Netflix has released the trailer for Pray Away, a new documentary that investigates the abuse brought on by gay conversion therapy programs — featuring interviews with the program leaders themselves.
The film centers on Exodus International, an Evangelical gay conversion program that began as a Bible study group between five gay men who wished to help each other leave the “homosexual lifestyle.” Shortly after its inception in the Seventies, the group received 25,000 letters from LGBTQ people asking for help, leading Exodus International to rapidly grow into the largest gay conversion therapy program in the world.
Years later, former leaders and outreach members of Exodus International have spoken out, disavowing the movement and proudly accepting their LGBTQ identities. Through their interviews, the film outlines horrific abuses within the program that, in some cases, led to suicides, and highlights the difficult journeys of those who managed to survive the controversial therapy.
“We’re killing ourselves by not embracing who God created us to be,” one survivor of the program says in the trailer.
Pray Away is directed by Kristine Stolakis, who produced the film along with Jessica Devaney and Anya Rous. Ryan Murphy and Jason Blum are credited as executive producers on the film, which premieres on August 3rd on Netflix.
From Rolling Stone US
