The True Story Behind Boy Erased, 1 of the Year's Most Heartbreaking Films

Raised by Christian parents in a small, conservative community in Arkansas, Conley felt torn between his family and the knowledge that he was gay. Throughout high school, he kept his sexuality a secret, and according to his June interview with the BBC, he had a girlfriend for two years. Then, in 2004, Conley began attending a small liberal-arts school where he was raped and then outed to his parents by his rapist. This, in and of itself, is utterly heartbreaking, but for the author, things only got worse from there.

Conley's father was in the process of becoming an ordained Baptist minister. He saw his son's sexuality as a choice, and he, along with his wife, gave Conley an ultimatum: either go to gay conversion therapy or be cut off from his family. Conley chose conversion therapy. He explained to the BBC, "My parents had some hope I could have a 'normal' life — I'd dated a girl for two years. I did love her in many ways, and she'd protected me. So, I thought, 'Well, there's just this sex thing — what does that matter?'"

After agreeing to conversion therapy, Conley entered the Love in Action program. The gay conversion camp uses a twisted version of the 12-step program to "cure" homosexuality. In his memoir, Conley details Love in Action's brutal tactics. During the two-week therapy, he had his phone taken away, and he was instructed on how to dress and behave. After the two weeks, six months of one-on-one therapy followed. He revealed to the BBC that during this period he considered suicide.

However, Conley maintains that his parents were unaware of exactly what the people of Love in Action were doing to him. "They had no idea what was going on," he said in his BBC interview. "My mom had started asking questions at the end, and that's when they'd taken me out of the program. We weren't meant to talk about what happened in there. Yes, my parents made a terrible mistake, which could have cost me my life. But they didn't know what they were doing to me."

In his interview with Mic, Conley explained that many people who have read his story don't understand why he doesn't blame his parents, or why he became angry when the conversion therapists tried to make him say he hated his father. He explained to them that he felt it was important to portray his parents and their journey, as well as his. Ultimately, his mother has become more accepting, while his father "hasn't budged much." Conley told BBC that Crowe showed up to his father's church while he was researching the film, and the actor and his dad ended up texting for a few weeks.

Conley's life is vastly different now. He lives in New York City with his husband and works with advocacy programs to help LGBTQ+ youths who are dealing with situations like the one he went through. He's also a successful writer, who's following up his memoir with a novel set during the Great Awakening. He's currently anticipating the release of Boy Erased, which he and his parents had input on in order to help Edgerton tell the most truthful version of his painful story as possible.