Ryan Murphy says parents took him to psychiatrist to try to ‘cure’ his gayness after his prom
Murphy, now one of the world's most celebrated gay men, says: "Prom is very emotional for me, as you can tell"
Photo: Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen/Bravo
Ryan Murphy has publicly discussed the time his parents sent him to a psychiatrist to try and “cure” him of his homosexuality.
TV icon Murphy, responsible for LGBTQ+-inclusive shows such as Glee and Pose, and films like The Boys in the Band, opened up on the matter in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
The 55-year-old, whose new Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman-starring movie The Prom drops on 11 December, shared the story after being asked about his own prom experience.
The Prom‘s plot involves a queer teen blocked from taking a girl to her high school prom, who enlists the help of faded Broadway legends to turn things around.
“Thankfully, I had a really good shrink”
“I found it very healing to be able to put those images to film,” Murphy explained. “I didn’t have that. If only I would have had this feeling of acceptance and belonging, how different my life would have been.
“I felt that when we were shooting it. I went to my junior prom and the next day my parents took me to a psychiatrist to cure me. Thankfully, I had a really good shrink, who at the end of our several sessions called my parents in and said, ‘You have a choice here: You can try and change him and lose him, or you can accept him and love him.’
“I was very blessed. When I went to my senior prom, I had been through that but I still took a girlfriend because I wasn’t allowed to come in with my fellow. The prom is very emotional for me, as you can tell.”
Murphy has since gone on to become one of the most powerful people in showbiz. His Netflix deal is worth as much as $300 million (£232,019.36), according to HR.
He married husband David Miller in 2012 and together they have three children.
Scientifically-discredited LGBTQ+ ‘conversion therapy‘, which activists have called on to be banned internationally, was recently depicted in Murphy’s TV show Ratched.
Attitude has reached out to a rep for Murphy for further comment.
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