![]() ![]() He agrees to attend for two weeks to pacify his family. This is an ex-gay program which promises to cure anyone of homosexuality. His family chooses a local program called “Love in Action,” or LIA. Conley also worries over what his high school girlfriend felt-they are no longer on talking terms. This obviously isn’t much of a choice, but Conley doesn’t expect anything better from them. When he learns about Conley’s sexuality, he gives him a choice-leave his family and never speak to them again or enroll in a gay conversion course. He knows it had to come out eventually, but he wanted to be in control-especially because this is the worst time for his family to hear the news.Īt the time, Conley’s father waits for ordainment as a Baptist minister. Others “out” Conley to them, and he has mixed feelings about this. They first discover his sexuality when he’s 19 and a freshman in college. Although Conley speaks to his parents now, there was a time when this wasn’t possible. Although the pastor will most likely never accept Conley’s sexuality, he’s less concerned about his own feelings than how it will look to the congregation. Conley’s father worries that his son’s sexuality is a reflection on him, and that the congregation will vote him out if they read the book. She feels guilty for the ways she mistreated and shunned him before, but he forgives her now. Now, Conley has a decent relationship with his mother, who is still the pastor’s wife in Arkansas. This makes Conley question his relationship with God and religion more generally, although he does still believe in some form of god to this day. He recalls that, at the time, his denomination is vehemently against homosexuality and, if anyone feels differently, they’re too scared to say so. However, as Conley grows into a teenager, he realises he won’t be able to ignore the truth about his sexuality forever.Ĭonley describes the impossibility of growing up gay in the Missionary Baptist church and having any kind of relationship with his family. There is no tolerance for rebellion or differences of any kind. Growing up, Conley is expected to conform to their desires and adhere to their strict religious upbringing. His family are Christian fundamentalists with a rigid and narrow moral code. Conley grows up as the son of a Baptist pastor in small-town, rural Arkansas. Conley hopes that his account will raise awareness of how common this practice still is, and how urgently any kind of sexual conversion therapy must end. Conley, along with Edge Media Network, who are producing the film, hope Boy Erased will help end conversion and identity-changing programs. He’s also been published in major publications such as The Virginia Quarterly Review and The Common. ![]() Conley currently teaches English literature and is an active campaigner for LGBTQIA equality in Bulgaria. The book has been well received and is due to release as a film in September 2018. Published in 2016 by Riverhead Books, it tells Conley’s story of confronting and accepting his sexuality and the conversion program his religious parents imposed upon him. Boy Erased is a memoir by Garrard Conley. ![]()
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