Review: Netflix Documentary PRAY AWAY Dives Deep Into the Lives of the Former Heads of the Christian "Ex-Gay" Movement

I was able to screen the documentary Pray Away for Netflix ahead of its release next week, and it was a sobering look at the lives of the former heads of the Christian “ex-gay” movement. The film’s title refers to the phrase “pray away the gay” that was popularized by religious extremists before it was proven that a person’s sexual orientation could not be changed by conversion therapy or any other means. I assumed going into the doc that we would see more of the “camps” or institutional programs that many teens were sent to over the last 50 years in effort to change them, but this was instead a look at the support group Exodus International, the largest and most controversial conversion therapy organization in the world, and those who were used as figureheads for the program.

The overall theme of the documentary was that several people were propped up to “prove” to followers that not only could your sexuality be changed, but you could get married to someone of the opposite sex (often someone also recovering “ex-gay”), live a happy life, and completely overcome all your feelings of same sex attraction.

But sadly, these people can now admit that, of course, their sexual orientations never changed, and they spent many years lying to others, and themselves. While Exodus has since shut down, new programs have popped up trying to accomplish the same goals, despite the American Psychological Association confirming there is no basis to their claims.

It’s heartening to see many people now able to accept who they are, and love themselves after what they went through. The documentary was thorough and good, and heartbreaking at times, but also felt slightly singularly focused. I wish we could have heard more stories, maybe in a series. It was a huge topic to tackle, and so many people have been hurt by these programs. This doc felt like a great start.

Pray Away hits Netflix on Tuesday, August 3rd.