Garrard Conley, author of Boy Erased: A Memoir of Identity, Faith and Family, said in an interview that his father gave him the choice of being disowned or being subjected to gay conversion therapy.

At 19 and while attending college, Conley was outed to his conservative parents. The only child of a car salesman who was about to be ordained a Baptist minister, Conley was terrified of his father's response to learning about his sexuality.

Conley's 2016 book is being turned into a major Hollywood film starring Nicole Kidman and Troye Sivan.

Appearing Tuesday on ITV's This Morning ahead of his book's UK release, Conley, who grew up in Arkansas, recalled his father threatening to disown him if he did not get therapy to alter his sexuality.

“My dad took me into his bedroom and he said, 'You know, I've talked to a few preachers, I called them after I heard this, and there's only one way forward here: Either you go to conversion therapy, or you won't see your family and we won't pay for your education,'” Conley recalled.

Conley described the harm he suffered at a Love in Action program, saying he was counseled along with people who were dealing with a lot of different issues.

“Some people were dealing with pedophilia. I was sat next to a man, at 19, who was dealing with pedophilia, and I was sitting next to another woman who was dealing with bestiality. And we were all seen as sexual addicts.”

“The [therapists] borrowed from Alcoholics Anonymous, they borrowed from everything. They were stealing from Freud. … A lot of things we've decided don't work anymore were suddenly being touted as cures,” he added.

Conley is currently living in New York with his husband.

Fourteen states plus the District of Columbia have banned such therapies to minors, with Delaware set to become the 15th state. California is debating a bill that would extend its ban to adults.

In the film adaptation of Conley's book, Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman play Conley's parents, while Lucas Hedges plays Conley. Out singer Troye Sivan also appears in the movie. Boy, Erased, directed by Joel Edgerton, is set to open in September.