Former Mountain Home resident Garrard Conley never would have guessed his life’s challenges would lead to a movie, but it’s official. His story, based on his book “Boy Erased”, has been acquired by a film distribution company and will feature one of the stars from “Manchester by the Sea”, Lucas Hedges, to depict Conley’s tribulation. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Russel Crowe and Nicole Kidman are cast to play Conley’s father and mother.
At the age of 19, Conley was attending Lyon College in Batesville when his roommate called his parents and outed Conley for being gay. The news wasn’t easy for his parents due to their strong protestant convictions. Conley says his family moved to the Mountain Home area from Cherokee Village around 2006, so his father could take a position as a Baptist minister locally. The family had ties to the area and had vacationed here a few times. His father initially started a church in a local shopping center and then went on to start the Bridge Baptist Church in Mountain Home.
Due to the conflict between his parents’ religious beliefs, their heavy involvement in the church and the fact Conley is gay, the parents sought advice from Bellvue Baptist Church in Memphis. A pastor there recommended Conley be sent to a place then called Love in Action, now known as Restoration Path, which proposes to restore people from sexual sin, including homosexuality, which was considered by the organization as an addiction.
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Conley went back and forth for treatment sessions for a couple of months. He says he was continuously subjected to the psychological torture. His parents remained devout Christians and believed they were doing the right thing, however his mother began to notice a change.
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As Conley continued the sessions, he began to see a conflict with his beliefs as he was raised Protestant as well. The Love in Action program was non-denominational. He says he felt they were trying to drive a wedge between him and his father during a session that tried to force him to admit his anger toward his dad.
Conley says he never was angry at his dad, only sad that they disagreed. One of the most important aspects of his own beliefs told him that even with his personal conflicts, his upbringing allowed him to have a personal relationship with God. He says that idea is the one thing he could hold on to when everything else was confusing. Also, his love for his dad is something he holds dear.
The topic of Conley’s sexuality was eventually swept under the rug. He joined the Peace Corps, traveled and tried to figure things out on his own.
Over the years he has been able to talk about the issue with his parents, and although they don’t agree, they all still love each other.
He decided to write “Boy Erased” later in life because he didn’t want to hurt his father’s ministry, interfere with his parents’ beliefs or make it seem like he was trying to get revenge. He had no plans to even tell his story until excerpts he presented to fellow students showed he could write it from an objective perspective.
Conley says it was shocking to him how his story was resonating with people. The book was found randomly in a bookstore by Carrie Roberts with the production company, Anonymous Content. Roberts, who also has family in Arkansas, thought this should be Lucas Hedge’s new film.
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