Garrard Conley (born ) is an American author and

LGBTQ ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

activist known for his autobiography '' Boy Erased: A Memoir'', recounting his childhood as part of a

fundamentalist Fundamentalism is a tendency among certain groups and individuals that is characterized by the application of a strict literal interpretation to scriptures, dogmas, or ideologies, along with a strong belief in the importance of distinguishing ...

family in

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

that enrolled him in

conversion therapy Conversion therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of attempting to change an individual's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to align with heterosexual and cisgender norms. In contrast to evidence-based medicine and cli ...

. The book was adapted for the 2018 film, ''

Boy Erased ''Boy Erased'' is a 2018 American biographical drama film based on Garrard Conley's 2016 memoir of the same name. It is written and directed by Joel Edgerton, who also produced with Kerry Kohansky Roberts and Steve Golin. The film stars Lucas ...

''.

Early life and education

Conley was raised first in Cherokee Village and then later in

Mountain Home, Arkansas Mountain Home is a city in, and the county seat of, Baxter County, Arkansas, United States, in the southern Ozark Mountains near the northern state border with Missouri. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 12,448. A total of 41, ...

. His father is a

Southern Baptist The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination, and the largest Protestant and second-largest Christian denomination in the United States. The word ...

preacher and former car salesman. Garrard "spent years struggling to reconcile his

sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...

with his faith". His family had a house on

Lake Thunderbird Lake Thunderbird is a reservoir located in Norman, Oklahoma. The lake was constructed between 1962 and 1965 for the purpose of providing municipal water to the nearby communities of Del City, Midwest City and Norman. It is formed by an earthfill em ...

where Conley would spend time on their pontoon boat. He attended

Lyon College , mottoeng = Perseverance Conquers All, God Willing. , established = , type = Private college , president = Melissa Taverner , city = Batesville , state = Arkansas , country = United States , students = 665 , faculty = 61 , campus = Rural town ...

for a semester before returning home after being

outed Outing is the act of disclosing an LGBT person's sexual orientation or gender identity without that person's consent. It is often done for political reasons, either to instrumentalize homophobia in order to discredit political opponents or to com ...

to his parents by a student who had

raped Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or agai ...

Conley. Conley was sent to

Love in Action Restoration Path, known as Love in Action (LIA) until March 2012, was an ex-gay Christian ministry founded in 1973. History It was founded in 1973 by Frank Worthen, John Evans, and Kent Philpott. The program was founded in Marin County, Californi ...

to undergo

—the controversial

pseudoscientific Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable claim ...

practice of trying to change someone's

sexual orientation Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of romantic or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. These attractions are generall ...

from

homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...

heterosexual Heterosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction or sexual behavior between people of the opposite sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, heterosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to ...

using psychological or spiritual interventions—in 2004. At Love in Action, he underwent treatments by

John Smid John J. Smid is the former director of the Memphis, Tennessee ex-gay ministry Love In Action, a group that claims to convert lesbians and gay men to heterosexuality. Career During his time directing Love In Action, Smid faced controversy ov ...

, who later left the organization, disavowed conversion therapy, announced he was still gay and stated he had "never met a man who experienced a change from homosexual to heterosexual."

Career

In 2016, Conley taught English literature at the

American College of Sofia The American College of Sofia (ACS) (Bulgarian: ) is a school in Bulgaria, located in the capital city of Sofia. The college was founded in 1860 and is regarded as the oldest American educational institution outside the United States.This title i ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

. He is the author of '' Boy Erased: A Memoir'', which was based on his experiences at Love in Action. The book was later adapted into the 2018 film ''

'' by

Joel Edgerton Joel Edgerton (born 23 June 1974) is an Australian actor and filmmaker. He is best known for his appearance in the ''Star Wars'' films ''Attack of the Clones'' (2002) and ''Revenge of the Sith'' (2005) as a young Owen Lars, a role he reprised i ...

, with

Lucas Hedges Lucas Hedges (born December 12, 1996) is an American actor. A son of filmmaker Peter Hedges, he studied theater at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Hedges began his acting career with a supporting role in Wes Anderson's comed ...

playing Conley. He leveraged his newfound fame to "educate the public about the abusive practice of conversion therapy". Conley released a four-episode podcast titled ''UnErased: The History of Conversion Therapy in America'' shortly before the release of the film. In 2018, Conley led GrubStreet's Memoir Incubator program. He has continued to travel worldwide telling his story: in 2019, he presented to

Southern Utah University Southern Utah University (SUU) is a public university in Cedar City, Utah. Founded in 1897 as a normal school, Southern Utah University now graduates over 1,800 students each year with baccalaureate and graduate degrees from its six colleges. ...

Equality Utah Equality Utah is an American non-profit 501(c)(3) organization which is Utah's largest LGBT rights group based in Salt Lake City, Utah. The organization is a member of the Equality Federation. History Equality Utah was founded in 2001 as Unity U ...

, venues in Germany and Switzerland, and gave a keynote speech for Iowa Safe Schools. In June 2019, to mark the 50th anniversary of the

Stonewall riots The Stonewall riots (also known as the Stonewall uprising, Stonewall rebellion, or simply Stonewall) were a series of spontaneous protests by members of the gay community in response to a police raid that began in the early morning hours of Ju ...

, an event widely considered a watershed moment in the modern

LGBTQ rights movement Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) movements are social movements that advocate for LGBT people in society. Some focus on equal rights, such as the ongoing movement for same-sex marriage, while others focus on liberation, as in the ...

, ''

Queerty ''Queerty'' is an online magazine and newspaper covering gay-oriented lifestyle and news, founded in 2005 by David Hauslaib. As of June 2015, the site had more than five million monthly unique visitors. History ''Queerty'' was founded by David ...

'' named him one of the Pride50 "trailblazing individuals who actively ensure society remains moving towards

equality Equality may refer to: Society * Political equality, in which all members of a society are of equal standing ** Consociationalism, in which an ethnically, religiously, or linguistically divided state functions by cooperation of each group's elite ...

, acceptance and dignity for all

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual or cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against those with same-sex desires or relationships in the late 19th century. Beginning in the lat ...

people". Conley currently holds an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing position at

Kennesaw State University Kennesaw State University (KSU) is a public research university located in the state of Georgia with two different campuses in the Atlanta metropolitan area, one in Kennesaw and the other in Marietta on a combined of land. The school was fou ...

Personal life

Conley resides in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

with his husband.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Conley, Garrard 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American memoirists American gay writers Gay memoirists Writers from Arkansas LGBT people from Arkansas People self-identified as ex-ex-gay People from Mountain Home, Arkansas