Gay Conversion Therapy w/ Garrard Conley – Ep. 53

Garrard Conley, author of Boy Erased and activist, joined us to
talk about his experience with gay conversion therapy and what it’s
like to have a painful part of his past turned into a feature film.
We had SO MUCH to talk about, starting with our collective rage
about the Kavanaugh hearings and the high standards we (society)
measure victims/survivors against. After twenty minutes of
therapeutically channeling our rage, we move onto a just-as-heavy
topic: Gay Conversion Therapy! First, we talk about some of the
differences between the upcoming motion picture and his memoir.
Then, we dive into casting, from his parents getting played by
academy award-winning Aussies, to the challenges of casting LGBTQ
roles. From there, we go into the dangers of conversion therapy and
what battles still need to be fought, as well as where
 progress is being made…and so much more. Despite the dark
topic, we managed to have SO MUCH fun on this episode (because we
might all be dead inside)! Probably too much fun because we had to
edit out at least 15 minutes where we took things a little too far.
We end it with a question from a Canadian listener who is fresh out
of the closet. Buy and read Boy Erased, and then see it in
theaters. Or the other way around, whichever.
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