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Author finds faith and belonging after nearly a decade of conversion therapy 85%
5/7/2026, 3:00:32 PM
BS Summary: This video contains 33 faulty reasoning types, including Bandwagon, Confirmation Bias, and Anecdotal, with Appeal to Emotion as the most egregious example at 24.6% saturation with 271 hits. Analysis detected 2,779 faulty-reasoning hits from 1,100 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 78.1% and a BS Rank of 85% (2,563 of 16,813 videos). This video is worse (more manipulative) than 84.80% of the video peer group.
Our next guest, Timothy Schrader
Rodriguez, wrote about the emotional scars from his own experience with conversion therapy in a new memoir
titled Conversion Therapy Dropout. The book came out yesterday.
Tim, we are thrilled to have you in studio with us here to share your story.
Congratulations on the book.
Let's go back in time here.
Often when we hear stories of conversion therapy, we maybe hear of parents forcing their kids into it.
That was not your case. You made the decision yourself at the age of 19.
Why did you do that?
And what was the experience like over the what eight years that you did conversion therapy?
>> Yeah, so I opted into it myself.
I was 19.
I felt it was the only option that I had if I wanted to keep engaged with my faith.
And faith was such an important part of my life and it took many forms over the eight years that I was in it.
Initially I was not near a a ministry that was local to me. So I had to participate in an online forum and then over the course of those eight years I also did individual therapy with a therapist. I went to support groups and also attended major national conferences that were held every summer.
So, I kind of did everything that was available and it didn't work.
>> It didn't work. What was the realization or the moment you had that realization where you're like, "This isn't doing it for me. I need to step away from this."
>> Well, for a long time, it was very convincing to stick with it because everything around me was saying, "This is what you're supposed to do. If you what you're supposed to do. If you follow this program, you're going to see the change. if you make these changes in your life like adjusting your external behavior like what music you listen to, what clothing you wear, how you carry yourself through the world and also pray for God to change you that you're going to see this miraculous transformation."
And I did everything that was laid out for us and also was working in a church at the time.
So if anyone was set up for success, it was me.
But I never saw those things change.
uh promises coming to fruition. and I
eventually had a nervous breakdown and thought I would either want to end my life rather than keep living it the way I had been living it.
>> Uh what's amazing is that you were able to step away from conversion therapy but not have to step away from your faith and that's been huge for you right talk.
>> Oh absolutely. I think you know we are body, soul and spirit and I think that one of the biggest misunderstandings that is handed to queer people from the religious community is that you have to choose between your faith or your sexuality.
And I believe that when the Bible says that we are created in God's image, that means all of us, God doesn't make mistakes.
And I was fortunate to find my way into a uh religious space, a rel religious community that did have affirming theology and really helped me to see that come to truth in my own life.
>> And now you have the book.
Why did you decide to write this?
>> Because I think queer stories are so important.
And there is so much data that's out there that speaks to the harm of conversion therapy.
But really, what really changes hearts and minds is a human story, a person's own experience.
You can't argue with my lived experience.
And even as this is up for debate and has not gone away, even with the conversion therapy bans that have been put in place, I wanted to offer my story to hopefully help that 19-year-old kid like I was that felt like it was the only option that he had.
Few things change hearts and minds more than hearing someone's story and actually meeting someone who has has lived their experience.
Um, I mentioned the Catholic report a moment ago. you are not Catholic, but still when you saw that report, what was your reaction?
>> I think for people of any faith, it was a huge moment of victory, especially with some of the news that we've had recently with the Supreme Court debating whether or not conversion therapy is an issue of protected speech.
To have one of the largest religious organizations in the world standing with conversion therapy survivors and speaking to the harm that it causes, I think for us is an affirmation of what we've been saying
all along, that this does not work and it causes harm.
You did mention the Supreme Court in March, they ruled that basically a ban on conversion therapy violated a therapist's free speech rights.
What was your reaction when you heard that? Are you afraid that it could create some issues around the country in places that that maybe still haven't banned conversion therapy?
>> I think it's going to be devastating because the ban's only protected conversion therapy in therapeutic settings.
And so it has continued to kind of grow over the years in religious contexts. But now with the ban being removed in Colorado, I think we will see a domino effect of it being legitimized in other places.
And so as a survivor, I think it's incumbent for all of us to tell our stories and to speak to the harm that this causes because it will only continue to impact people as long as it's allowed to thrive in therapeutic settings.
>> Quickly, what's your message to those out there, young people, maybe even older people who are in a situation similar to yours and they're struggling?
Yeah. My message to any queer person is
you are loved just as you are. God does
not make mistakes and we are all loved
and held by God and we don't have to change who we are. We just have to
embrace who he created us to be.
>> A wonderful message, Tim Schrader
Rodriguez. Congratulations on the book.
Thanks for joining us this morning.
Conversion Therapy Dropout available in stores and online now.
Now, and a reminder, if you or someone you know is thinking about suicide or experiencing a mental health crisis or any emotional
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