*Trigger warning: conversion therapy & suicide*
Tonight April 13th, at 6:30PM PST, for Week 2 of the Still Stace book study, we are going to talk about the documentary “Pray Away” (Netflix), and the effect of ex-gay Christian ministries on LGBTQ people. (We also have a special guest from the film joining us!)
I’ve been avoiding watching this documentary because I knew it would bring so much up for me. (And it did.) It’s not just my time I spent involved with Exodus (the largest ex-gay ministry at the time). It’s the years and years of believing my existence was wrong, a sin… a mistake.
It takes many years of therapy to unwind that, and I’m still continuing to find threads in my life I thought were long gone. Reparative, or conversion therapy is harmful. It leads to despair. I do not say this lightly.
A stat from the film says, “A national survey found that LGBTQ youth who experienced conversion therapy were more than twice as likely to attempt suicide.”
Because as Randy Thomas says in the film,
“For many people who don’t commit suicide, we’re killing ourselves internally, by not embracing who God created us to be.”
Randy Thomas
I feel this so deeply. If I had not embraced who I was and came out, my path would not have continued. There was no hope down that road. Ex-gay ministries taught me that.
Tonight we are going to create a safe space to talk about this, to acknowledge the hurt and to be heard. All are welcome to join. Message me if you want to come. (If you don’t feel comfortable coming but need to talk about this, I’m always here to chat.)
Never give up, my friends. There is so much beauty in this life meant for you.
STACEY CHOMIAK 