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Airdate: Gay Conversion Therapy

I haven't watched this one and I don't particularly plan to.

I haven’t watched Gay Conversion Therapy and I don’t particularly plan to.

I presume it will throw a bucket of cold water on these kinds of programs, but if you care to check it out it’s screening on SBS VICELAND on Monday. The publicity shot can’t even bring itself to identify its participants (oh the shame!), so I’d be prepared for a whole lotta pixellation.

Knock yourself out…

In this special documentary, VICE gets exclusive access to one of the hundreds of gay conversion therapy organisations, groups, and sessions in the United States.

At the Journey into Manhood Program, men pay more than $600 to attend a weekend retreat where they participate in exercises and activities the staff members claim will help them battle their sexual orientation.

9.25pm Monday, 9 January on SBS VICELAND.

14 Responses

  1. If people feel the need to go to these places then good luck to them, I hope it makes their lives better as obviously they aren’t very good now if you feel the need to go through with it. If things like this weren’t publicised then maybe it’d help people accept that your sexuality is a natural part of who you are & not something to be ashamed of or try to change. But unfortunately that’s not the case & there is an interest in programs like this. A part of me is a little curious by it just to see why these people want to do it, not because I agree with it or think it works. I also am glad that its on SBS as it may get less viewers there than on 7, 9, or 10 but I could be wrong. I feel those three channels would make more of a fuss over it, trying to get viewers

  2. Disgusting. And this from a network which shows Mardi Gras and has a Facebook site called SBS Diversity. They shouldn’t be giving these idiots any oxygen at all. I daresay that this program would never have been shown if SBS 2 was still going and they hadn’t linked up with Viceland.

    1. Well a couple of points….its kind of opposite to Mardi Gras, so no problem with that….but more importantly it may only get about 3 or 4 viewers, so if you don’t like, best to let it just disappear without a trace. Its american culture, and not australian

    2. Education and information are the best weapons in the fight against ignorance. Here in WA, Margaret Court advocates this awful practise so it’s horribly relevant. It should be known about so people know the dangers and consequences.

  3. I used to love SBS2, now its just shows on marijuana or homosexuality, both can be a lot of fun, but surely there are more interesting things to broadcast?? I don’t think I’ve watched a single show yet, thank goodness Vikings is back this week

  4. I’ve seen a show like this before. Pretty interesting stuff and it was done voluntarily so I don’t get the hate some people have with people not wanting to be gay.

    1. I guess it depends if the show followed up on those who later said the program had not worked and they ultimately resumed their lifestyle. Or if it detailed the mental and physical harm that people had endured. Or it reported on the gay youth who commit suicide because programs like these are surrounded in guilt, shame and the notion that sexuality is a choice and can be “corrected.” Even the photo implies this. This suggests that it even needs to be. These programs are usually driven by religion but I presume SBS is comfy with its overall content.

      1. For those that didn’t watch the show it was definitely not an advertorial for conversion therapy, quite the opposite. Both sides of the story were told well and there were plenty of interviews with opposing views, it certainly didn’t make the therapy look like a good option. One of the main sub-stories was the outlawing in some states of allowing parents to send minors to conversion therapy and attempts to get this legislated country and worldwide via the UN.

        The only strange thing was how it finished, no wrap up, no credits, just a commercial break, and when it came back from the break it was a completely different story. Apparently it was just one part of a three story ‘Vice Essentials’ program, not a program in it’s own right.

    2. Imagine if it was about a program where people were helped to convert from being straight to gay or black to white? Then realise that there are hundreds of these places in the US??? What does that say to a 12-year-old gay kid coming to terms with their sexuality? It says your feelings are wrong. Then look at the suicide rates for gay teenagers…

  5. I’m sure this program will come to the inevitable conclusion about the damage these programs do, and I have enjoyed some of the edgier topics on Viceland but I’m with you, David. I think it’s more likely to illicit nothing more than despair and disbelief that this is still a ‘thing’ if I watched it.

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