Part One: “Pray the Gay Away — and the Lawsuits In”

“Not a cleansing. A drowning.”

THE QUEER RESISTANCE FILES

Part One: “Pray the Gay Away — and the Lawsuits In”

By RICHIE D MOWREY for The Sassy Gazette
The Gossip You Didn’t Know You Needed

---

Imagine being 15 years old, realizing you’re gay, and then waking up in a dormitory run by a woman named “Miss Bev,” who thinks eye contact is a sin and hands out Bibles like candy at a funeral.

Welcome to conversion therapy — the unlicensed, unscientific, and unfortunately still-legal torture disguised as “treatment.”

For decades, these “pray-it-away” programs flourished in church basements, off-the-grid “ranches,” and suburban conference rooms disguised as salvation. Their promise? Heterosexuality through humiliation. Their result? Trauma, lawsuits, and a generation of queer people taught to hate themselves before they ever kissed anyone.

---

FILE 001: The Church of Self-Loathing, Inc.

Conversion therapy is a multi-million-dollar industry powered by tax-exempt status and moral panic. While some states have banned it for minors, others (hi, Florida and Texas!) still allow this psychological waterboarding — and some even encourage it under the guise of “religious freedom.”

Let’s name names, shall we?

• Love in Action (Memphis): Infamous for its “locker room shaming” and ice baths designed to "cool off sinful thoughts."
• Restoration Path: Where the only thing being restored was the founder’s bank account.
• Bethel Church’s ‘Changed’ Program: Spoiler alert — no one changed. Not even the hairstyles.

---

FILE 002: Survivors Are Speaking — And Suing

Survivors are done whispering. They’re suing. And guess what? Judges are listening.

• 2022 – California: A landmark civil suit awarded $1.9 million to a young man forced into conversion by his parents. His claim? “Intentional infliction of emotional distress.” (And yes, the jury agreed.)
• 2023 – Minnesota: A class-action suit filed against a conversion therapy retreat resulted in its sudden “rebranding” as a “Christian hiking club.” (Still trash. Just outdoors now.)

---

FILE 003: The Therapy That Was Never Therapy

Let’s be clear: conversion therapy isn’t therapy. There’s no science. No accreditation. No medical board willing to touch it. The American Psychiatric Association, the AMA, and basically everyone with a functioning frontal lobe have denounced it.

But here’s the twist: it’s still protected.

Because in many states, “religious belief” is a get-out-of-accountability free card. You can’t force a pastor to pay damages if he claims his Holy Ghost told him your gayness is demonic.

Well guess what? The Sassy Gazette is here with a subpoena for the Spirit.

---

FILE 004: Where’s the Oversight? Spoiler: It’s in a Bible Verse

So where are the regulators? The credential checkers? The mental health boards?

Nowhere. Because these programs aren’t licensed. They’re often operated by untrained zealots with zero psychological background, a lot of opinions, and maybe one too many VHS tapes of Fireproof.

Meanwhile, survivors emerge with PTSD, suicidal ideation, and an allergy to flannel.

---

THE GAGGED TRUTH

We were told conversion therapy was dying.
Turns out, it just changed fonts.

Now it’s called “discipleship,” “mentorship,” or “spiritual restoration.”

But the scars? Still real. Still raw. Still ignored.

---

CLOSING ARGUMENT

They prayed for healing.
We’re praying for indictments.

And with the lawsuits stacking up like rainbow subpoenas from Heaven’s Court, the day of reckoning may finally be here.

---

Next Up in The Queer Resistance Files:

Part Two: “Closets & Congress: The Hypocrite Caucus”
Where anti-gay voting records meet homoerotic scandals and nobody escapes without glitter on their hypocrisy.

A Note on the Visuals:

All images featured in this post were AI-generated by The Sassy Gazette editorial team.

These visuals are crafted to evoke mood, message, and metaphor — not reality. The glitter may be digital, but the rage is absolutely real.

Because when the truth needs a little sparkle, we give it a spotlight.