Conversion therapy is evolving. Here's how the religious right is reaching modern youth.

While there is still a group of people who believe adolescents experiencing same-sex attractions can actually overcome their identities to become heterosexual, the overall mindset among the religious right has shifted.

Nowadays, the thinking tends to be that just because a person is LGBTQ+ does not mean they have to act on their desires (e.g., love the sinner, hate the sin). Prominent Christian apologist William Lane Craig has consistently espoused this belief both on his website and at public speaking events. Craig, who has had a profound influence on the field of conservative Christianity in academic settings and the growing digital landscape since the 1990s, is now in the twilight of his career, but a new generation continues his efforts.

Within today’s online consumer culture of American Evangelicalism and the religious right in the United States, there is a trend of prominent faith leaders producing curriculum tailored to younger audiences that continues to espouse the belief that same-sex desires are not sinful in and of themselves, but same-sex sexual behavior is.

These leaders vehemently denounce any form of gender-affirming healthcare, too, including social transition. Unlike previous generations, they package their products as hip and modern. In some instances, they use youth who appear to be LGBTQ+ in their marketing.

In fact, some commentators have suggested that the Evangelical purity culture and conversion therapy movements have re-emerged in tandem with one another over the past decade in what has increasingly been referred to as Purity Culture 2.0. Christopher Yuan of The Holy Sexuality Project is a notable part of this trend.

Yuan has gained a global following for his writing and rhetoric on sexuality and the Bible. He shares in his 2011 book, Out of a Far Country, that he came out to his parents as a young adult, and after being rejected, turned to the party scene and contracted HIV. After going to jail for drug trafficking, he had a born-again experience and embraced the ex-gay movement.

But Yuan neither identifies as gay nor ex-gay. It’s important to note that, like the majority of prominent influencers in the right-wing manosphere, Yuan has no advanced education or clinical training in the fields of human sexuality or gender. He misleadingly uses his doctoral credentials to present himself as an authority figure on this topic, when in reality he holds a Doctorate in Ministry (DMin), a professional degree in the application of ministry, not an academic degree aimed at generating new research and theory.

In The Holy Sexuality Project curriculum, Yuan asserts that sexual identity does not exist and that the concept was concocted by Sigmund Freud’s distorted views on God’s design of sexuality in the early 1900s.

Yuan also implies that since sexual identity does not exist, men exclusively attracted to men may be unable to change their sexuality; however, through a high degree of religiosity and contemplative prayer, they can become attracted to that “one special woman.” He goes as far as essentially claiming that homosexual behavior is a form of sexual assault on God. Unfortunately, these aforementioned claims appear to be a microcosm of the overall conversion therapy movement in the United States.

As the child enters adulthood and inevitably fails to shove down their true self, they will have to navigate many standard rites of passage without the support of their families. They will not be able to share common experiences, like forming romantic relationships and inviting their romantic partners to participate in the family’s customs and traditions.

They will also have to navigate solo many of the existential dilemmas that most people experience throughout adulthood, including the dissolution of a romantic relationship, the loss of friendships, and experiencing discrimination and harassment, often simply for being LGBTQ+.

One thing that is absent in nearly all of the curriculum within the religious right when it comes to sexual ethics in particular is that forcing LGBTQ+ individuals to be celibate because of religious beliefs doesn’t work. As such, it places people at risk not just of immense shame and guilt when they inevitably act on their natural urges, but also makes them more likely to engage in risky sexual behavior, since they may never have gotten the proper sex education and also must find secretive ways to fulfill their desires.

And Yuan’s course is not the only one peddling these dangerous beliefs. Others include Raising Sexually Faithful Kids and Parenting Boys and Girls in a Gender-Confused World (Harvest Ministries); A Parent’s Guide to LGBTQ+ and Your Teen and Kicking Off The Sex Talk (Axis Ministries); and Biblical Sexuality Curriculum (Rooted Ministry).

While there is some variation in specific theological beliefs and applications across these groups, they are all similar in their core message: Disregard scientific evidence in the name of a fundamentalist interpretation of the Bible; sexual identity doesn’t exist; and being transgender is a mental illness.

They all make the claim that parents who do not affirm their LGBTQ+ child because of their Christian faith are not rejecting their child, but rather are displaying an act of mercy and love.

But for a parent to place a condition on their love for their child, especially when it comes to something that their child neither chose nor acquired, is inherently a form of rejection and places the child at risk for numerous negative health and social outcomes.

Even when a child is not expelled from the home or ostracized from their family, there will still be an ongoing reminder of the condition that the parent has imposed on their child to be loved.

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Originally published here.