In March, the Supreme Court ruled that Colorado’s ban on conversion therapy discriminated against therapist Kaley Chiles based on first amendment rights. The case reminded us that such disproven practices are still prevalent throughout the country. Despite bans meant to protect minors, conversion therapy has flourished, particularly in religious settings, remaining accessible to anyone seeking to or being forced to try to change their sexuality. According to a 2026 report by The Trevor Project, one in twenty LGBTQIA+ young people reported having been subjected to conversion therapy. The ruling also points to the wide range of conversion therapy practices that exist and the belief that some approaches might be more acceptable–or less harmful–than others.
As the news came out, I was fortunate that a mutual friend connected me with Timothy Schraeder Rodriguez, whose book Conversion Therapy Dropout (Broadleaf Books) is coming out on the same day as my novel, The Outer Country (One World). Both works explore the intersection of religion, culture, family, and queer identity, Tim’s in the form of memoir, and mine in the form of a novel inspired by true events. Both also deal with conversion therapy. In Tim’s case, he spent eight years trying to “pray the gay away.” In my case, a boy named Ben is forced to participate in a Buddhist exorcism to remove the feminine spirit from his body.
