For this post I will be discussing the documentary Pray Away which goes into the harmful history of conversion therapy and the ex-gay movement, along with bringing light to how conversion therapy is still prevalent even when it has been seen as harmful by major medical institutions (like the American Medical Association for example). Conversion therapy is unfortunately an important piece of queer history and experiences that needs to be discussed for this blog.

What is Conversion Therapy?
Conversion therapy is a form of “therapy” where the main goal is to make queer people not queer and make them fit into hereto and cis norms. Hereto meaning being in straight relationship with someone and cis meaning not identifying as trans or nonbinary. Conversion therapy in both larger society and Pray Away is seen as cruel, inhumane, and a form of torture that plays itself like therapy. Conversion therapy can caused queer people to feel like they do not belong and was stated by the film to cause people who go through it to have higher rates of suicide compared to queer people who do not experience conversion therapy.

Pray Away, Religion, and the Present

With the title alone it should be easy to understand that conversion therapy in the United States is largely very Christian based and based on the ideas of fundamentalist Christian sects which are heteronormative and support cisnormativity. The former ex-gay organization Exodus in the film. As explained by the film Exodus was a major leader in the ex-gay movement, but was ended in 2013. The issue being though, is that organization like Exodus are still around and still practicing conversion therapy. The film uses accounts for conversion therapy survivors and people who support ex-gay movements and conversion therapy. The supporters are most notably Christian and have very fundamentalist views of genders roles.

What Can be Done?

22 States have placed bans on conversion therapy and has been called out as being pseudo-science at large, but there are still 28 states where conversion therapy has not be banned. One of the things that could be done is raise awareness about the dangers of conversion therapy and ban conversion therapy in all 50 states. If you live in a state that does not have ban on conversion therapy, you can email and contact your local and state government to help raise awareness and inform law makers. No matter how small the action, we can all stand against conversion therapy and anti-queerness.

Pray Away is Available to watch on Netflix. Just a fair warning their discussions about topics of self-harm and suicidal thoughts.