The Love in Action Program
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.