Sundance Favorite Tells the Story of LGBTQ Teens Sent to Conversion Therapy

In an age when pride festivals are reaching record levels of attendance, conversion therapy is generally thought to be an antiquated and nearly extinct practice. However, despite its lasting traumatic impact on LGBTQ youth, conversion therapy remains legal in 36 states.

While activists and organizations continue to fight the legislative battle against conversion therapy, one new film invites viewers to see the practice through the eyes of a teenage girl experiencing it.

Described by IndieWire as “Mike Pence’s worst nightmare,” “The Miseducation of Cameron Post” is a poignant coming-of-age story set in 1993 about a high schooler figuring out her identity in a conversion camp called God’s Promise. Throughout the film, Cameron (played by Chloë Grace Moretz) slowly forms a family with fellow camp-goers Jane, an amputee and stoner, and Adam, a member of the Lakota Two-Spirit community. Based on the book by Emily M. Danforth and directed by Desiree Akhavan, a bisexual Iranian-American filmmaker, the movie won the U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year.

The film’s release date this August is timely: In 2018, Washington, Hawaii, Maryland, New Hampshire, and Delaware have banned conversion therapy for minors, joining Connecticut, California, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Vermont, New Mexico, Rhode Island, and the District of Columbia, as well as several municipalities. Still, in the U.S., nearly 700,000 adults ages 18 to 59 have undergone conversion therapy, according to a 2018 report from the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law, and 57,000 LGBT teens will go through conversion therapy over the next five years unless states pass additional protections.  

ProSocial is honored to be working alongside the filmmakers and distributor FilmRise, as well as Mathew Shurka, a leading global advocate for ending conversion therapy, on outreach aimed at bringing diverse audiences to the film and advancing ongoing efforts to abolish this practice. Having suffered through conversion therapy from ages 16 to 21, Shurka is an advisor for the #BornPerfect campaign started by the National Center for Lesbian Rights, one of the foremost organizations in the legal battle against conversion therapy.

“The Miseducation of Cameron Post” opens in theaters in New York on August 3, and in select cities on August 10. In the meantime, check out the trailer below!