Oncegay stories

Exploring social conversion through the Changed Movement

Bibliographic Data

ID12910266
AuthorsAustin Williams Miller (0000-0002-5763-0041, University of New Mexico, corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume16
Issue3
Pages224-241
Publication date2022-02-10
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of International and Intercultural Communication (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1751-3065 • E-ISSN: 1751-3057
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/17513057.2022.2033814
OpenAlexW4211028305
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited28

This paper employs a queer intercultural communication framework to analyze the Changed Movement's website, an evangelical Christian group which claims individuals can change their sexual and gender identities through faith and testimony. I argue that the Changed Movement is a rhetorical site which makes possible a social conversion—one does not need to see a therapist to begin conversion. Changed naturalizes the white cisheterosexual evangelical subject on sociocultural and legal levels in the US nation-state to produce sexualized others that threaten to take the evangelical subject's place, while employing Pulse shooting survivor testimony to, albeit ambiguously, support that "changed is possible." Finally, I argue that queer intercultural scholarship must examine evangelical groups like Changed, which construct queer and trans people as subjects to be expelled from the sociocultural and national bodies. I would like to thank Dr. Shinsuke Eguchi for their detailed feedback, support, and mentorship, along with Dr. Lisa Hanasono for her constructive comments and encouragement. I would also like to thank the reviewers for their detailed feedback; this manuscript would not be what it is without your care and attention to my work.Notes1 Conversion therapy, also known as reparative therapy in religious circles and sexual reorientation therapy (SRT) in clinical contexts, is a broad term that refers to all practices that "attempt to change, or reorient, one's sexual orientation from same-sex-oriented to opposite-sex-oriented (i.e., heterosexual) or at the very least reduce one's same-sex thoughts, feelings, or behaviors" (Maccio, Citation2010, p. 442).2 Exodus International was originally called Free All Gays, though Erzen (Citation2006) rightly notes that, "The original name ... was quickly scrapped after the organizers realized the potential contradictions of its acronym" (p. 33).Additional informationNotes on contributorsAustin W. MillerAustin W. Miller (M.A., Northern Arizona University) is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Communication and Journalism at the University of New Mexico focusing on critical intercultural communication and rhetoric. He writes about the intersections of queerness and evangelicalism. Direct correspondence to [email protected]

Media studies · Oppression · Political science · Politics · Queer · Rhetorical question · Scholarship · Sociology · Gender Studies · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Latin American and Latino Studies · Law · LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy

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