Instagays, Unfiltered

Contents:

• YOUTUBER LOHANTHONY WAS ONCE AN OPENLY GAY TER STAR. NOW, HE'S AN ADVOTE FOR CHRISTIAN CELIBACY, AN IOLOGIL OF NVERSN THERAPY.
• DIVORCED COUPLE ARE COMMTED TO FAY AFTER HE COM OUT AS GAY: 'OUR LOVE IS DIFFERENT NOW'
• FD GAY INFLUENCERS IN SENDS
• INSTAGAYS, UNFILTERED

YOUTUBER LOHANTHONY WAS ONCE AN OPENLY GAY TER STAR. NOW, HE'S AN ADVOTE FOR CHRISTIAN CELIBACY, AN IOLOGIL OF NVERSN THERAPY.

As a young gay teenager, Qutal, better known as Lohanthony, beme a mastay among YouTube's ele for years through his thentic vios, often filmed om his laptop mera. Now, Qutal, 21, once an advote for LGBTQ rights and a role mol for gay children and teens around the world, has renounced his own sexualy, sayg a recent YouTube vio that he has chosen a life of "Christian celibacy" and moved on om the "sexual immoraly" of his past gay relatnships.

In a 41-mute vio posted Friday to his channel, where he has sce hidn nearly all of his past vios, Qutal said that g out as bisexual and then gay earlier life was like "tryg to f a circle to a square. Insir spoke to two LGBTQ advot who warned that Qutal's msage was rooted harmful homophobic sentiment the Christian muny, which n be dangero to young LGBTQ people and their fai. It's unclear whether this kd of relig anti-gay language is permted on YouTube, per s most recent policy on hate speech.

Advot for LGBTQ cln Christian church say Qutal is echog 'ex-gay' stigmatizatn that is iologilly siar to nversn Qutal has not referenced nversn therapy — a wily discreded and effective type of program that attempts to "nvert" LGBTQ people to heterosexualy — by name, many fans of the creator, as well as at least one other proment YouTuber, have qutned whether he unrwent and is enuragg such a program.

DIVORCED COUPLE ARE COMMTED TO FAY AFTER HE COM OUT AS GAY: 'OUR LOVE IS DIFFERENT NOW'

Qutal specifilly said he was choosg "Christian celibacy, " and although he never stated he had thought he was no longer gay, Qutal said he is choosg not to partake same-sex relatnships. Matthew V, executive director of the pro-LGBTQ Christian anizatn The Reformatn Project and thor of "God and the Gay Christian: The Biblil Case Support of Same-sex Relatnships, " says Qutal's vio reflected a morn movement wh Christiany that replac mon nversn therapy language wh a new way of grapplg wh sexualy. "It's no longer popular, even a lot of nservative church, to uphold a te gay-to-straight narrative, the ia that all gay people uld do that if they jt tried, " V told Insir.

"But there's kd of been a renstcted ex-gay movement that acknowledg that maybe you n't actually flip the swch om gay to straight, but you n still have a more vague kd of transformatn of your sexualy. "V said that the ia of nversn therapy beg a forced "brawashg" practice don't typilly reflect what real 'ex-gay' experienc look like for Christians.

"The way he spoke about , you n tell he's addg the filter" that he mt have learned om some source supportg an end to his gay relatnships, Shurka advot say the msagg Qutal's recent vios is dangero and n be harmful for LGBTQ youth and their fai. Whether or not Qutal has been volved a relig or theraptic program remblg nversn therapy, advot for gay rights say his language is potentially damagg for his viewers to hear.

FD GAY INFLUENCERS IN SENDS

Nearly every major health associatn, cludg the World Health Organizatn, the Amerin Psychologil Associatn, the Amerin Amy of Pediatrics, and the Amerin Medil Associatn oppos nversn therapy, along wh "ex-gay therapy, " "reparative therapy, " and any type of therapy that seeks to reprs, reverse, or eradite same-sex attractn.

V told Insir that many young adults who have promoted ex-gay Christian pathways go on to have same-sex relatnships later life, although n take s to unlearn the harmful iologi Qutal is currently pog.

INSTAGAYS, UNFILTERED

Given the jarrgly disparate nature of his current ments wh his prevly pro-LGBTQ inty and stance, along wh vios Qutal has publicly bookmarked on his channel, appears he has been fluenced by anti-gay Christian onle sourc. In a public playlist on his channel lled "God" that he updated as recently as Sunday, Qutal has saved vios om sourc like Jackie Hill-Perry, an 'ex-gay' Christian thought lear V referenced as havg siar views to Qutal. Qutal also highlighted a vio om PragerU, a nservative and far-right non-prof that creat tnal vios om a far-right standpot, cludg vios that dispute climate change science and ny the existence of homophobia.

Another majorly outspoken gay YouTuber om Qutal's era, Tyler Oakley, appeared to ment on Twter buzz around Qutal's "survivg sexualy" vio. —tyler oakley (@tyleroakley) Augt 22, 2020"Beg queer is a gift, " Oakley wrote on Twter, followg up wh "For ntext, there was a famo gay YouTuber gog viral on Twter advotg for nversn therapy yterday, & this was how I rpond.