‘Pray Away’ Shows Christians Trending Away from Conventional Conversion Therapy
Jeffrey McCall in “Pray Away.” Photo courtesy of Netflix.
(REVIEW) A new Netflix documentary features leaders of the Christian ex-gay movement who conclude that conversion therapy — therapy to alter same-sex attractions — doesn’t work and is harmful to LGBTQ people.
The documentary’s greatest strength is its rolodex of complex characters, most of whom condemn the ex-gay movement after having been active members of it for years. The film states the obvious, that conversion therapy is harmful for all involved, but does so in a way that’s intriguing and insightful.
Most importantly, it features characters who have reached a more-or-less peaceful acceptance of their lives and sexualities. From a lesbian who married a woman and remains a Christian to a man who believes God saved him from being transgender, “Pray Away” also shows the resilient presence of faith, both in and out of the ex-gay movement.
Survivors share their stories
Julie Rodgers came out to her mom as a lesbian when she was 16. She was then sent to conversion therapy at the Living Hope ministry with its director, Ricky Chelette, an ex-gay Baptist minister.
Rodgers quickly became Chelette’s star patient and said she was told that it was her calling to become the next leader of the movement. She said she was soon pressured by Chelette to share the details of a rape that happened in college — despite Rodgers’ insistence she was uncomfortable doing so.
The mental toll of this pressure and repressing her identity led Rodgers to self harm, she said — first burning herself with a cigarette, then heating up quarters to press into her skin and cutting herself.
Rodgers said she became aware that Chelette was using a version of her story to push a narrative that she had no control over. The documentary finds Rodgers years later; it follows her as she marries another woman. She’s still a practicing Christian.
John Paulk was once the most famous face in the ex-gay movement. He met his wife, who once identified as a lesbian, at an Exodus International conference. They say they found Jesus, entered a happy marriage with kids and subsequently ended up on talkshows and in magazines to tell their story and argue that gay people should change because they had the ability to. Paulk was photographed at a gay bar in 2000. His wife divorced him, and he was ousted from the movement.
Now living happily in a same-sex relationship, Paulk says he was lying to himself and others during those years. Paulk’s ex-wife, though, is still involved in ex-gay ministry.
Both Ricky Chelette and Anne Paulk were asked to be interviewed for “Pray Away,” but they both declined.
Michael Bussee, co-founder of the ex-gay organization Exodus International, started by forming a support group for gay people in his church because he himself desperately wanted to change his sexuality. As more local groups combined in 1976, Exodus quickly became one of the largest ex-gay organizations in the world; it disbanded in 2013 after leaders came to terms with the fact that they were doing more harm to their members than good.
Yvette Cantu Schneider, who spoke as an ex-lesbian for Exodus and the Family Research Council, worked actively to pass Prop 8 in California, which banned same-sex marriage until it was overturned in court. She is now married to a man and identifies as bisexual.
A different kind of conversion
These people once stood so firmly against homosexuality. Now they’ve ditched those organizations and embraced their identities after preventing others from doing the same. Are they hypocrites? Should they be hated?
“Pray Away” says no to those questions, instead allowing its subjects to wrestle with their guilt and grief on-screen. It presents them as victims themselves of conversion therapy.
GLAAD defines conversion therapy as “any attempt to change a person’s sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.” Most often, this is some form of counseling, whether or not it’s with a licensed professional. The practice goes by many names.
But regardless of what it’s called, studies consistently find that conversion therapy doesn’t work in altering same-sex attraction, and more than that, it’s actively harmful to mental health.
Similarly, the interviewees show a stance on conversion therapy that’s shifting considerably — one shared by more than just members of the LGBTQ community.
Most evangelicals now denounce the formal process of conversion therapy along with several major psychiatric and education organizations. Included in these groups is the American Association of Christian Counselors, which changed its Code of Ethics in 2014 to say that only celibacy would be encouraged for LGBTQ patients as opposed to any active conversion therapy.
Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, denounced conversion therapy in 2011, when he wrote that “a biblical Christian will have no fundamental confidence in any secular therapy's ability to change a sinner's fundamental disposition and heart, and this includes every aspect of the sinner's life, including sexuality.”
That’s a far cry from supporting homosexuality, of course, as he goes on to say that instead, the most successful way to rid a Christian of homosexual desires is through prayer and the gospel.
Theologian and ethicist Russell Moore has voiced a similar stance. In 2014, he denounced conversion therapy and called it “severely counterproductive.”
“The utopian idea if you come to Christ and if you go through our program, you’re going to be immediately set free from attraction or anything you’re struggling with, I don’t think that’s a Christian idea,” Moore said.
He has made several other remarks that Christians should be unashamed to condemn homosexuality and imply that the solution for LGBTQ Christians is to turn to the Bible and accept celibacy.
New evangelists talk gender dysphoria
“Pray Away” also offers a leader and an entire organization of people who say God has saved them from same-sex attraction and gender dysphoria.
Jeffrey McCall, who once identified as a transgender woman, detransitioned after he found God and continues to share his testimony. He started the group Freedom March for like-minded others.
McCall presents his group as being significantly different from other ex-gay organizations because the evangelism is more modern — informal gatherings and marches as opposed to organized conferences. Speakers and singers at an event were charismatic, calling on Jesus to take their struggles away and bring truth back to the country.
But the main difference is that members are choosing to join rather than being sent by counselors or family members. Data hasn’t shown a conclusion about whether or not this independent “faith healing” method of changing same-sex attraction is successful or beneficial, but McCall and those he worships with appear to be happier and healthier because of the choice they’ve made.
Part of their Facebook statement on the documentary reads,
“Freedom March does not align or agree with any form of therapy, ministry, or counseling that forces anyone to change anything, and we do not ever condone coercion, force, or humiliation. Such actions are harmful, unethical, and inconsistent with our Christian faith. We hope and pray that everyone in this film and in the LGBTQ community will experience the rich love of Jesus.”
The documentary treats McCall and his organization with the utmost respect, offering them the same emotional sincerity it offers the other subjects who have renounced the ex-gay movement.
Still, the message of the documentary is clear:
“As long as homophobia exists in this world, some version of Exodus will emerge,” Bussee said. “Because it’s not the organization, and it’s not even the methods that they use. It’s the underlying belief that there is something intrinsically disordered and change-worthy about being gay. As long as that continues to exist, there will be some form of this.”
“Pray Away” is now streaming on Netflix.
Jillian Cheney is Religion Unplugged’s 2020-21 Poynter-Koch fellow who loves consuming good culture and writing about it. She also writes on American Protestantism and evangelical Christianity. You can find her on Twitter @_jilliancheney.