Ahead of airing its exposé on gay conversion therapy camps in the U.S. tonight, ABC’s “20/20” shared a clip of the report on Twitter.
Parents send their children to these “religious” camps, which exist throughout the country, in hopes the program will “change” the kids from gay to straight. Also known as reparative therapy, the practice has been denounced by several leading medical and mental health organizations, which say the practice can be harmful.
The “20/20” clip focuses on the Blessed Hope Boys Academy in Alabama. With hidden-camera footage and undercover reporters, the exposé (which has been a year in the making) shows horrifying moments at the camp, including conversations with a paster, who parents pay $21,000 a year, who says he physically harms gay children in order to “turn” them straight.
Last December, AL.com reported 22 boys were removed from the Blessed Hope Boys Academy by law officials after some claimed they were victims of abuse.
The “20/20” clip also shows a conversion therapy camp outside Mobile, Alabama run by William Knott. The video shows ABC reporters getting into an altercation with the pastor, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison in February for aggravated child abuse.
The report airs tonight on ABC at 10 p.m. EST.
Watch the clip below.
WATCH: A year-long @ABCInvestigates @BrianRoss Investigation on camps claiming to conduct gay conversion: https://t.co/oURn3EMCXO pic.twitter.com/KCC8KV5f7b
— Good Morning America (@GMA) March 10, 2017
