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Supreme Court LGBTQ wins and losses can be tallied with end of the session last week.Trends The U.S. Supreme Court session that just ended amounted to mostly a “tread water” experience for LGBT people—with several little victories and no spectacular losses. But there are sharks in these legal waters, nipping at equal protection for LGBT people in the name of religion, and prospects for the future are unsettling. The days of the blockbuster wins for LGBT people seem over, at least for the foreseeable future. No more triumphs, like the 2015 decision to strike state bans on marriage for same-sex couples (Obergefell v. Hodges) or the 2013 decision to strike a federal law (DOMA) which banned recognition of such marriages (U.S. v. Windsor). No surprise epic, like last year’s ruling that “sex discrimination” prohibited by the federal civil rights law includes discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity (Bostock v. Clayton). ACB is no RBG, Champion of Supreme Court LGBTQ Wins In the 2020 session, which adjourned July 2, the composition of the court curdled to the right and, more specifically, to the religious right. The court’s most pro-LGBT justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, died and was replaced by Amy Coney Barrett just as the session got underway. This alone brought a sense of dread and gloom for LGBT prospects going forward. Ginsburg had voted pro-LGBT 90 percent of the time; many expected Barrett to vote just as frequently against LGBT people. Barrett had only two LGBT-related opinions to weigh in on this session. In one, Americans for Prosperity v. California, she voted with other conservatives to hold that California’s law requiring that the identities of major donors to tax-exempt organizations be reported to the state violates the First Amendment right of association for donors. In the other, Fulton v. Philadelphia, she voted with a unanimous bench to hold that Philadelphia’s interest in eradicating discrimination against LGBT people “cannot justify denying [Catholic Social Services] an exception for its religious exercise” in excluding gay couples from foster care. She, Chief Justice John Roberts, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh voted the same way on both cases. Bridge, Golf, 4-Square, And Supreme Court Appeals… And Barrett, Roberts, and Kavanaugh apparently withheld their consent to grant review of several lower court decisions that LGBT people had won below. It takes four justices to agree to hear an appeal before the court will accept it for review. Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas wanted to hear four different appeals where LGBT people won in the lower courts. In one of those four appeals, the Alito-Thomas duo had a third vote from Justice Neil Gorsuch. But they didn’t get the critical fourth, and that left the pro-LGBT rulings below intact. Appeals Refused: Lower Court LGBTQ Wins That Stuck The appeals that were snubbed included: • Arlene’s Flowers v. Washington—in which the Washington Supreme Court ruled that a state non-discrimination law does not violate the First Amendment free exercise rights of a florist who claimed her religion required her to deny service to same-sex couples seeking flowers for their weddings. In this case, Justice Gorsuch joined Alito and Thomas, wanting to hear the appeal. • Gloucester v. Grimm—in which the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that, following the Supreme Court precedent in Bostock, a Virginia school district did violate Title IX of the federal Education Amendments Act when it refused to allow a transgender male student to use the boys’ restroom and locker room. Supreme Court LGBTQ: Many-times divorced Kim Davis denies marriage license and kept trying • Texas v. California—in which the state of Texas sought to file a “bill of complaint” directly with the U.S. Supreme Court, challenging a California law that prohibited state-funded travel to certain states, including Texas, which had policies hostile to LGBT people. • Kim Davis v. Ermond—in which the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that a county clerk in Kentucky could not refuse to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples after the Obergefell decision. Once again, Justices Thomas and Alito dissented. (Note: Barrett was not yet on the court when this case was rejected for review.) Clear Conservative Shift Gary Buseck, senior adviser to GLBTQ Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), said he was heartened by Barrett’s concurrence in Fulton. Barrett wrote a brief concurring opinion, explaining why she did not go along with the request to overturn a Supreme Court precedent called Employment Division v. Smith. Justices Alito, Thomas, and Gorsuch urged the court to do so, saying Smith burdens the free exercise of religion. In Smith, the Supreme Court ruled that a state could deny unemployment benefits to a person fired for using illegal drugs as part of a religious ceremony. The 1990 decision said a state law denying benefits to employees fired for “misconduct” (illegal drug use) was generally applicable to all persons. Supreme Court LGBTQ future is not the brightest with the arrival of Amy Coney Barrett Barrett said she was “skeptical” about the idea of “swapping Smith’s categorical anti-discrimination approach for an equally categorical strict scrutiny regime….” She said the Supreme Court “has been much more nuanced” in its approach and there was no reason in the Fulton conflict to overturn Smith. Justices Kavanaugh and Stephen Breyer signed onto Barrett’s concurrence. “You cannot write anyone off on the court at this point,” said ACLU legal director David Cole, in a post-session discussion. Cole noted that the Supreme Court has had a majority of Republican-appointed justices since 1972 and yet has made “substantial progress” on issues such as marriage equality. The key, he said, is that the Supreme Court “doesn’t depart very far from where country is” and, “because the country had moved to a point where there was just not a good reason to deny marriage equality in 2015,” the court ruled for marriage equality in 2015. Look Out. Outlook for Next Season University of California-Berkeley School of Law Professor Erwin Chemerinsky, speaking at a Supreme Court analysis session by the National Constitution Center on July 8, said he sees a Supreme Court “in transition,” since Barrett replaced Ginsburg. He said it is clear there won’t be any 5 to 4 decisions with liberals in the majority, and the conservative majority now means most cases will be more conservative appeals. New York University School of Law Professor Melissa Murray, speaking at the same session, predicted a continued “move toward religion as having ‘most favored nation’ status” at the Supreme Court. Two cases are already in the queue for next session: One asks whether a Catholic-run hospital can deny a hysterectomy to a female-to-male transgender patient. Another asks whether Boston, which allows LGBT Pride flags to fly on city property during pride month, can deny a Christian group to fly its flag on the same property. © 2021 Keen News Service. All rights reserved. Kim Davis pooto by By davidvmoore1976 – Supreme Court LGBTQ previously on Towleroad 11 Must-See Miami Spots for Gay Travelers with Children July 14, 2021 Read More Happy Bastille Day? C’est Compliqué. French Ambiguity Lets You Celebrate Storming The Bastille, National Unity, Or A New York Restauarant July 14, 2021 Read More Billy Porter Pose: Found Growth Playing Pray There’s ‘a whole generation of us who haven’t really been able to process what happened.’ July 14, 2021 Read More Sexy Photos of Provincetown’s Gay Bear Week 10+ Years Ago, Inspire With Message: “Be Kinder … Make Sanctuary … Feel at Ease,” Says Artist Paul Specht July 13, 2021 Read More Trump Hitler Connections. Report that Trump told Chief of Staff that Hitler ‘did a lot of good things,’ Is One Of Too Many. July 13, 2021 Read More Emma Corrin, played Diana in ‘The Crown’, Chooses Gender Neutral Pronouns; Posts Stunning ‘intimate…new…cool’ Images in Chest Binder July 13, 2021 Read More Load More View the full article

There’s no shortages of places for kiddos to dig into sand on a number Miami’s beaches. Photo courtesy of the GMCVB.Miami’s sexy, late-night party scene and chiseled, tan bodies may not seem an obvious destination for LGBTQ+ Parents, gay travelers with children. However, the city offers unique culture, gorgeous natural settings and tons of fun activities to delight visitors of all ages instead of (or between) the parties. Gay travel to Miami with kids may look different than it did when you came as a single 20-something, but that’s the beauty of it. There are so many different experiences awaiting travelers, each visit is an opportunity to uncover another side of the region. Don’t worry if all you know of Miami is Twist, Palace and Gaythering; we’ve got you covered. Beyond the beach, nature-loving kids and parents can explore parks, hit the water and even interact with the wildlife that call the Everglades home. As a cultural hub, Miami’s museums boast plenty to enrich and entertain the whole family. And if you think Miami’s haute cuisine and Cuban flavors are out of reach for the kids, think again. Click through our gallery of must-see spots for gay families visiting Miami. View the full article

The Fête de la Fédération at Champ de Mars on July 14, 1790. Woodcut by Helman, from a picture by C. Monet, Painter of the King. Bibliothèque nationale de France French people travelling to or living in English-speaking countries are sometimes surprised when asked about their plans for “Bastille Day”: they refer to the day as Quatorze Juillet (14 July). France’s National Day is not really about the storming of the Bastille, and the day’s English language name conveys a misleading image. But it gives us an interesting glimpse into how the English-speaking world imagines France’s revolutionary past. The most common misconceptions about the French National Day are that it is a celebration of the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille on July 14 1789, and commemorates the official beginning of the French Revolution. It is, in fact, a far more complex story. Jean-Pierre Houël (1735–1813), The Storming of the Bastille, 1789. Bibliothèque nationale de France While English speakers refer to Bastille Day, in France the day is intimately related to a different historical event: the Fête de la Fédération (Festival of the Federation), a mass gathering held on July 14 1790. In 1789, the people of Paris attacked the Bastille: a political prison, a symbol of the monarchy and an armoury. The citizens aimed to seize weapons, ammunition and powder to fight the royal troops stationed in the vicinity of Paris. 1790’s Fête de la Fédération was designed to inaugurate a new era which abolished absolutism and gave birth to a French constitutional monarchy. Tens of thousands of people from all provinces converged on the Champ-de-Mars in Paris to attend a military parade led by Lafayette, a mass celebrated by Talleyrand, and a collective oath-taking culminating in short but rousing speeches from King Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette. Oath of La Fayaette at the Fête de la Fédération, 14 July 1790, painter unknown, c1790-1791. musée de la Révolution française It was not an annual event: simply a day to herald in a period of national unity. Less than three years later, the king and queen’s heads would meet the guillotine’s blade and the constitutional monarchy was replaced with the French First Republic. An ever-moving date France has had many days of national celebration, each reflecting the politics of its time. Napoleon I (Emperor from 1804 to 1814) declared citizens should celebrate August 15: the date of his name day and of the Assumption of Mary. The imperial decree that proclaimed August 15 (Napoleon’s name day) as National Day. Bibliothèque nationale de France Under the Restoration (1814-1830), the regime celebrated its kings on their name days: Louis XVIII (1814-1824) on August 25 and Charles X (1824-1830) on May 24. The July Monarchy (1830-1848) under Louis-Philippe I celebrated its birth in the heat of the “Three Glorious Days” of July 27 to 29 1830. The Second Republic (1848-1852) adopted May 4, the first meeting of the National Constituent Assembly in 1848. Another new political regime celebrated itself once again. Under the Second Empire (1852-1870), Napoleon III returned France’s national day to August 15: his name day. In a little less than a century, France changed its national day half a dozen times. New symbols for a new era The disastrous and humiliating defeat France suffered against Prussia in 1871 led to the fall of Napoleon III and the advent of the French Third Republic, which needed its own new symbols. For almost 15 years, there was fierce conflict between partisans of a monarchy and those in favour of a republican regime. The memory of the French Revolution became one of their main battlegrounds, and the choice of a national day an object of dispute. Read more: Friday essay: what is it about Versailles? Some advocated for July 15, the name day of the last Bourbon pretender, Henri, Count of Chambord, in the hopes of an imminent restoration. Left-wing radicals pushed for January 21, the anniversary of Louis XVI’s beheading in 1793. Others wanted to celebrate the Tennis Court Oath, which signalled France’s rupture with feudalism on June 20 1789. In the spring of 1880, politician Benjamin Raspail submitted a motion to declare July 14 the national day: a date shared between the Fête de la Fédération — a symbol of unity for the right — and the left-oriented image of the storming of the Bastille. Bastille Day military parade photographed at Longchamp in 1880. Collection of Jean Davray Thanks to the ambiguity of the date, the motion was passed into law — without specifying which Quatorze Juillet was to be commemorated. Raspail’s motion received the parliament’s approval based on the connection to the Fête, but the question of meaning was left open. Bastille Day Today Quatorze Juillet inextricably embodies the curious and divisive legacy the French Revolution carries for the French. Beneath the veneer of celebrations, the question of the intrinsic nature of the Revolution and whether its goals — Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité — have been achieved is often relegated to the background. It isn’t a day for reflection or politics. It is a day of leisurely family activities and celebrations, adorned with a lavish military parade displaying French power on the Champs-Elysées. In the evening, fireworks and popular dances known as Bal des pompiers (the Firemen’s Ball) take place throughout the country. It is a time for fraternal celebrations, very much the ambition of the original Fête de la Fédération. References to the storming of the Bastille are invisible or near-invisible. The Revolution is seldom mentioned in the presidential interview. Symbols of the 1789 Revolution are still the subject of contradictory interpretations and public controversy, as the recent Yellow Vests movement has shown. It is precisely this carefully maintained ambiguity in Quatorze Juillet which has enabled its endurance as France’s National Day: it can mean many things to many people. The French can project their own understanding of what is being celebrated. They can choose between the storming of the Bastille and the people; the Fête de la Fédération and national unity; and everything in between. Or they can simply enjoy a day off and admire the fireworks with their friends and family, oblivious to the complex story behind July 14. Romain Fathi, Senior Lecturer, History, Flinders University and Claire Rioult, PhD candidate in Early Modern History, Monash University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. But if You Were Young and Downtown In New York City Around 1990 Bastille Day is Florent … [This post contains video, click to play] bastille day – Curated tweets by michael_goff Bastille Day Previously on Towleroad Billy Porter Pose: Found Growth Playing Pray There’s ‘a whole generation of us who haven’t really been able to process what happened.’ July 14, 2021 Read More Sexy Photos of Provincetown’s Gay Bear Week 10+ Years Ago, Inspire With Message: “Be Kinder … Make Sanctuary … Feel at Ease,” Says Artist Paul Specht July 13, 2021 Read More Trump Hitler Connections. Report that Trump told Chief of Staff that Hitler ‘did a lot of good things,’ Is One Of Too Many. July 13, 2021 Read More Emma Corrin, played Diana in ‘The Crown’, Chooses Gender Neutral Pronouns; Posts Stunning ‘intimate…new…cool’ Images in Chest Binder July 13, 2021 Read More Notorious Founders Of ‘Conversion Therapy’ Group Exodus Never Did ‘Pray Away’ the Gay; Come Out Again, Slam Similar Programs in Netflix Doc July 13, 2021 Read More Space Pride: Richard Branson Honors Pulse Victims with Pride Flag on First Commercial Space Flight July 12, 2021 Read More Load More View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Billy Porter’s role in ‘Pose’ helped him “heal” from his “trauma and grief”. The 51-year-old actor – who revealed earlier this year he was diagnosed as HIV+ 14 years ago – could see similarities between the journey of his character, Pray Tell, and his own life, and the FX series has also helped his friends realise they still had issues to “process”. He told E! News: “What I understood from day one was that I could use Pose and the character of Pray Tell in proxy for my own healing and my own journey with trauma and grief as it relates to that time period. “One of the things that has stuck out for me about the whole thing is a lot of my older friends were calling and saying, ‘Oh, I didn’t know that I had anything left to process.'” The final season was set in the mid 90s and saw Pray Tell offered a spot on an HIV drug trial and Billy recalled how once the medication was developed that made the illness easier to manage, “everybody moved on, as if it never happened”, leaving a “whole generation” with struggles they still need to work through. He explained: “So there’s a whole generation of us who haven’t really been able to process what happened to us in relation to healing trauma. “And that’s been the biggest part of this particularly in the last season, is how I’ve been able to use it as an agent of healing. And I hope that as an example we can be that for others.” The Emmy award-winning star hailed appearing on the show, which came to an end last month, as his “greatest, greatest honour” and he thinks it’s had a significant cultural impact. He said: “The whole process for me, from start to finish, has really been about stepping into what visibility means and how art has the power to change the hearts and minds of people from the inside out. “It’s like my goal has always been my art as activism, my art as healing. It has been very healing to me and to be able to share that energy through this work with the world has just been my greatest, greatest honour.” Billy Porter Pose previously on Towleroad Sexy Photos of Provincetown’s Gay Bear Week 10+ Years Ago, Inspire With Message: “Be Kinder … Make Sanctuary … Feel at Ease,” Says Artist Paul Specht July 13, 2021 Read More Trump Hitler Connections. Report that Trump told Chief of Staff that Hitler ‘did a lot of good things,’ Is One Of Too Many. July 13, 2021 Read More Emma Corrin, played Diana in ‘The Crown’, Chooses Gender Neutral Pronouns; Posts Stunning ‘intimate…new…cool’ Images in Chest Binder July 13, 2021 Read More Notorious Founders Of ‘Conversion Therapy’ Group Exodus Never Did ‘Pray Away’ the Gay; Come Out Again, Slam Similar Programs in Netflix Doc July 13, 2021 Read More Space Pride: Richard Branson Honors Pulse Victims with Pride Flag on First Commercial Space Flight July 12, 2021 Read More ‘Everyone, meet John,’ Dillon Passage Intros New Boyfriend, Says He’ll Support His Ex, Joe Exotic and Will Welcome Him Home After Jail July 12, 2021 Read More Load More View the full article

Far from the first Trump Hitler Connection . During her divorce, Ivana noted that Trump kept books of Hitler’s speeches in the bedroom and read them before bed in a 1990 Vanity Fair profile. Tina Brown, former editor of Vanity Fair and New Yorker spoke of Donald Trump pouring wine down the back of a reporter who noted a book of Hitler’s speeches in his office. In 2016 it was reported that not one, but two new compilations of Hitler’s speeches had astonishingly, images of Trump on the covers. And, of course there are many comparisons of Trumps political trajectory and strategies to those of Adolf Hitler. Like the preponderance of Russians floating around the campaign, it’s hard to imagine a benign intention for a man fascinated with absolute power and little else. Towleroad Editor. Published by AFP Former US president Donald Trump reportedly told his chief of staff that ‘Hitler did a lot of good things,’ according to an upcoming book Washington (AFP) – Donald Trump, during a visit to Europe while US president, told his chief of staff that “Hitler did a lot of good things,” The Guardian newspaper reported on Wednesday, citing an upcoming book. Trump’s then chief of staff John Kelly was reportedly “stunned” by the remark. The exchange is recounted in the upcoming book, “Frankly, We Did Win This Election,” by Michael Bender of The Wall Street Journal, the British newspaper said. The Guardian said it had obtained a copy of the book ahead of its publication next week. Trump reportedly made the comment while Kelly was giving the president an impromptu history lesson during a 2018 visit to Europe to mark the end of World War I. According to the book, Kelly had “reminded the president which countries were on which side during the conflict” and “connected the dots from the first world war to the second world war and all of Hitler’s atrocities.” “Well, Hitler did a lot of good things,” Trump reportedly said. Kelly reportedly “told the president that he was wrong, but Trump was undeterred,” emphasizing German economic recovery under Hitler during the 1930s. “Kelly pushed back again,” the Guardian quoted Bender as writing, “and argued that the German people would have been better off poor than subjected to the Nazi genocide.” Kelly told Trump that even if his claim about the German economy under the Nazis were true, “you cannot ever say anything supportive of Adolf Hitler. You just can’t.” The Guardian said Bender has interviewed Trump since he lost the November 2020 election and the former president has denied making the remark about Hitler. Kelly, a former Marine Corps general who left the White House in early 2019, has made a number of critical comments about Trump following the January 6 attack on the US Capitol by supporters of the former president. Trump Hitler previously on Towleroad Notorious Founders Of ‘Conversion Therapy’ Group Exodus Never Did ‘Pray Away’ the Gay; Come Out Again, Slam Similar Programs in Netflix Doc July 13, 2021 Read More Space Pride: Richard Branson Honors Pulse Victims with Pride Flag on First Commercial Space Flight July 12, 2021 Read More ‘Everyone, meet John,’ Dillon Passage Intros New Boyfriend, Says He’ll Support His Ex, Joe Exotic and Will Welcome Him Home After Jail July 12, 2021 Read More Eddie Izzard Pronouns: Is An ‘Honor’ when ‘She’/’Her’ Used; But Warns Coming Out is Followed By “10 year rite of passage, Arthurian knights… to rejig your life” July 12, 2021 Read More Olympics vs. COVID Finals Down To Wire: Postponed a Year; Fans Banned Last Week, Tokyo State Of Emergency Today; Athletes Cancel July 12, 2021 Read More Hungary Gay and LGBTQ Activists Protest Latest Anti-LGBTQ Law with 30-Foot Rainbow Heart July 10, 2021 Read More Load More View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Emma Corrin wants to be gender neutral. The 25-year-old star – who is best known for portraying Princess Diana in ‘The Crown’ – has revealed that she wears a chest binder made by a transgender-owned company and that she now uses the pronouns she/they. Alongside a set of black and white images of Emma wearing boxing wrap – a fabric binding used by boxers – she wrote on Instagram: “some time before I bought my first binder, messing around with @sirdavidsimon, we used boxing wrap, thanks for capturing this with me, very intimate, very new, very cool. It’s all a journey right. Lots of twists and turns and change and that’s ok! Embrace it (sic)” Chest binding is often used by people who wish to give the appearance of a flatter chest. However, Emma didn’t explain why she personally chooses to wear it. Emma uses binders from gc2b, which is billed as the “very first gender-affirming apparel company that is trans-owned and operated”. Emma’s post prompted a series of supportive messages from some of her showbiz pals, including singer Paloma Faith. She wrote on the photo-sharing platform: “Beautiful pictures xx (sic)” Artist Arlo Parks described the photos as “angelic” and the official Netflix account responded with a series of heart emojis. Meanwhile, Emma previously suggested that her new-found fame has been made more manageable because of ongoing coronavirus restrictions. Speaking about her rise to stardom since appearing in ‘The Crown’, she explained: “When the show was coming out, we weren’t able to be together as a cast to celebrate it. “We were so proud of it, but haven’t seen each other since [before] the first lockdown. It has been so strange – and sad. But perhaps it’s a blessing in disguise. A friend said to me that at least it has meant that the focus has been on the work, not on events in, say, LA – and that’s what it’s all about for me. “It has also made the whole explosion more manageable. I’ve had time to come to terms with it, I suppose.” Emma Corrin previously on Towleroad Trump Hitler Connections. Report that Trump told Chief of Staff that Hitler ‘did a lot of good things,’ Is One Of Too Many. Read More Notorious Founders Of ‘Conversion Therapy’ Group Exodus Never Did ‘Pray Away’ the Gay; Come Out Again, Slam Similar Programs in Netflix Doc Read More Space Pride: Richard Branson Honors Pulse Victims with Pride Flag on First Commercial Space Flight Read More ‘Everyone, meet John,’ Dillon Passage Intros New Boyfriend, Says He’ll Support His Ex, Joe Exotic and Will Welcome Him Home After Jail Read More Eddie Izzard Pronouns: Is An ‘Honor’ when ‘She’/’Her’ Used; But Warns Coming Out is Followed By “10 year rite of passage, Arthurian knights… to rejig your life” Read More Olympics vs. COVID Finals Down To Wire: Postponed a Year; Fans Banned Last Week, Tokyo State Of Emergency Today; Athletes Cancel Read More Load More View the full article

“Pray Away”The rise and continued struggle against LGBTQ conversion therapy gets a close examination in the new Netflix documentary “Pray Away,” slated for release in August. The film chronicles the history of Exodus International, an organization founded in the 1970s by a group of gay Christians searching for a way to combat their same-sex attractions through their religious faith. The Florida-based organization was one of the first to promote conversion therapy, popularizing the phrase “pray the gay away” as a mantra, before the devastating psychological effects of conversion therapy were known or widely discussed. “Pray Away” features interviews with multiple former Exodus members who publicly lauded how conversion therapy helped them become “ex-gay” only to come out as LGBTQ years later and decry the practice they helped popularize. A new trailer released Tuesday features many of these figures as well as current-day promoters of conversion therapy and people seeking to divest themselves of their LGBTQ identities despite modern knowledge of conversion therapy’s repercussions. 20 states and scores more individual cities have bans on conversion therapy for minors in place and nearly every major health organization, including the World Health Organization and American Psychological Association, have discredited conversion therapy as a practice. The film is the latest Netflix offering from producer Ryan Murphy. The “Pose” creator co-produced “Pray Away” alongside Blumhouse Television’s Jason Blum, whom he previously collaborated with on the lesbian love-filled Netflix documentary “A Secret Love” and the HBO adaptation of Larry Kramer’s HIV/AIDS epidemic play “The Normal Heart.” The project also marks the feature-length directorial debut of accomplished short-form documentary filmmaker Kristine Stolakis. For Stolakis, the story of “Pray Away” holds a personal connection. Her uncle underwent conversion therapy after coming out as trans as a child. “He spent his lifetime believing that being straight and cisgender was the only way to be psychologically healthy and spiritually accepted,” Stolakis said in an interview with Women and Hollywood. “It wasn’t until I discovered leaders of the movement, people who claimed that they had themselves changed from gay to straight who were teaching others to do the same, that I understood the depth of his hope and his resulting trauma when he, of course, was unable to change himself.” “When you believe you are doing the right thing, and when you are taught that the only way to be accepted in your family, community and society at large is to be straight and cisgender, there is a lot of motivation to believe change is possible,” Stolakis continued. The film debuted at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival after being delayed for a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. “Pray Away’ debuts on Netflix on August 3. Conversion Therapy: Previously on Towleroad Notorious Founders Of ‘Conversion Therapy’ Group Exodus Never Did ‘Pray Away’ the Gay; Come Out Again, Slam Similar Programs in Netflix Doc Brian Bell July 13, 2021 Read More LGBTQ Conversion Practices Cause More Severe Trauma and PTSD Than We Thought …Study Also Find Faith Helps With Recovery Timothy W. Jones; Jennifer Power; and Tiffany Jones The Conversation April 8, 2021 Read More Trump Appoints Anti-Gay Conversion Therapy Practitioner and Christian Extremist Marcus Bachmann (Husband of Michelle) to Advisory Panel Andy Towle December 24, 2020 Read More TikTok to Remove Content Promoting Harmful Gay Conversion Therapy as Part of Broader Crackdown on Hate Speech Andy Towle October 21, 2020 Read More Louisville, Kentucky Mayor Signs Ban on Harmful Gay ‘Conversion Therapy’ Andy Towle October 3, 2020 Read More UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson Says UK Will Ban Gay Conversion Therapy ‘It Has No Place in Civilized Society’ — WATCH Andy Towle July 20, 2020 Read More Image courtesy of Netflix View the full article