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PROFILE
Garrard Conley
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FROM Garrard Conley
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
'Boy Erased' chronicles real-life impact of 'conversion therapy' The Republican Platform ratified last month says that parents should be able to choose proper medical treatment and therapy for their children. That includes “conversion therapy” to cure their gay sons and daughters of their homosexuality. Garrard Conley is an example of the failure of that scientifically-debunked treatment. Conley grew up in rural Arkansas as a Mission Baptist. His mother and father were devout and encouraged their son to minister to others. Every soul counted, especially the lost ones. But Garrard himself felt increasingly lost, because he knew that he was gay. What happened next is the subject of Conley’s memoir, “Boy Erased,” and it chronicles his time in so-called ex-gay therapy, in an intensive program called “Love in Action.”
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
How Ex-Gay Therapy Made Garrard Conley a 'Boy Erased' Garrard Conley grew up in rural Arkansas as a Mission Baptist. His mother and father were devout to say the least. An only child who worked at his dad’s car lot, Conley was encouraged to minister to the customers. Every soul counted, especially the lost ones. But Conley, himself, was feeling increasingly lost. Because there in the capital of Evangelical America, he knew that he was gay. What happened next is the subject of Garrard Conley’s new memoir titled, “Boy Erased.” The book chronicles Conley’s time in so-called ex-gay therapy, an intensive program called Love in Action, which used the Bible and a 12-step-like structure to convince vulnerable, often young, people to renounce their homosexuality.
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