Apparently, you CAN teach an old dog new tricks. I probably would not have known about “The Savvy Ally” by Jeannie Gainsburg, had it not been for a quote of mine in the book. The publisher contacted me for permission to use the quote.……..which I gave. I requested a copy which arrived once the [...]
Free online viewing Thursday, 25 August, 8pm (AEST) REGISTER HERE Review Most people know there was a time when gay and lesbian people were considered mentally ill and mental health professionals used bizarre and cruel methods in their attempts to cure them. Probably fewer people could name the year that was reversed and fewer could detail [...]
Occasionally a seminal work appears that becomes a defining piece, a turning point, or breakthrough in a particular area. Considering the religious LGBTQ conversion movement, the documentary Pray Away, released on Netflix August 3rd, could very well be that work. After mental health professional organisations realised that gay and lesbian people were not sick and [...]
Director/producer Daniel Karslake has done it again. Since 2007, Karslake’s award winning documentary, “For the Bible Tells Me So”, has remained one of the top films in the faith/sexuality genre. It’s been a powerful tool to help Christians questioning conservative beliefs and others who need education. It would be impossible to count the lives that [...]
How much trauma can one person endure? This is a question I kept asking myself as I read Kenneth Pakenham’s “The Trauma Banquet – eating pain, feasting on life”. For some of us, the miracle is that we are still alive to tell the story: and the author tells the story well. Having a desire [...]
I’ve seen Boy Erased three times now. Actually, once is enough. It is not the kind of movie you want to see over and over again like Beaches, Cabaret, Star Wars, or whatever your all-time favourite movie might be. Boy Erased is a dramatization of Garrard Conley's 2016 memoir of the same title, written for [...]
The most valuable thing that The Sunday Sessions has going for it is that it is documenting of an era. Even though this is one individual’s personal journey it represents an era when religious groups and individuals believed gay people could be turned straight. The ‘change is possible’ belief and practice has not entirely disappeared [...]
My Exodus: Leaving the Slavery of Religion, Loving the Image of God in Everyone by Alan Chambers My rating: 4 of 5 stars "Opinions are like assholes, everyone has one" so the saying goes. Never was a truer word spoken about what people think of Alan and Leslie Chambers. This memoir, mostly written by Alan [...]
John Smid's journey is an important one and I'm glad it is now documented. John shares his journey from the early 1970s dealing with the conflict of his homosexuality and his faith. Particularly the quest to be straight so often promised to many of us. We just had to keep trying. John did for nearly [...]