Equality Utah Brings Ex-Gay Conversion Advocate McKrae Game to Testify at DOPL

Salt Lake City, UT – On Thursday, Sept. 26, the Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing will hear public testimony on the harmful practice of conversion therapy. No one understands the harms better than McKrae Game who led the conversion therapy organization Hope for Wholeness in South Carolina for two decades. Game recently came out as a gay man and repudiated his practice.

“During all this time, I never encountered anyone who had reoriented their sexuality” Game stated. “For the overwhelming majority it becomes a game of turning your head, repressing thoughts, denying identity, denying involvement in gay relationships and friendships, and lying to self. Today, I now see that my chronic anxiety over my whole life was from my constant repression of my sexuality. Today my anxiety is gone.”

Troy Wililams, executive director of EQUALITY UTAH stated, “Every reputable science based organization in the country recognizes that conversion therapy is a dangerous fraud. It exasurbates depression, anxiety and suicide ideation. We are grateful that the Board of Psychologists and DOPL are thoughtfully engaging this issue. The end objective we all share is to save lives.”

Matthew Shurka from the national BORN PERFECT campaign will also be joining us. “Leaders have a responsibility to promote the health and well-being of our youth. Being LGBTQ is a natural part of the human condition—not a mental illness or disorder. It is vital that Utah’s medical boards protect youth from the life-threatening practice of conversion therapy and send a clear message that all LGBTQ youth are Born Perfect.”

The public hearing begins at 9am at the Heber Wells Building, 160 E 300 S in the main conference room. We will host a press conference after the hearing immediately after the initial hearing. We expect it sometime around noon.

Other available interviews include Casey Pick from The Trevor Project, a national LGBTQ suicide hotline, Taryn Hiatt from The American Foundaiton for Suicide Prevention, Marina Lowe from The ACLU of Utah, Rep. Craig Hall, and several survivors of conversion therapy.

The Williams Institute from UCLA Law estimates that 680,000 Americans have experienced conversion therapy—350,000 as minors. A 2018 study by Dr. Caitlin Ryan found that minors subjected to conversion therapy were two times more likely to experience depression (52%) and nearly three times more likely to attempt suicide (63%). A new study from JAMA Psychiatry on transgender clients in conversion therapy experience “severe psychological distress” and “increased odds of lifetime suicide attempts”.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MEDIA CONTACT:
‍Troy Williams
Executive Director
Equality Utah
[email protected]