shocks while beg forced to watch gay porn, to md ntrol gam aimed at persuadg LGBT “patients” their sir are rooted dysfunctnal or “disempowerg” relatnships wh their LIA the msage was unequivol: homosexualy meant unhapps, isolatn and ath.

Stori like the were not unmon at LIA, renamed Rtoratn Path 2012, and wily nsired to be the first morn “ex-gay” mistry predited on changg the sexual orientatn of gay men and women. Like other gay teens, Conley went through the motns of havg a girliend as a way to “cure” himself, but he was also a vorac rear who found novels a unterweight to the Bible that helped expand the horizons of his world.

A SURVIVOR OF GAY CONVERSN THERAPY SHAR HIS CHILLG STORY

The knowledge of my homosexualy would seem more shockg than the knowledge of my rape; or, worse, would seem as though one act had evably followed the other, as though I’d had g to me. There, she jok about an ia for a TV seri, Preachers’ Wiv Gone Wild, while he surreptly observ their handsome the ironi of nversn therapi such as LIA is the fact that they are n and managed largely by gay men who have been through the programme themselv, renounced their past and now seek to make others do the same.

Conley characteris them by their “ex-gay s” which the rners of their lips “stretched beyond the lims of normalcy” such person was John Smid, former executive director of LIA and a gay man and Christian who would eventually adm that he’d “never met a man who experienced a change om homosexual to heterosexual”.

CONVERSN THERAPY GAY PORN VIOS

”Today Conley believ his father has e to accept his homosexualy, but the wounds are not entirely healed. And the one he n’t move, that would brg all down, is homosexualy, bee ’s all tied to the leral terpretatn of the Bible. Every book had a gay character , but wasn’t obv – you uldn’t tell om the blurbs.

We were learng Step One of Love Actn’s 12-Step programme, a set of prcipl equatg the ss of fily, btialy, paedophilia and homosexualy to addictive behavr such as alholism or gamblg: a kd of Alholics Anonymo for what unsellors referred to as our ‘sexual viance’. ’ I was here by my own choice, spe my growg scepticism, spe my secret wish to n away om the shame I’d felt sce my parents found out I was gay.

RULTS FOR : GAY NVERSN THERAPY

But we live a heteronormative culture which rults many gay and queer people beg sent to nversn therapy or choosg to go themselv.

"I went to a gay nversn mp at 17 years old. On the send or third day I was given some, hdsight, credibly lghable gay eroti and was allowed to return to my room. I chose to go bee of my ternalized homophobia.