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View Full Version : Stacey Dooley BBC Documentary - Gay To Straight Conversion


teenmanchester
October 29th, 2012, 09:08 PM
Hey guys, not sure whether to put this here but think it's the most appropriate due to the subject matter. Well this is more aimed at people who live in the UK who have more chance of seeing this programme which revolves around Stacey Dooley meeting different men in the USA and their attitudes towards gay conversion therapy.

Personally i think that the only good thing that any therapy does is bring out feelings and allows yourself to be open with close friends and family. Apart from that i don't really think that it would help 'make you straight' as i don't think that anything can make that happen and that all this sort of therapy does is solidify in people's heads that heterosexuality is good and that you have to be masculine to be straight. I think like many of us who are on here, we already have heard, read and seen information about gay conversion and the effect it has on people's lives. Lots of these stories are horrible to find and at least for me make me feel very angry at the thought that people old and especially young are being put through something like this. The fact that the documentary was shown on a pretty well received channel like BBC 3 made it more eye opening and made me look at the issue more deeply.

Skylar one of the focus characters is probably the main character that i felt the most for. A seemingly shy 17 yr old (like me), his story is that he feels attraction to men and that he doesn't want to be that way. For most of the programme i felt a bit off by his story but he seemed like he was strong enough to handle it. During the time that Stacey was at his home, i felt so much sympathy as his parents basically say that they wouldn't be happy with his dad calling homosexuals perverted and obviously saying the cliched 'adam and eve not adam and steve' phrase (rolls eyes). Whats worse is that he had previously cut himself and tried to commit suicide, had to hide his thoughts to everyone but a close few people and that he even had a girlfriend who also didn't know! By the end of his segment Stacey seemed generally sorry that this young man who has so much pressure on his shoulder has to deal with this without really seeming that he is 100% wanting it. I myself wanted to just hug him and tell him its ok, so that was probably the thing that really did it for me during the documentary.

The reason i am writing about this is because it's a very contemporary issue (although i think that it really shouldn't be!) and that i want to know whether some people saw it, what there views and opinions are on the different people and their thoughts and if anybody has been put through this situation, voluntarily or forced? Thanks for reading and i advise anyone who can access this documentary who doesn't know much about this issue to watch it as it is definitely something that needs to be dealt with.

nice
October 30th, 2012, 03:22 AM
I haven't seen it but ill probably look it up when I get home.

But yea it is some sad stuff I've thought about going through with it and I'm pretty sure thousands of other people have. Not being able to be themselves around people they know can cause anyone to have thoughts about it imho.

It's one of those things that need to be taken away its really fucked up older people who can handle a lot of stuff imagine what that could do to someone my age or younger they'd probably never recover from that stuff.

teenmanchester
October 30th, 2012, 06:50 AM
I haven't seen it but ill probably look it up when I get home.

But yea it is some sad stuff I've thought about going through with it and I'm pretty sure thousands of other people have. Not being able to be themselves around people they know can cause anyone to have thoughts about it imho.

It's one of those things that need to be taken away its really fucked up older people who can handle a lot of stuff imagine what that could do to someone my age or younger they'd probably never recover from that stuff.

Yh i think whats worse is that in the documentary they said that people all over the world want that and have contacted people in the USA to have it done either there or in their country with the UK being one of them. That shocked me to be honest, i wouldn't expect that there would be many people wanting or being forced into that but of course the whole worlds got a long way to go until this conversion therapy will be seen as a joke which doesn't help people with their struggles and just represses those feelings instead :/

Mortal Coil
October 30th, 2012, 08:37 AM
I'm in too much shock to write out a proper answer, short of my opinion that this is a) horrible and b) bollocks. It's treating homosexuality as a disease. It's reinforcing the idea that your sexuality is a choice. It's... I can't even.

teenmanchester
October 30th, 2012, 10:08 AM
I'm in too much shock to write out a proper answer, short of my opinion that this is a) horrible and b) bollocks. It's treating homosexuality as a disease. It's reinforcing the idea that your sexuality is a choice. It's... I can't even.

It really is horrific, for a parent to put their beliefs in front of their child's love and well being and trying to change them when they're already so confused, puts a lot of people's lives including mine into perspective.

Apollo.
October 30th, 2012, 12:35 PM
I haven't seen it yet but I imagine I can get it on iPlayer or catch up on my tv. It's a horrible thought though in my opinion. Also it's never going to work it's going to suppress your feelings rather than stop them(if it does anything at all). Personally if someone told me I should be 'converted' they would find themselves on the ground in a considerable amount of pain rather quickly. It's just sick in my mind!

Halcyon
October 30th, 2012, 01:11 PM
Yeah, it really shocked me too. Not that there is therapy, or that American people believe it, but because of how obviously it wasn't working. The "converted" men were gayer than Gok Wan and that is an achievement. I mean, they were playing half naked sports, having massive group hugs, emotional, girly chats and one of them was an interior design expert! I feel sorry for the younger ones the most, being given that hope that they might be able to become straight and then they're obviously going to be let down :( They're hoping to expand over here, but good ol' Borris wouldn't stand for it, especially not in London. Whichever way they put it, what they are doing is homophobia and luckily the Tories don't tolerate that sort of bullshit.

nice
October 30th, 2012, 02:38 PM
I think though if you were like I was when i first found out I was bi you guys wouldn't wonder why people think about getting it done or even go through with it.

teenmanchester
October 30th, 2012, 06:15 PM
I think though if you were like I was when i first found out I was bi you guys wouldn't wonder why people think about getting it done or even go through with it.

True but thoughts like that should be yours alone unless you think it will work and you can't accept who you are i mean i thought that aswell but i realised quite quickly after looking at all the options why i could be gay that nothing could change me and although i may not like it i'm going to have to deal with it, and i did, still not out but i'm gay and it's my decision on what i do. I think that was the worst thing, that the younger guys didn't have much control over their situation, its something that really would do some damage more than good if i was in that position.

nice
October 30th, 2012, 06:19 PM
True but thoughts like that should be yours alone unless you think it will work and you can't accept who you are i mean i thought that aswell but i realised quite quickly after looking at all the options why i could be gay that nothing could change me and although i may not like it i'm going to have to deal with it, and i did, still not out but i'm gay and it's my decision on what i do. I think that was the worst thing, that the younger guys didn't have much control over their situation, its something that really would do some damage more than good if i was in that position.

Yeah that is horrible don't they do it to people who are around the age of 10 as well?

Mirage
October 30th, 2012, 07:38 PM
Conversion therapy is bullshit. I'm sorry, but that's what it is. If people choose to be gay, how can they just go against themselves like this? And also, what exactly do they do to convert them? The whole thing seems kinda sketchy.

nice
October 30th, 2012, 07:40 PM
Conversion therapy is bullshit. I'm sorry, but that's what it is. If people choose to be gay, how can they just go against themselves like this? And also, what exactly do they do to convert them? The whole thing seems kinda sketchy.

They teach them things "straight guys do" and I've read that sometimes the send shocks into the testicals if they have a homosexual thought.

JustAnotherGay
October 31st, 2012, 03:49 PM
I watched this programme as well and was genuinely shocked at the lengths some people go (and their parents) to "become" straight. I think the majority of homosexuals would agree that you don't choose your sexuality, and why would you, to suffer the homophobia, bulling and general ridicule of others that unfortunately plagues our society. Its disgusting that so called "professionals" can turn a natural way of life into a mental disorder by calling it a Same Sex Attraction, and then making money by convincing someone that they are not Gay. if anybody didn't see the Doc, this is the link; http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p00zhq9f/Stacey_Dooley_in_the_USA_Gay_to_Straight/
(Sorry to the overseas VT'ers, I don't think you will be able to access this if you are outside the UK).

TigerBoy
October 31st, 2012, 06:28 PM
As said above, it is utter bollocks and is driven by right wing christian bigots.

I made a post earlier (http://www.virtualteen.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1999381&postcount=15)about this which contains a details about the background to 'conversion therapy' , and the growing list of people who were once heavily involved with it and have now done complete U-turns and say it is crap too.