Conversion therapy survivor Peter Gajdics, the author of our own Inheritance of Shame, has a lot to celebrate these days. In addition to his personal campaign to raise awareness around the need to ban conversion therapy for gay youth and adults in his native Canada and beyond, he also has been contracted to adapt his book into a play. How cool is that?
In truth, Peter’s been a busy man all year — but particularly this fall. His voice, it seems, has risen to the top of the heap of anti-conversion activists — right alongside Gerrard Conley, author of Boy Erased.
In October, Peter appeared at the Vancouver Writer’s Fest and was interviewed on the Drew Marshall Show. In November, he was invited onto CBC’s The National, followed a featured appearance on the BBC. And, in December, he signed a contract with Playhouse Features Theater Company in New York to adapt his book into a stage production. They are expected to workshop the play sometimes this spring.
The best part of all if this, though, is seeing so many cities, states, provinces and countries finally paying attention to the devastation wrought by church- and psychiatry-based conversion therapies and prioritizing their end. At a time when the conservatives on the Supreme Court are doing their best to undermine equal rights for LBGTQ2+ community, there is a whole lot of compassion being shown in smaller, less public quadrants of our world. In addition to Vancouver’s ban (which we reported on here), Canada's House of Commons in Ottawa, Ontario, is taking up the issue, as are a number of jurisdictions through the United States. Just yesterday, in fact, New York became the 14th state to ban the practice.
A lot to celebrate. Congrats, Peter!