Trevor Project Docushort on Conversion Therapy – Trevor Project Screenshot
The Trevor Project has released a new episode of Sharing Space, its documentary-style roundtable series spotlighting the lived experiences of LGBTQ young people through conversations moderated by supportive adults and allies.
Titled “Conversion Therapy,” the episode features a roundtable discussion moderated by a licensed clinical marriage and family therapist and includes six LGBTQ individuals who have been subjected to various forms of the practice. The 38-minute video is available on the organization’s YouTube channel.
“Our goal with this episode is to show the real people, and share the real stories, behind the headlines and government actions — and illustrate the devastating toll that conversion therapy takes on young people and their families,” said Nolan Scott, senior director of marketing and content at The Trevor Project, in a statement.
Conversion therapy is a discredited practice in which practitioners — including licensed clinicians and religious leaders — claim to be able to “change” a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. The practice can range from so-called “talk” therapy and religious rituals to aversion-based methods that may involve physical pain, induced nausea, or even electroshock therapy. It is rooted in the belief that homosexuality or gender dysphoria is immoral, unnatural, or trauma-based.
Most major medical and mental health organizations oppose conversion therapy, citing its ineffectiveness at altering a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity and warning that the practice can harm an individual’s self-esteem and mental health.
Currently, 23 states and the District of Columbia prohibit licensed therapists from subjecting minors to conversion therapy, but the U.S. Supreme Court has taken up a challenge to Colorado’s ban, with opponents arguing that such prohibitions infringe on therapists’ religious beliefs and freedom of speech. Based on oral arguments, the Court appears poised to strike down state-level bans on the practice.
In the episode, the six participants discuss how conversion therapy has been rebranded by anti-LGBTQ advocates, promoted on social media by certain influencers, and framed as comparable to other forms of therapy.
The participants also recount their personal experiences with conversion therapy. One participant, Andrew, recalls attempting suicide after experiencing parental rejection and undergoing the practice under duress, following threats that he could be expelled from a conservative religious university.
Another participant, Junior, says he intentionally enrolled himself in a conversion therapy camp run by two self-described “ex-gays” who were not licensed therapists — unbeknownst to his parents, who believed it was a regular summer camp — and was subjected to mental exhaustion, physical assault, and group shaming tied to his feelings of homosexuality.
Watch the Trevor Project’s Sharing Space episode on conversion therapy below:
GLAAD has released new data showing that 1,042 anti-LGBTQ incidents were reported across 47 states and the District of Columbia in 2025 -- a 5% increase over the previous year, according to the organization’s ALERT Desk Anti-LGBTQ Extremism Reporting Tracker.
Anti-LGBTQ incidents were defined as "an act of harassment, threat(s), vandalism, and/or assault against an individual, group, and/or organization," with explicit evidence of anti-LGBTQ bias as a motivating factor.
The incidents included 128 acts of hateful vandalism, 76 violent assaults, 22 threats of mass violence, and 15 arson attempts.
Documentaries generally don't need an onscreen host. The camera can play host, and real-life stories can tell themselves, with offscreen prompting from research and production, and shrewd direction and editing providing context.
If a filmmaker wants to put the prompting onscreen, there's a delicate art to inserting themselves or an on-camera host into the story without stealing the spotlight from their subject.
Ryan Ashley Lowery, director and creator of the LGBTQ doc Light Up, is anything but delicate in inserting himself and two on-camera host-interviewers -- Michael Mixx and Maurice Eckstein -- into the film's still-compelling portrait of Atlanta's "community of Black same gender loving men and trans women."
Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott has donated $45 million to The Trevor Project, marking the largest gift in the LGBTQ youth crisis organization’s history.
Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, gives away millions of dollars each year to nonprofit organizations focused on education, climate change, environmental protection, racial and social justice, and LGBTQ rights.
According to Forbes, Scott’s 2025 philanthropy brought her total lifetime giving to $26 billion, placing her among the three most generous donors in the United States, behind only Warren Buffett and Bill Gates. She has also donated more than five times the amount given by her ex-husband, despite his status as the world’s third-richest man.
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!
You must be logged in to post a comment.