Pride month is almost over, but representation matters all year round. This August, Netflix will debut the new documentary film Pray Away, chronicling the rise and fall of “Pray Away the Gay” organizations and following up with some of its founders and survivors. Premiering at AFI Docs Festival, attendees got a first look at this special film, executive produced by Ryan Murphy and Blumhouse founder Jason Blum.
Conversion therapy survivor Julie Rodgers at church in Pray Away. Directed by Kristine Stolakis. Image courtesy of Multitude Films.
Beginning in the 1970’s, conversion therapy became a popular avenue for people with same-sex attraction and their families who wanted them to change. Despite being based on no scientific data, the belief was that if you prayed hard enough, you could become straight. Deemed unethical in the early 2000’s, the practice has largely fallen out of favor, but there are still organizations that offer this controversial type of treatment.
Pray Away spends most of its time focused on Exodus, an organization that was formed in Anaheim, CA and quickly spread to other ministries throughout the country. Among those interviewed is Michael Busse, the organization’s co-founder who left it shortly after its formation when he saw the immediate harm it was doing. However, the work continued without him and among the organization’s top brass interviewed here are John Paulk, the “Success story” figurehead and board member, and Yvette Cantu Schneider.
On the other end of the spectrum is Julie Rodgers, who was a student of Exodus ministries from her teenage years and into adulthood. Her recollections of the damaging times spent there are juxtaposed against happy moments in her modern life as she prepares to marry her fiance.
There’s one outlier in the documentary who kicks off the show and ends it, in many ways representing how this movement is still going in many ways despite the dismantling of Exodus. Jeffrey McCall, a southern man who asks patrons at stripmalls to pray with him and leads an annual “Freedom March” in Washington D.C. for people who have left the LGBTQ+ community. Some of these scenes are shocking when placed at the front of the documentary, but by the end, you feel a ray of hope that this organization, just like Exodus, is not long for this world.
Pray Away touchingly ends with resources for viewers in case they need additional information, including WannaTalkAboutIt.com organized by Netflix and the film’s official website, PrayAwayFilm.com. It’s dedicated to the over 700,000 people who have been affected by conversion therapy to date and seeks to both educate and entertain audiences on a big platform like Netflix about the dangers of it.
Pray Away will stream this August on Netflix.