Pray Away

In the 1970s, five men who were grappling with being gay within their Evangelical church began a Bible study aimed at helping each other abandon the "homosexual lifestyle." The group soon received more than 25,000 letters from people seeking assistance and eventually became Exodus International, the largest and most controversial conversion therapy organization in the world. However, the leaders wrestled with a hidden reality: their same-sex attractions never disappeared. After years of prominence as Christian figures within the religious right, many of these men and women later came out as LGBTQ and renounced the movement they had helped create. Centering on the experiences of former conversion therapy leaders, current participants, and a survivor, *Pray Away* documents the rise and enduring impact of the "ex-gay" movement and the significant harm it has caused.