The True Story Behind Boy Erased, 1 of the Year's Most Heartbreaking Films

Updated on 10/16/2018 at 1:30 PM

Australian actor Joel Edgerton's second big-screen directorial effort is one that seems destined to pack an emotional punch. Edgerton has enlisted Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe, and Lucas Hedges for Boy Erased, based on the memoir of the same name by author Garrard Conley. Like the book, the film tells the story of Jared, a teen boy whose Christian parents send him to a gay conversion camp. The treatment that he underwent there almost drove Conley to suicide. His story is a heartbreaking one, but it's also all too real for some members of the LGBTQ+ community around the world.

In a recent interview with Mic, Conley explained why he feels the film's message is so important.

"I won't get into any details, but just two days ago, and then yesterday again, I started receiving emails from people who were in other countries who'd seen the trailer," the author revealed. "They were like, 'I've been through conversion therapy, I feel like killing myself right now. I'm ready to do it.' It was so overwhelming, I actually spoke with the Trevor Project and a few other places to get advice. But what I walked away from that thinking was that, this one person emailed me that he was about to commit suicide before he saw the trailer — and he stopped. The need for these types of stories feels clear to me."

Boy Erased is set to hit theaters on Nov. 2, but before you see the film, here's everything you need to know about the true story behind its powerful message.

Conley's Outing and His Parents' Ultimatum

Raised by Christian parents in a small, conservative community in Arkansas, Conley felt torn between his family and the knowledge that he was gay. Throughout high school, he kept his sexuality a secret, and according to his June interview with the BBC, he had a girlfriend for two years. Then, in 2004, Conley began attending a small liberal-arts school where he was raped and then outed to his parents by his rapist. This, in and of itself, is utterly heartbreaking, but for the author, things only got worse from there.

Conley's father was in the process of becoming an ordained Baptist minister. He saw his son's sexuality as a choice, and he, along with his wife, gave Conley an ultimatum: either go to gay conversion therapy or be cut off from his family. Conley chose conversion therapy. He explained to the BBC, "My parents had some hope I could have a 'normal' life — I'd dated a girl for two years. I did love her in many ways, and she'd protected me. So, I thought, 'Well, there's just this sex thing — what does that matter?'"

The Love in Action Program

After agreeing to conversion therapy, Conley entered the Love in Action program. The gay conversion camp uses a twisted version of the 12-step program to "cure" homosexuality. In his memoir, Conley details Love in Action's brutal tactics. During the two-week therapy, he had his phone taken away, and he was instructed on how to dress and behave. After the two weeks, six months of one-on-one therapy followed. He revealed to the BBC that during this period he considered suicide.

However, Conley maintains that his parents were unaware of exactly what the people of Love in Action were doing to him. "They had no idea what was going on," he said in his BBC interview. "My mom had started asking questions at the end, and that's when they'd taken me out of the program. We weren't meant to talk about what happened in there. Yes, my parents made a terrible mistake, which could have cost me my life. But they didn't know what they were doing to me."

In his interview with Mic, Conley explained that many people who have read his story don't understand why he doesn't blame his parents, or why he became angry when the conversion therapists tried to make him say he hated his father. He explained to them that he felt it was important to portray his parents and their journey, as well as his. Ultimately, his mother has become more accepting, while his father "hasn't budged much." Conley told BBC that Crowe showed up to his father's church while he was researching the film, and the actor and his dad ended up texting for a few weeks.

Conley Now

Conley's life is vastly different now. He lives in New York City with his husband and works with advocacy programs to help LGBTQ+ youths who are dealing with situations like the one he went through. He's also a successful writer, who's following up his memoir with a novel set during the Great Awakening. He's currently anticipating the release of Boy Erased, which he and his parents had input on in order to help Edgerton tell the most truthful version of his painful story as possible.