Check Out the Amazing Red Carpet for the NYC Premiere of ‘Conversion’
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The new award-winning documentary about the harmful practice of conversion therapy, Conversion, premiered in New York City Thursday at SAG-AFTRA Foundation Robin Williams Center.
RELATED: 5 Survivors Try and Make Sense of the Psychological Terror of ‘Conversion’
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The East Coast screening of the documentary about conversion therapy and about survival and hope, was followed by an after-party celebration at Industry Bar.
The evening featured filmmakers from Chronicle Cinema, survivors featured in the documentary, and amongst them tastemakers including RuPaul’s Drag Race icons.
The panel discussion and Q&A with Director Zach Meiners included members the cast from the film: Dustin Rayburn (in drag known as Dusty Ray Bottoms), Elena Joy Thurston, Matt Ashcroft, and Sam Brinton, moderated by Junior Mintt, an activist, performer and host of their very own late-night talk show, The Junior Mintt Show.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 17: (L-R) Moderator Junior Mintt, director Zach Meiner, Elena Joy Thurston, Sam Brinton, Dustin Rayburn and Matt Ashcroft attend Q&A for East Coast premiere of CONVERSION on November 17, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images for CONVERSION Movie)
Mintt is also the founder/CEO of the new inclusive makeup line Mintty Makeup and is known for promoting inclusivity, self-love and Black trans power.
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Guests at the event included:
Zach Meiners (Director, Cast, President of Chronicle Cinema), Elena Joy Thurston (cast,Founder of Pride and Joy Foundation, Speaker, Author), Dusty Ray Bottoms/Dustin Rayburn (cast, RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 10), Matt Ashcroft (cast, activist – No Conversion Canada), Sam Brinton (cast, LGBTQ+ activist), Alexis Michelle (RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 9), Miz Cracker (RuPaul’s Drag Race All-Stars) Shuga Cain (RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 11), Yuhua Hamasaki (RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 10), Jasmine Rice LaBeija, Javier Gomez (GLAAD 20 under 20 list), and Dean Cestari (American Horror Story: Season 11).
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Conversion tries to convey the true horrors of so called “conversion therapy.”
In the US alone, over 698,000 people have been subjected to the often deadly practice.
In 2018, filmmaker Zach Meiners discovered that his former conversion therapist was still practicing. Struggling with the trauma of his own experience, Zach began an endeavor to amplify and empower the voices of survivors, and expose the secretive and often deadly practices of conversion therapy.
The film takes you on a cinematic and personal journey with five survivors from the US and Canada, as they move through the mental and physical harms of conversion therapy, and find the hope and strength to fight against it.
Conversion therapy has become an underground industry, constantly rebranding, adapting, and growing. In discussions of conversion therapy, survivors are often left out of the conversation. And the most vulnerable members of our community, children, are left without a voice, choice, or pathway out of the trauma being inflicted on them.
Ultimately, it is a story of survival and hope.
Watch the trailer below:
