In an interview with NBC News, Garrard
Conley, the author of Boy Erased, said that he wants the big
screen adaptation of his memoir to serve as a “tool for activism”
to combat therapies that attempt to alter the sexual orientation or
gender identity of LGBT youth.
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. His parents sent him to an “ex-gay” camp which
promised to alter Conley's sexual orientation.
Conley's 2016 book, Boy Erased: A
Memoir of Identity, Faith and Family, has been turned into a
major Hollywood film starring Nicole Kidman, Russell Crow and Lucas
Hedges. Boy Erased is currently playing in theaters
nationwide.
“It is incredibly important to get
those around queer people to get to the most basic thought of, ‘I
think that conversion therapy is torture,'” Conley said.
“Even if they are not there yet in
terms of acceptance, I just don’t want people to get sent to
conversion therapy.”
“Boy Erased is a classic
family drama, and because of that, it can be used as a talking point
between parents and children – and hopefully within the community
as well,” he
added.
Conley lives in New York with his
husband.