re-Parents: Conversion Therapy for Parents to Accept LGBTQ Children

Far and wide, conversion therapy for LGBTQ children is condemned today. Calling it “therapy” to begin with is a stretch, as it often uses medicine, physical and mental violence, and abuse to stifle a child’s expression if it isn’t heterosexual or cisgender. One Ukraine-based organization is turning the tables, instead looking at the parents and why they might not be accepting of their children

re-Parents is designed to help parents prepare for the moment of coming out by living through the same experience of other LGBTQ children’s parents, offering an interactive, 360-degree experience to change their thinking surrounding a potential LGBTQ child.

According to a release from re-Parents, the official information by the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights states,”… no incidents related to “conversion therapy” have been identified,” in reference to problems which arise because of the practice. However, statistics suggest it’s more of a problem that Ukrainian authorities say. Seventy-six percent of Ukrainian LGBTQ adolescents surveyed by the international organization Freedom House are forced to undergo treatment by their own family, sent to religious communities and illegal medical institutions.

The release also notes study by San Francisco State University, showing that parental rejection increases the risk of suicide by eight times and the possibility of developing depression by six times.

Through photographs, audio, and diaries, mothers Angela guide the viewers through the timeline of their memories, from the child’s birth to their coming out, detailing their own shock, rejection, aggression, and attempts to seek out specialists, finally realizing that their child’s identity isn’t something to fix or because of some series of actions or mistakes in their upbringing.

The last scene displays the family’s conversation and that moment of acceptance, when the LGBTQ child hears “I accept you” for the first time. Viewers are immersed right into the event, thanks to the 360-degree camera used during filming, to take the side of the mother, child, or the third interlocutor, allowing the viewer to fully immerse themselves in the experience.

The project team emphasize that the final scene is truly the first experience of this conversation: “Shooting the final scenes, the whole crew cried alongside the heroes,” re-Parents’ Viktor Shkurba says.

The scene then shows the child’s reaction and offers viewers an FAW with answers from a professional psychologist on the topic and resources for LGBTQ parents.

For more information and for the full experience, visit the re-Parents website here.

Photo courtesy of re-Parents