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God vs. gay: Queer counter-storytelling and Christianity in films about conversion therapy
- Source: Queer Studies in Media & Popular Culture, Volume 7, Issue 3, Sep 2022, p. 177 - 192
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- 31 Jan 2022
- 19 May 2022
- 01 Sep 2022
Abstract
This article compares dramatizations of ex-gay conversion therapy in the films But I’m a Cheerleader (1999), Save Me (2007), The Miseducation of Cameron Post (2018) and Boy Erased (2018) to demonstrate how the films refute the harmful myths circulated by ex-gay ministries and thereby combat the anti-gay agendas that such ministries support. The films all emphasize the liberation of their queer protagonists, but they differ in their treatment of Christian antagonists, with depictions ranging from mocking to hostile to sympathetic. I argue that while all four films offer empowering representations of lesbians and gay men surviving conversion therapy, only Save Me employs a rhetorical strategy that seeks to reconcile the perceived conflict between queerness and Christianity.