Accepting one’s homosexuality for an American today ought to be simple? And yet, it is not so straightforward!
700,000 young people in the United States have already undergone so-called conversion therapies, intended to "cure" their homosexuality. Run by religious or pseudo-scientific communities, these therapies promise to fix a supposedly "deviant sexual orientation" and to change a person’s inner identity.
Through social, familial and religious pressure, Mathew, Jordan and Lucas all signed up for these therapies and went through hell: Isolation, sequestration, humiliation, food deprivation, physical and psychological violence.
Today, a political combat is underway to halt these therapies and to acknowledge the victims. This is likely to be a long process, given that such practices are still allowed in 41 states and have the backing of the Trump administration.
Conceived like a road movie, taking us from California to Alabama, this documentary offers a gripping immersion into the world of conversion therapies, through the powerful testimony of victims and the voice of activists.
Direction: Caroline Benarrosh
Production: Tohubohu for France Télévisions