Examining the Ex-Gay Community

Decribe your idea

Ex-homosexuals are in a unique position at a crux between two communities. They are typically viewed with hostility from the gay community they're trying to leave and pity from the mainstream (typically religious) non-gay community they seek to re-establish contact with. My project documents, from an objective standpoint, the lives of these people and others touched by the ex-gay community through video interviews, photographs and written content. The end goal is to look beyond the political issue and see real people: gay, straight, ex-gay, ex-ex-gay, etc., as they form a concrete identity on an atypical path. Before any healing between communities can take place, a dialog must be started. Read more about it at ExGay.Blairblur.com!

Why do you want to share your idea with TEDxUChicago in 2013?

The ex-gay and ex-ex-gay populations have never been examined thoroughly in a digital journalism piece from an objective angle. If this isn’t a revolutionary, controversial and necessary issue to talk about, I don’t know what is.

How will you share your idea in a creative way?

The work will be shown through anecdotal evidence in the form of video interviews, environmental shots of my subject's homes and personal evidence all shown through the awesome tool Prezi. Through this project, I've done 100+ hours worth of research: dozens of phone, e-mail and in-person interviews plus loads of other background research. In short, I have plenty of both surface and deep information to share in a holistic presentation to give a better understanding to this topic.

Discussion

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