Queer History 136: Pray the Gay Away - The Reality of Self-Loathing Christians Who Refused To Accept Themselves

Sweet Baby Jesus, I Swear these are the last 17 dicks I'm gonna suck!

In the shadowy corners of American Christianity, where shame masquerades as salvation and torture disguises itself as therapy, the "ex-gay" movement emerged in the 1970s as one of the most psychologically devastating campaigns ever waged against LGBTQIA+ people. This wasn't just religious counseling or spiritual guidance—it was systematic psychological warfare designed to convince gay, lesbian, and bisexual people that their very existence was an abomination that could be "cured" through enough prayer, self-hatred, and religious programming.

The ex-gay movement represents Christianity's most sophisticated attempt at spiritual genocide, using the language of love and redemption to justify psychological torture that destroyed countless lives. These weren't isolated religious nuts working alone in basement churches—they were organized, well-funded, politically connected networks of religious extremists who built an entire industry around convincing LGBTQIA+ people to hate themselves to de…