Dear Sir,
The film, Boy Erased, based on Garrard Conley’s 2016 memoir and recently released in the UK, has brought a new, tragic dimension to the sometimes theoretical discussion of homosexuality. Last month en published an edited version of the Gospel Coalition’s review, on which I concentrate.
The film cuts out more honest aspects in the book, such as Conley’s seriously dysfunctional family background. However, the book, film and GC review are correct to flag up major challenges for those struggling with their sexuality and the deficits in programmes like the now-defunct Love In Action [LIA]. For psychologist Christopher Rosik, Conley’s story should serve as a beneficial warning against overzealous, scientifically uninformed, and abusive religious practices. This appropriate but limited application of Boy Erased, however, is not likely to satisfy activists whose strategy appears to be the further linking of LIA style abuses with ‘conversion therapy’ [CT] in the public’s mind while drafting legislation that bans any and all conversation-based approaches to professional therapy not deemed sufficiently gay-affirmative.1
