{"id":2334,"date":"2021-07-20T22:21:52","date_gmt":"2021-07-21T05:21:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.breakingcodesilence.org\/?p=2334"},"modified":"2021-07-21T14:30:45","modified_gmt":"2021-07-21T21:30:45","slug":"saving-alex-when-i-was-fifteen-i-told-my-mormon-parents-i-was-gay-and-thats-when-my-nightmare-began","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.breakingcodesilence.org\/saving-alex-when-i-was-fifteen-i-told-my-mormon-parents-i-was-gay-and-thats-when-my-nightmare-began\/","title":{"rendered":"Saving Alex: When I Was Fifteen I Told My Mormon Parents I Was Gay, and That\u2019s When My Nightmare Began"},"content":{"rendered":"

Saving Alex: When I Was Fifteen I Told My Mormon Parents I Was Gay, and That\u2019s When My Nightmare Began<\/a> <\/strong>\u2013 By Alex Cooper, Joanna Brooks\u00a0\u2013 For eight harrowing months, Alex was held captive in an unlicensed \u201cresidential treatment program\u201d modeled on the many \u201ctherapeutic\u201d boot camps scattered across Utah. Alex was physically and verbally abused, and many days she was forced to stand facing a wall wearing a heavy backpack full of rocks. Her captors used faith to punish and terrorize her. With the help of a dedicated legal team in Salt Lake City, Alex eventually escaped and made legal history in Utah by winning the right to live under the law\u2019s protection as an openly gay teenager.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>