Thankfully, over recent years, there has been a large outcry against conversion therapy tactics used by churches to “pray the gay away,” so to speak. And if you’re someone that is still unfamiliar with the harrowing stories of LGBTQ youth that have endured these schemes, you can see the effects first hand in the new doc, “Pray Away.”
As seen in the trailer for “Pray Away,” the documentary from director Kristine Stolakis puts a spotlight on the gay conversion therapy that is utilized by various churches and Christian leaders as a way to somehow convince LGBTQ kids that they can somehow pray enough that they will become straight.
In our review of “Pray Away” from last year’s Tribeca, we said, “At its core, ‘Pray Away’ is a chronicle of pain. It is a candid, unceremonious study of people who have struggled for years with discovering who they are and who God is; and, perhaps most importantly, it is an exploration of the lasting damage caused by misinterpreting Biblical teachings and misunderstanding the Gospel’s message.”
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“Pray Away” is executive produced by Blumhouse Television and hits Netflix on August 3. You can watch the new trailer below.
Here’s the synopsis:
In the 1970s, five men struggling with being gay in their Evangelical church started a bible study to help each other leave the “homosexual lifestyle.” They quickly received over 25,000 letters from people asking for help and formalized as Exodus International, the largest and most controversial conversion therapy organization in the world.
But leaders struggled with a secret: their own “same-sex attractions” never went away. After years as Christian superstars in the religious right, many of these men and women have come out as LGBTQ, disavowing the very movement they helped start. Focusing on the dramatic journeys of former conversion therapy leaders, current members, and a survivor, PRAY AWAY chronicles the “ex gay” movement’s rise to power, persistent influence, and the profound harm it causes.