Podcast: The Cost of Conformity: SOGICE, Pastoral Harm, and Queer Resistance
Talking about the harms of overt and covert conversion therapy and how to spot a fundamentalist
I had so much fun hanging out with Lindsay Bindman of the Getting Reflective podcast.
Here’s Lindsay’s excellent summary of our conversation:
In this episode, Willow and I dive into SOGICE, which stands for sexual orientation and gender identity change efforts. So, using frame analysis, we look at how while conversation therapy is one of the most extreme forms of SOGICE, SOGICE can also at times be less overt. An attempt of any kind to make somebody stop being gay; stop being queer; stop being themselves, is SOGICE. And these subtle forms of SOGICE can result in significant harm, too.
This podcast is something of an intro to my research — so I get to talk a little bit about research methods! Further, one of my soapboxes gets some stage time: the “unaffirming with a smile” kind of SOGICE. Some fundamentalist movements have no problem if one calls themself a “gay Christian” or goes to Pride — but you still can’t really and shouldn’t really be queer. The end goal is shuffle people into mandatory celibacy or harmful mixed-orientation marriages.
As I say in the podcast, we’d understand that “watered down racism” is still, in fact, racism. Therefore, we should understand that watered down unaffirming positions, are still homophobic, transphobic, harmful, and dangerous.