His Story - 2. Park Life.

1 hour ago, Parker Owens said:

I wanted to “love” and “anger” in reaction here. I settled on “sad.”  It makes me incredibly sad that some feel how love may be expressed means god cannot love them. That’s horrible. So much damage has been done with this thinking. 

Thanks for your feedback, this was what I was aiming for with this story.

It is all about the damage these beliefs do, and how the organisations that peddle them really do screw-up people's lives. Chris is a victim of that abuse and this is his story. In the following parts, I try to explore how screwed-up Chris is.

I really like that you were angry over this part of the story, it gives me such hope that people are still angry about how the ex-gay movement operates.

2 hours ago, Parker Owens said:

I wanted to “love” and “anger” in reaction here. I settled on “sad.”  It makes me incredibly sad that some feel how love may be expressed means god cannot love them. That’s horrible. So much damage has been done with this thinking. 

I wholeheartedly agree with this. 

The quackery of gay conversion and similar evils should be just as illegal as selling fake medicine or pretending to be a doctor. Only through shaming, shunning, and prosecuting these people can we rid ourselves of these perverted minds who poison and kill young LGBTQ people.

Just now, Timothy M. said:

The quackery of gay conversion and similar evils should be just as illegal as selling fake medicine or pretending to be a doctor. Only through shaming, shunning, and prosecuting these people can we rid ourselves of these perverted minds who poison and kill young LGBTQ people.

Thank you so much for saying this, I completely agree.

I'm a healthcare professional and I could write thousands-upon-thousands of words about how dangerous and damaging these ex-gay cults are.

That is why I wrote this story, I wanted to write about how difficult it is to live with the aftermath of this type of abuse.

I am also a survivor of an ex-gay cult, and I feel I need to expose the damage they do.

If there is one thing social media is good for, it's whipping up shit storms against these people. I wish there was more of it.

Nice continuation of the story. I agree with the previous comments especially that ridiculing these conversion cults needs to be done as often as possible. I also hope that eventually they’ll be outlawed. We live in hope. 

I also like how you are developing the character of Chris, his optimism at finding a ‘him’, the small hints at a previous and painful existence, one he’s managed to escape from, but not without scars. Good that he has Kay and Nina looking out for him. Looking forward to reading more.

13 hours ago, lomax61 said:

Nice continuation of the story. I agree with the previous comments especially that ridiculing these conversion cults needs to be done as often as possible. I also hope that eventually they’ll be outlawed. We live in hope. 

I also like how you are developing the character of Chris, his optimism at finding a ‘him’, the small hints at a previous and painful existence, one he’s managed to escape from, but not without scars. Good that he has Kay and Nina looking out for him. Looking forward to reading more.

I'm so glad that you're getting the themes I wanted to write about here.

I like the way you describe people and small moments like this ...wanted to hold his hand that fraction of a second too long, that gesture that implied attraction and much more, ...

5 minutes ago, aditus said:

I like the way you describe people and small moments like this ...wanted to hold his hand that fraction of a second too long, that gesture that implied attraction and much more, ...

 

Thank you.

I wanted to get over Chris, the narrator's expectation and his attempt at subtle seduction, which he isn't very good at.

Well, that wasn't just a waste of time on Chris' part, but it seems as though the experience may actually have negative effects on him in the future.

Another well-written chapter. I could certainly sense Chris' feeling of disappointment when he found out that Lenny was a member of The Release Trust (a Google search leaves me suspecting that's a made up name). And his "Why won't it all just go away?" question right at the end of the chapter makes me wonder about what actually did happen to him all those years ago. Hopefully he will eventually find a way to consign the past firmly into the past; but I suppose I shall just have to keep on reading to find out (no spoilers, please! ).

I also get the impression that Kay might well turn out to be the sort of good friend that will help Chris move forward...

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Interestingly, here in Ireland there is a bill that earlier this month passed through its second reading in the Seanad (the upper House of the Irish Government) that proposes to ban Gay Conversion Therapy. It's early days yet, and even if it does get passed by the Seanad, it will still have to be passed by the Dáil (the lower House). I reckon, particularly considering that we have an openly gay Taoiseach (Prime Minister), it stands a good chance of becoming law, although the minority Government may fall before it passes all final stages (it's only really the worry about the possible fall-out from a Hard Brexit that is preventing the opposition parties from collapsing the Government at the moment).

https://www.thejournal.ie/seanad-conversion-therapy-bill-3991347-May2018/

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While I have not actually come across examples of individuals giving out "anti-gay" literature at pride parades here in Ireland (although I suspect that may happen in Northern Ireland), I have seen individuals holding up large signs with religious quotes on them. The participants in the parades generally just ignore them.

Here's a photo of some of some of the demonstrators and their placards that I took at a pride parade in County Mayo two years ago:-

This was the first part of the story I actually wrote (With some of the text in it from the next part), as a single short story, until someone else read it and suggested I expand it into a longer story.

I have re-written it so much since then, but it was based on an original encounter.  Many years ago (decades actually), at London Pride, I saw a group of men handing out ex-gay leaflets. Some people were laughing at them, others getting angry at them. I didn't approach them but I felt really uncomfortable that they were there, they'd invaded my enjoyment of Pride.

The Release Trust is a made-up name, to stop me from getting sued, but it is very much based on a real organisation, and I've used it in several pieces of fiction.

In 2014 I got involved in a Private Members Bill in the British Parliament to make Gay Conversion Therapy illegal here too. It was sponsored by a straight MP, but he had a gay assistant. Unfortunately, it didn't get anywhere because of the 2015 election and because neither of our two main parties supported. We now have a government throwing our country away on Brexit, and only being able to focus on that, and a Prime Minister, who is also a Christian, wants Christian Values protected and wants to scrap our Human Rights Act. So I don't see  Gay Conversion Therapy being banned here any time soon, and as a Healthcare Professional I am disgusted.

P.S. I love the picture.

Fair play to you for getting involved, and trying to affect change, anyway.

Sometimes change can be extremely slow, just one small step at a time; and it all too often seems to be a case of one step forward and two steps backwards at times. But if no-one is prepared to at least look for change, then the likelihood is that nothing ever will change. But often, as in the case with the Private Member's Bill you mention, allies can sometimes be found in the most unlikely of places.

Keep up the good fight, my friend. In whatever way you can. Whether it is by being involved in seeking change (as in the case of the Private Member's Bill), or by highlighting what needs changing by writing about it, as in this story.

I really wanted to give both a Like and a Sad response to your last comment. As only one was allowed, I chose the Sad one, because of the fact that the Private Member's Bill not getting through.

Back in 2015, there was a big ex-gay conference in London and they were trying to paint themselves as a caring-and-sharing organisation. I wrote an opinion piece for a British nursing magazine about my experiences in an ex-group group. I was so surprised at all the support I received from that piece, all those straight women and men denouncing the ex-gays.

I have learnt the power of words and stories, and it's wonderful.