History Main / CureYourGays

* ''VideoGame/SnootGame'', a visual novel made by an anonymous team of Website/FourChan users, features this as part of it being a parody/critique of ''VideoGame/GoodbyeVolcanoHigh''. Fang, the protagonist of the latter game, is nonbinary, having come out and transitioned prior to the events of the game. ''Snoot Game'' both belittles and interrogates this identity over the course of its story, and should the player make the right choices, it's eventually revealed that [[spoiler:Fang became nonbinary out of peer pressure from Trish]]. The game's two best endings feature Fang detransitioning into a cis woman, while in the two worst endings, Fang stays nonbinary and [[spoiler:either becomes a school shooter or a washed-up, drug-addicted loser]].

* A ''Series/MrShow'' sketch: The "Good News" program on the What-to-Think Network tries to do this. A TransparentGay man keeps coming back over the years claiming that he's been cured, only to "relapse" and get caught at gay orgies again and again. In the end, the host declares that he has plans to "relapse" again during an upcoming holiday (presumably for another orgy) and then re-convert.

* ''WesternAnimation/RickAndSteveTheHappiestGayCoupleInAllTheWorld''. Subverted/played for laughs. In "Mom Fight", Evan encourages Chuck to get out and take better advantage of the fact that they have an open relationship, with one night a week when they're allowed to sleep with other people; Chuck ends up experimenting with a woman and enjoying it. Evan is deeply upset and decides to join the ex-gay movement so that he can have a night of revenge sex with Condi Ling. Of course, the effort [[EpicFail fails epically]] -- instead of making him straight it makes him TooKinkyToTorture -- and of course, he has no serious interest in actually being meaningfully "cured" in the first place.

* The ''Franchise/HarryPotter'' CrackFic ''FanFic/BecomingFemale'' features a subplot in which Hagrid comes out as gay, something which had apparently been [[TransparentCloset "obvious for a long time"]]. Sometime later, Cornelius Fudge turns out to be "homophobic", causing him to send Hagrid and Dumbledore to a "degayification camp". The protagonists rush to the "degayification camp" to rescue them since Hagrid and Dumbledore would [[InsaneTrollLogic "lose all their powers if they become straight"]].

* In ''Film/TheHobbit'' fanfic [[http://archiveofourown.org/works/5026975/chapters/11554027 Why Male Dwarves can get Pregnant]], this trope is played with. Bilbo has a crush on Thorin, believing both of them to be male, and keeps silent about it, fearing homophobia. Then it is revealed that dwarves have three genders, and Thorin is bigender. Bilbo then begins a quest for his own gender identity and finds out he is also bigender, which is fortunate, as Thorin also had a crush on Bilbo, but according to dwarven law, bigender people can only be in relationships with other bigender people; which was why Thorin never dared to say anything.

* A disturbing example in the film Film/SavageGrace, [[spoiler: where a mother attempts to cure her son of his homosexuality by sleeping with him.]]

* A ''Series/MrShow'' sketch: The "Good News" program on the What-to-Think Network tries to do this. A GlassClosetGay man keeps coming back over the years claiming that he's been cured, only to "relapse" and get caught at gay orgies again and again. In the end, the host declares that he has plans to "relapse" again during an upcoming holiday (presumably for another orgy) and then re-convert.

%%* Literally happens to [[spoiler:Mizuki]] in ''VisualNovel/EfAFairyTaleOfTheTwo''

* ''Manga/TheBeautifulSkiesOfHououHigh'' is a manga about a girl who likes girls. But all her girlfriends break up with her because they're both girls, even though they love each other. So her mother sends her to an [[OneGenderSchool All-Boys School]] to "cure" her... Digital Manga Publishing dropped the English release after 1 volume due to the ValuesDissonance.

* ''ComicBook/XMen'' never had to deal with this... literally, anyway. Mutants are [[DependingOnTheWriter sometimes]] used as [[HaveYouTriedNotBeingAMonster a metaphor for homosexuality]], and there have been a number of storylines where someone tries to cure the mutant gene, which almost always backfires. [[Characters/EmmaFrostWhiteQueen Emma Frost]] discusses this trope with a scientist.
-->'''Emma:''' What's next, a cure for the gay gene?\\
'''Scientist:''' [[AnalogyBackfire Homosexuality isn't a threat to the human race]].\\
'''Emma:''' [[DeadpanSnarker We are clearly watching different televangelists]].

* The "Godhead" arc of Robbie Morrison's run of ''ComicBook/TheAuthority'' had John Clay, leader of the religious movement called the Church of Transcendence, attempt to cure Apollo and Midnighter of their homosexuality. His efforts don't do a thing, as Midnighter manages to endure the torture sessions before Swift comes to his rescue and Apollo ultimately softens Clay up in time to be killed by the Doctor.

* ''FanFic/ResonanceDays'' inverts this; as a consequence of girls in [[DeadToBeginWith the afterlife]] being made into hormone-less EnergyBeings, [[YourMindMakesItReal they can switch orientations if they want to]], and since they are surrounded by other girls, they very often ''become'' gay.
* Lady Vivian in Merlin CrackFic ''FanFic/AVeryHairySituation'' She's an anomaly in a story that uses Cure Your Straights as a plot device.

* Mercilessly parodied in one ''Harry Potter'' fanfiction, in which it turns out that half the girls of Hogwarts have tried it on [[AmbiguouslyGay Colin Creevey]] whenever they found him sad by having sex with him, completely ignoring his protests that he's actually hetero (and in one case had actually just been dumped by his ''girlfriend'' via letter). Turns out the only reason he takes so many pictures of Harry (for whom he admits he has quite the hero worship) is that the girls are willing to pay a lot for them...
* In [[http://archiveofourown.org/works/5026975/chapters/11554027 this]] ''Film/TheHobbit'' fanfic, this trope is played with. Bilbo has a crush on Thorin, believing both of them to be male, and keeps silent about it, fearing homophobia. Then it is revealed that dwarves have three genders, and Thorin is bigender. Bilbo then begins a quest for his own gender identity and finds out he is also bigender, which is fortunate, as Thorin also had a crush on Bilbo, but according to dwarven law, bigender people can only be in relationships with other bigender people; which was why Thorin never dared to say anything.
* The ''Franchise/HarryPotter'' CrackFic ''FanFic/BecomingFemale'' features a subplot in which Hagrid comes out as gay, something which had apparently been [[TransparentCloset "obvious for a long time"]]. Sometime later, Cornelius Fudge turns out to be "homophobic", causing him to send Hagrid and Dumbledore to a "degayification camp". The protagonists rush to the "degayification camp" to rescue them since Hagrid and Dumbledore would [[InsaneTrollLogic "lose all their powers if they become straight"]].
* In the [[TrollFic infamous]] ''Fanfic/SupperSmashBrosMishonhFromGod'', creating a vaccine for homosexuality and using it to force a HeelFaceTurn on the gay smashers is one of the protagonist's major goals. It's also inverted; there's a government vaccine that was responsible for turning Samus and Captain Falcon gay in the first place.
* When Weiss comes out to her father Jacques in ''Fanfic/RWBYScars'', he dismisses it as a teenage phase and says that [[ArrangedMarriage marrying]] his much older friend can "fix" Weiss. Weiss and her mother Willow are horrified at the idea.

* Cassandra spends about half of ''[[Fanfic/AngelOfTheBat Angel of the Bat: Times of Heresy]]'' trying to do this to herself. After a rough breakup with her girlfriend stacked on top of her other recent struggles, Cassandra tries to retreat into her Catholic faith to cleanse herself of her leftover feelings. [[spoiler: It doesn't work, and the whole story is outright critical of the idea.]]

* ''Film/TrappedTheAlexCooperStory'': The whole plot. When Alex comes out to her parents (who are fundamentalist [[UsefulNotes/{{Mormonism}} Mormons]]), the first thing they do is send her to a gay conversion therapy prison.

* The TV movie ''Film/SeniorTrip'' features sensitive artist Jon. On a class trip to New York City, he meets an older male artist who is presented in a predatory manner, while Jon, traumatized by his desire for men, cowers in his presence. After managing to leave, Jon comes across a {{hooker with a heart of gold}} and tells her he had to see if he would be able to have sex with a woman. After they do, he feels more at peace.
* A disturbing example in the film Film/SavageGrace, [[spoiler: where a mother attempts to cure her son of his homosexuality by sleeping with him.]]
* ''Film/TheyThem2022'': The center of the plot, as the cast are residents and staff of a conversion therapy camp for LGBT+ youth. "Conversion" methods range from trying to have them act out in gender normative ways to brutal aversion therapy via ElectricTorture.
* ''Film/{{Dope}}'': Diggy's family tries to cure her lesbianism through prayer every Sunday at their church. As the narrator relates this we see her in the middle of a prayer circle (the only time she's wearing feminine clothing) looking bored then checking out an attractive woman nearby. She jokes that maybe it worked due to being turned on by seeing Music/JustinBieber.

%% Alfie in ''Literature/AlfiesHome'' gets "cured".
* In ''Literature/Blackbird1986'', Randy tries to do this to himself, and later his mother and Pastor Crandall try to drive the homosexuality out of him, all without success.

* In "Literature/{{Oracle}}" by Creator/GregEgan, an [[CaptainErsatz alternate universe]] Alan Turing is locked in a punishingly cramped cage by the secret service in an attempt to cure him of his homosexuality. The NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed version of Turing notices the {{Anvilicious}}ness of the situation:

* In Pat Barker's ''[[Literature/TheRegenerationTrilogy The Eye In The Door]]'', some members of the British parliament see gays as a threat to society, and there's a lot of talk about curing homosexuality through therapy--it's a constant threat in the background, although it's never tried on any of the main characters.
* In ''Literature/LoveDrugged'' by James Klise, the main character attempts to cure his own homosexuality by taking an experimental pill that claims to be able to remove homosexual urges, even though it's currently untested and the side effects include nausea, rage problems, and blinding headaches. [[spoiler:It doesn't quite work as he hoped, however - the pills only help with diminishing his homosexual urges, but don't create heterosexual urges in their place, leaving him basically desexualized, angry, and in pain.]]
* In the short story ''The Crooked Man'' by Charles Beaumont, Jesse and Mina are a straight couple meeting in secret in a future where gay couples are the norm and politicians rail against heterosexuals. At the conclusion, they are caught by the vice squad and get taken away to be cured (Jesse forcibly; Mina has accepted it and decides it would be better than going underground).
* In the {{dystopia}} in the Literature/DeliriumSeries, love is considered a disease. All people are required to have surgery to cure them of love at the age of 18. If two "uncureds" of the opposite sex fall in love and get involved with each other, they're merely considered to have "amor deliria nervosa" and it's bad because it's considered an unnatural version of the usual husband-wife relationships. If the two "uncureds" are of the same sex, though, their behavior is labeled as "Unnaturalism." After the surgery, everyone is forced into heterosexual {{bureaucratically arranged marriage}}s.
* In ''Literature/TheChildGarden'' by Geoff Ryman, there is an actual CURE for being gay, and everyone gets it along with the cures for everything else. It's implied to be highly imperfect, though - while receiving it switches [[spoiler:Rolfa's]] attraction towards women for one towards men, the men she tries to proposition feel absolutely zero sexual chemistry with her beforehand and so are surprised and unnerved by her advances.
* ''Literature/{{Genome}}'' by Creator/SergeyLukyanenko describes a world where most people are genetically specialized for some profession (be it janitor, pilot, geisha, executioner...). Many are also programmed to love their professions. Pak, a non-specialized secondary character[[note]]a caviller, but otherwise a nice guy and a great specialist in his field to boot[[/note]] drinks an experimental drug that suppresses genetic predisposition to anything. Several hours later we see him experimenting with a woman for the first time in his life. The inventor of the drug predicts that if this becomes a habit, Pak would stay bi when the drug wears off in a few weeks. Note that the effect is completely unintentional as in this world any sexuality is perfectly OK.
* Inverted in ''Literature/TheForeverWar'', in the 24th-century homosexuality is mandatory (as PopulationControl) and heterosexuality is considered a mental disorder that is easily cured. Though it doesn't work on [[FishOutOfTemporalWater oldtimers]] like Mandella. Though at the end [[spoiler:in the 31st century, sexuality becomes a moot point on earth as it's now a HiveMind of clones. But some of Mandella's surviving troops decide to become straight and join colonies of old-fashioned humans.]]
* In the world of ''[[Literature/ReplicaSeries Replica]]'', homosexuality is a tricky situation. It is considered acceptable for the two lower classes (Employees and the Basement) to express themselves in such a way. The powerful Executive class forbids it and any Executive who identifies as such are sent to a special place for reprogramming.

* ''Literature/IndecentExposure'': Dr von Blimenstein is convinced that a combination of electric shocks, strong emetics, and aversion therapy can cure ''anything''. She gets a chance to test this and applies it first to policemen sexually attracted to black women[[note]] This is South Africa in UsefulNotes/TheApartheidEra[[/note]], and then on gays.
* This trope is briefly invoked in ''Literature/GoodInBed'', by Cannie and her siblings following their mother coming out of the closet. However, it's shown to be less specific about disgust with lesbianism and more of a desire to regain their old life, without her rather surly life partner involved.

* In Dante's 1320 epic ''Literature/TheDivineComedy'', the seventh terrace of Purgatory features homosexual men singing in harmony with the heterosexual lustful as they all purify their sexualities corrupted by the Fall.
* In Adam Silvera's ''More Happy Than Not'', Aaron falls in love with his new friend Thomas despite having a girlfriend and decides to undergo an ''Film/EternalSunshineOfTheSpotlessMind''-like memory erasure procedure to get rid of his feelings for Thomas. [[spoiler:Before he does, however, a traumatic event causes him to remember that he already underwent this procedure in the past to forget another boy after their relationship caused him to be on the receiving end of brutal homophobia -- a procedure that obviously didn't actually cure him of his homosexuality. He ultimately decides to not undergo the procedure a second time.]]
* Defied in ''Literature/PatienceAndSarah''. Patience's brother Edward asks if she's tried to pray for her feelings for Sarah to go away, but Patience notes she doesn't want to be "freed" of her feelings. She's instead prayed to be "fulfilled in it".
* As with the film based on it, in ''Literature/{{Goldfinger}}'', James Bond cures Pussy Galore of being a lesbian by raping her after she confesses to him that she was raped by an older male relative as a teenager. Yeah.
* Jess' parents in ''Literature/StoneButchBlues'' caught her wearing her father's clothes when she was a young teen and admitted her to a psych ward until she lied her way out of there. This narrative is also part of what makes the rapist policemen so insidious.
* ''Literature/SurrenderYourSons'' is a thriller young adult novel that is primarily set in a conversation camp tucked away in Costa Rica; the main character is taken by force there by the camp's staff in a setup arranged by his mother.
* {{Inverted}} in Creator/ChrisMoriarty's novel ''Spin Control''. The Syndicates try to genetically program their {{Artificial Human}}s to all be gay, but the novel posits something called the "Six Percent Rule": i.e. no matter how hard you work to make people have one sexuality, at least six percent are always going to break away from it. This causes problems when aliens interfere with a Syndicate colony's FantasticContraception, causing a bisexual male's affair with a female to result in a SurprisePregnancy.
* ''Literature/AnnieOnMyMind'': Mrs. Poindexter, Ms. Baxter, and Sally urge Liza to go see a psychiatrist and be "cured". Liza refuses this idea without hesitation.
* ''Literature/TheLoveAndLiesOfRukhsanaAli'': Rukhsana's parents become convinced she's [[DemonicPossession possessed by a djinn]] that made her attracted to girls and defy them. They hire an exorcist called a djinn-catcher, but of course the odd "exorcism" fails.

* ''Series/CriminalMinds''
** One episode features someone who went to a conversion camp and became so traumatized by it that he turned into a serial killer who targets gays. Given that the conversion methods involved calling them abominations and having a prostitute "rape them straight", it shouldn't be surprising that it turned out so badly. This episode caused the uproar of many proponents of conversion therapy.
** In another episode, a father tried beating the gay out of his son for most of his life, driving him insane and making him kill other gay men so he could steal their identities and live their carefree lives.

* Turning [[Series/TheColbertReport Stephen Colbert]] gay is part of the national Secret Gay Agenda. Their most [[FelonyMisdemeanor insidious weapon in this fight]]? [[NoodleImplements Baby Carrots]].
* In ''Series/AmericanHorrorStoryAsylum'', set in 1964 in an insane asylum, we have Lana, a reporter who wants to investigate the asylum. When the head finds out, she has Lana imprisoned (with her partner's reluctant consent) because Lana is gay. One sympathetic psychiatrist has a plan to help her escape by proving she is "cured" of her gayness, and because it's 1964, he first tries aversion therapy. [[spoiler:It didn't work.]]
* In ''Series/TheVampireDiaries'', Isobel uses her MindControl to compelled a gay cowboy named Frank into her own sex slave and servant. He's shown to having sex with another female servant.

* ''Series/QueerAsFolk'' tried this on Emmett with a church organization called "See the Light". It culminated in a rather amusing scene in which Emmet and another "cured" lesbian have sex; they both try to envision a perfect, sexy member of the opposite sex, but end up fantasizing about those of their own. Both of them got better.

* ''Series/ThirtyRock'':
** Devon Banks claimed he was "cured" of his homosexuality. It didn't work, as Devon remains infatuated with men, especially Kenneth.
** Inverted in "Cooter", when a "gay bomb" weapon malfunctions, causing Jack and Pentagon brass to start hitting on each other. In a later episode, it is implied things went further as Jack fretted about meeting a general he'd had sex with under the influence.[[note]]''Series/ThirtyRock''[='=]s writers were aware that this was an experimental weapon the military was actually working on, but it wasn't necessarily a gay bomb, more a pheromone gas that made people have sex with [[AnythingThatMoves anyone nearby]] as a way of distracting the other side. They never actually got it past the planning stages, for the obvious reason of it being a ridiculously stupid idea.[[/note]]
--->'''Cooter''': I feel weird.\\
'''Jack''': ''[hungrily]'' Let's do this.

* Inverted in ''Series/TheWarAtHome'', where Dylan, Hillary's ex-boyfriend, turns gay as he began to date Kenny. Dave then commented her as [[LastHetRomance "the gay maker"]].
* ''Series/TheShield'':
** Played horrifically straight in an episode. A young girl is raped repeatedly by her bigoted father, brother, and others in order to cure her of her homosexuality. The trauma is enough that she acknowledges her orientation again.
** ''Series/TheShield'' also played it completely straight with Julian, a cop who struggled with the conflict between his homosexual desires and his devout Baptist beliefs. He eventually marries a woman and seems happy with her, but it is implied that his homosexuality may only have been repressed, not eliminated.
** [[WordOfGod Series creator Shawn Ryan has said]] that the [[AbortedArc disappearance and lack of direct reference to]] Julian's homosexuality was due both to [[RealLifeWritesThePlot Michael Jace's discomfort with shooting so many gay scenes]] and because in a lot of his research he saw that (unfortunately) quite a few married "ex-gays" in Christian circles that had undergone sexual "reorientation" therapy tend to still claim they're straight for a long time.
* [[TheFundamentalist Dale]] of ''Series/{{Greek}}'' tries to "cure" [[StraightGay Calvin]] by giving him pictures of male models and then forcing him to smell rotten food (to create a connection between the two). Dale mostly drops it when Calvin points out that the same passage of the Bible that condemns homosexuality also condemns wearing clothing from different cloths (and is that a multifiber sweater?).
* Played terribly straight in ''Series/EastEnders'', when Syed, in a desperate bid to get his parents to love and respect him again, goes to a therapist who claims he can make someone straight.
* In ''Series/{{Community}}'' episodes [[Recap/CommunityS1E17PhysicalEducation Physical Education]] Shirley suggests this if Abed's admirer is male.
* ''Series/{{Glee}}'':
** One episode features [[CampGay Kurt]] trying to be more masculine, and thus straight, because he thinks his father will love him more. His (very loving and accepting) father sees right through this but humors his son anyway. By the end of the episode, of course, he accepts himself.
--->'''Kurt''': Turned out we have a lot more in common. The flannel. The Mellencamp. The ladies.
** Later mentioned in a far more serious context when [[spoiler:Karofsky is outed at his new school and tries to hang himself; at the hospital, he tells Kurt that his mother thinks he has a disease and that maybe he can be cured.]]
* On ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'', Francis becomes an assistant to beauty pageant contestants. He finds out that they think he's gay but goes along with it as it means they're comfortable flaunting their bodies around him and letting him help them change costumes. Eventually, he tries to get together with one by saying he's wondering if he can be cured, but this lands him in a seminar where a stereotypical Southern preacher lambasts the audience to "pray away the gay." It's also implied that another man at the seminar only comes there to pick up guys.
* ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'':
** In one episode, Elliot claims to have convinced a man he was straight by sleeping with him. Of course, then he hanged himself.
** When her brother Barry came out, their parents sent him to hetero-camp.
** She also loves doing a roleplay scenario with Keith where he plays the high school student and her the LesbianJock - and Keith 'turns' her.
* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' had the Sci-Fi version of this in the episode "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS5E17TheOutcast The Outcast]]", which featured the J'naii, a race of beings who pride themselves on being androgynous and view gender identity and gender attraction as taboo. When a J'naii called Soren begins to have feelings for Riker, Soren is forced to undergo "psychotectic therapy." To Riker's horror, it proves successful.
* During an episode of ''Series/TopGear'' guest-starring Michael Gambon, Michael said one of his favorite things was to give ignorant reporters interviews full of BlatantLies. He recalls a story where one interviewer asked if he was uncomfortable playing Creator/OscarWilde in a film because of his homosexuality, Gambon responded by saying that he used to be gay, but "had to give it up" because it made his eyes water. The interviewer evidently took this seriously.
* A ''Series/MrShow'' sketch: The "Good News" program on the What-to-Think Network tries to do this. A GlassClosetGay man keeps coming back over the years claiming that he's been cured, only to "relapse" and get caught at gay orgies again and again. In the end, the host declares that he has plans to "relapse" again during an upcoming holiday (presumably for another orgy) and then re-convert.
* In ''Series/GreysAnatomy'', after Callie comes out to her father (a die-hard Catholic), he cuts her off. After a few episodes, he comes back seemingly to reconcile... then Callie notices a priest he brought with him. She immediately starts angrily telling him that he can't "pray away the gay". Interestingly, the priest barely gets to say anything, as her father is the one trying to Bible-stump his way out of this "problem" with the priest trying to act as a mediator and the voice of reason. Eventually, Callie's father accepts her but only after Arizona (Callie's girlfriend) has a heart-to-heart talk with him. In a later episode, we find out that Callie's mother still has a long way to go before she can accept this (despite Callie pointing out that her own assistant is gay).
* In ''Series/ShamelessUS'', [[ArmouredClosetGay Mickey Milkovich]] is caught getting it from his boyfriend Ian when his [[HeteronormativeCrusader homophobic]] [[AbusiveParents father]] Terry comes home unexpectedly. Terry beats Mickey into unconsciousness and holds Ian captive at gunpoint while he calls in a prostitute to [[RapeByProxy "fuck the queer"]] out of his son. Faced with himself and Ian being shot if he refuses, Mickey complies. The prostitute later turns out to be pregnant and Mickey is [[TheBabyTrap forced to marry her]] even though he has no desire to and still wants to be with Ian (including having sex with him literally right before he goes out to the altar).
* PlayedForLaughs in the [[Series/TopGear Clarkson Island]] sketch in ''Series/HarryAndPaul''. The Clarkson farmer notes that, every so often, they do get a gay Clarkson. To fix this, the farmer sprays it with "de-gay", thus turning it back into a regular ManlyMan Clarkson.
* ''Series/AllMyChildren'':
** Erica Kane attempted some version of this when her daughter Bianca came out of the closet, believing her to be more confused than anything else. The therapist ended up helping both of them come to terms with it and repair their relationship.
** A minor character's parents attempted to do this with their son, sending him to therapy. It only served to make the poor boy even more confused and upset, culminating in his parents disowning him when he refused to deny his sexuality. Fortunately, one of the town's wealthiest citizens took him under his wing.
* ''Series/MadAboutYou'': Paul's mother's reaction to his sister coming out of the closet was to attempt to jump out of a window, then outright state "You are NOT a lesbian!" and declare her intent to send her to see a doctor. When his sister angrily declared, "I don't need to see a therapist!", her mother further cemented her irrational reaction by informing her that the doctor in question was an ENT specialist.
* Parodied on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' with the drug ''Homocil'', though this was more to help the ''parents'' deal with it, rather than turning the child back straight.
* ''Our America With Lisa Ling'' featured a trio of episodes dealing with conversion therapy. "Pray the Gay Away?" featured interviews with several people trying to "cure" their homosexuality, the people trying to "cure" them, and teenage attendees at an LGBT-supportive summer camp. "Pray the Gay Away? -- Breaking News" aired 17 months later. It repeated almost all of the same footage from the first episode along with a few minutes of a new interview with "ex=gay" organization Exodus International president Alan Chambers acknowledging that he was not "cured". The third episode, "God and Gays", aired 10 months after the second, one day after Exodus International disbanded. Chambers apologized to several gay and lesbian people for trying to sell the cure for as long as he did.
* An episode of ''Series/Perception2012'' about the murder of a psychiatrist had it revealed that he was trying to do this with several of his patients. It was eventually learned that the doctor himself was gay and was having an affair with one of the men, who killed him because the doctor wanted to stop his treatment so they could have a legitimate relationship, which would have destroyed his marriage.
* In ''Series/TheSopranos'', when Finn asks what is going to happen with an outed [[{{Gayngster}} Vito]], Chris tries to ease his mind by telling him that they'll make Vito pay for some therapy. Later on, Vito also tries to discuss it with Tony, to no avail.
-->'''Vito''': It was the medication I was on. For my blood pressure. It fucked with my head, but I'm over that now. I could probably get a letter from my doctor\\
'''Tony''': A note from your doctor saying you don't like to suck cock?
* In an episode of ''Series/Teachers2016'', Ms. Bennigan mentions that her friend Josiah was sent to North Dakota after he got caught kissing boys.
* ''Series/TheBoys2019'': Ezekiel's main selling point is that he truly believes that through the power of prayer, a person can become straight. At Believe Expo, Starlight even sees a poster of Homelander that says "Feeling Confused? Fly Straight", and the festival just serves as a way to market this to the world at large by sponsoring superheroes. [[spoiler: He [[{{Hypocrite}} personally knows the opposite, and lives as a closeted gay man.]]]]
* In The CW's ''Series/{{Riverdale}}'', after coming to terms with being a lesbian and developing a close bond with Toni Topaz, Cheryl Blossom gets sent against her will to a conversion hospital by her homophobic mother Penelope in a selfish attempt to cure her daughter of her "demons". Luckily, Cheryl is rescued by Toni and Veronica in the nick of time.
* The main plot for the controversial short-lived television TLC documentary ''My Husband's Not Gay'' in which four wives of four random Mormon men are in denial of their husbands' sexualities and try to "cure" them through any means possible.
* ''Series/BigSky'': Jerrie's parents sent her to a therapist in hopes this would stop her being transgender. After it didn't, they disowned her.
* ''Series/FortyFourHundred'':
** It's implied that Noah's fear of doctors stems from his parents trying to stop him from transitioning.
** Isaiah's family is involved in the "reparative therapy" business... which has been denounced by his son.
* ''Series/TheLWord'':
** When Jenny and Shane are interviewing potential roommates in Season 2, one of them makes this offer, and she is shown the door.
** In Season 3 an "ex-gay" ministry is introduced by flashbacks from the 1980s, showing this drives people into mass hypocrisy as the supposed "former" gays or lesbians just have sex on the side.

* ''Theatre/TheBoysInTheBand''. Michael and Donald both wish to be "cured" of their homosexuality; Donald is even seeing a shrink to help him. Other characters, like Emory and Harold, refuse to be cured, and in Harold's case, mocks Michael's self-loathing.
* In the musical ''Theatre/OnlyHeavenKnows'', set in the 1940s and '50s, Alan sings the TearJerker "Where is the Love?" before going to get shock treatments to cure himself of homosexuality.
* Peterson Toscano's one-man show ''Doin' Time in the Homo No Mo Halfway House'' is about the utter failure of this trope in the real world.

* An apparent case of this was the cause of a huge amount of controversy with the character [[CuteBruiser Soleil]] from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates''. Soleil is a bisexual ActionGirl with a preference for women, [[AllWomenAreLustful whose wandering eye]] [[DistractedByTheSexy leads to problems in battle]]; she asks the male Avatar for help, which involves him [[SlippingAMickey giving her a powder in her drink without her knowledge]] that makes her see everyone with genders reversed, clearing the way for the two of them to hook up since she now sees the Avatar as a cute girl. Creator/{{Nintendo}} ''did'' admit that the original scene came out terribly, said that they didn't mean for it to come off as gay conversion therapy, and both apologized and changed the scene for the localization: here Soleil and the Male Avatar mutually agree on having her blindfolded as she mentally and physically trains with him to focus better on the battlefield.

* The last issue of ''Webcomic/{{Sonichu}}'' before its long hiatus involves Chris-chan donating some of his "[[HaveIMentionedIAmHeterosexualToday pure straight]]" blood to science so that they can create a vaccine [[ArtisticLicensePharmacology that erases homosexuality]] [[LegoGenetics on a genetic level]], which he uses to turn his arch-nemesis straight and "turned him good" and injects into the water supply with the help of TimeTravel, eventually eradicating homosexuality off the face of the Earth entirely. It also cured UsefulNotes/{{asexuality}} too. For some reason, they didn't use future Chris. And it raises some questions though: did the distribution of the gay vaccine in the past create a time paradox, or did the gay vaccine simply fail?
** The fact that he terms it specifically as a vaccine brings some added lulz, as vaccines are made from the blood of someone who ''already has'' what you're trying to cure. Whoops. And naturally, [[SarcasmBlind he got the idea from the Family Guy example below]]. To compound the ridiculousness even further, he then proceeded to legalize gay sex in [=CWCville=] within the next few pages.
** To add further ridiculousness Chris eventually identified as a female lesbian. The plot point was epicly {{retcon}}ned so that all previous mentions of homosexuality in a negative light were now replaced with "Zazi Nombies". Hilariously, they still need to fix it with Chris' pure straight blood.
* A reverse example occurs early in ''Webcomic/SomethingPositive'' when [[TheDitz Monette]] insists she's a lesbian who just ends up sleeping with guys all the time and wants help to become properly gay.
-->'''Peejee''': You could always have sex with Davan.\\
'''Aubrey''': [[LastHetRomance Plenty of his lovers switched teams afterwards]].\\
'''Davan''': Hey! Fuck you! That's only happened twice!

* In ''{{Webcomic/Rain|2010}}'', Rudy and Maria's parents look into camps for "curing" the pair's homosexuality. Both of them receive a book called "How to cure homosexuality and reopen the gates of heaven for yourself" for Christmas.
* Inverted by ''Webcomic/LeftoverSoup'''s LovableSexManiac Maxine, who underwent months of intense "[[UsefulNotes/{{Pornography}} training]]" to cure her ''hetero''sexuality and become bisexual, pretty much just so she could perv on the ''entire'' population of the planet instead of just half. Apparently, it was easier than giving up bacon was when she decided to go vegan.
-->'''Maxine''': As far as I'm concerned, monosexuality, [[{{Polyamory}} like monogamy]], is a hurdle to be overcome. My yen for yin is entirely artificial. [...] Those people who say you're born with one orientation and are stuck with it? Those people are QUITTERS.
* ''{{Webcomic/Spinnerette}}'': [[spoiler:Sara Nicole Megan]], a former Pumpkin Queen, voluntarily takes psychotropic drugs to "keep on the straight and narrow". It doesn't seem to work fully though, as she's turned on when watching [[CatFight Mecha Maid and Spinnerette fighting]].
* Exploited in ''Webcomic/SandraAndWoo''. After Landon's fundamentalist mother forbids him from dating [[GoodBadGirl Larisa]] following a rather disasterous home visit, Michelle intervenes by sending her a call falsly claiming that everyone at school was convinced that Landon was gay and Larisa was curing him. Surprisingly, it works and Landon's mother allows them to continue dating (with the caveat that she never wants to see Larisa again).
* ''WebComic/DumbingOfAge'' mocks a story arc from ''ComicStrip/NineChickweedLane'', in which Seth, who identifies as gay, falls for a female dancer because of how well she danced, by having the [[ShowWithinAShow parody]] say "[[https://www.dumbingofage.com/2022/comic/book-13/02-turning-saints-into-the-sea/semi/ I'm fixed! Your matchless legs have cured me of my homosexuality!]]" (Look under Joyce's strip.)

* The web series ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErG963U3hxQ Coming In]]'' stars Mitchell, a gay man who wakes up one day attracted to women instead of men. After attempts to go back to liking men fail, Mitchell attempts to navigate his newfound world of heterosexuality. No reason is ever given for the change - when Mitchell's father proudly claims he was only going through a phase of being gay, Mitchell shuts him down, saying that isn't how it works. Early on, Mitchell goes to an "ex-gay" meeting for support, only to see that the men are clearly still attracted to men.
* The [[StealthParody Landover Baptist Church]], via its charismatic spokeswoman Mrs. Betty Bowers ("America's Best Christian"), runs an outreach aimed at reforming gay men and women - Baptists Are Saving Homosexuals. Indeed, she boasts of the sheer number of gays who have been [=BASHed=] by the saving love of Jesus Christ.

* In ''WesternAnimation/DrawnTogether'', after [[{{Gayngst}} being alienated from his girlfriend upon finding out he's gay]], Xandir tries to wish himself straight on a magic lamp (with "encouragement" from [[PoliticallyIncorrectHero Clara]]). [[WhatTheHellHero The genie refuses to grant it and calls him out on it]].
* In ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', Peter becomes gay after a medical experiment and leaves Lois. Stewie and Brian then take Peter by force to a Christian "Straight Camp." Doesn't work, but by the end of the episode his "gay gene" naturally wears off (just between an all-male orgy) and [[StatusQuoIsGod he's back as a "straight" man]]. Peter, through the years, seems to be just as inclined towards AnythingThatMoves as Quagmire, so how much of this really was Peter being "turned" and then "cured" of homosexuality vs. something making Peter react much more strongly to male pheromones than normal combining with his penchant for self-delusion is anyone's guess.

* Parodied in a ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' TV Funhouse short with "Heteroy", the Christian fundamentalist superhero whose powers convert gays to straights when they prove resistant to converting through other means.
* On ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}'', [[CampGay Gillette]] reveals that he was married for two years... [[TheBeard to a lesbian]]. They met at a Pray-Away-The-Gay bible group. It was a weird time in his life.
* An [[Recap/KingOfTheHillS5E15LuanneVirgin20 episode]] of ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' offers a more sympathetic take on this. Peggy admits that before she met Hank she slept with a gay male friend in an attempt to "fix" him. In this case, the man was the one who asked because (as Peggy puts it), being gay in Texas in the 60s wasn't exactly a lot of fun. When Luanne asks "Did you fix him?", Peggy responds "Oh, no, Luanne, he was not broken. Just gay. Very, very gay."
* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode "Proposition Infinity", "robosexuals" Amy and Bender are respectively subjected to being "cured" of their attraction, complete with Bender going to the robot equivalent of a conversion therapy camp. In a bit of BlackComedy, Morbo exasperatedly says "What's next? ''Gay'' robot marriage?'', implying that, even in the thirty-first century, there are [[HereWeGoAgain still]] issues concerning human(oid) rights.

* PlayedForLaughs in the [[Series/TopGear Clarkson Island]] sketch in ''Series/HarryAndPaul''. The Clarkson farmer notes that, every so often, they do get a gay Clarkson. To fix this, the farmer sprays it with "de-gay", thus turning it back into a regular RatedMForManly Clarkson.

* ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'': Tsubasa Kurenai is introduced as a PsychoLesbian virulently rejecting any interest in men and stalking any girl that shows the slightest bit of kindness, including Ukyo, Akane, and [[SexShifter girl Ranma]]. Ranma and Akane spend the whole time telling Tsubasa her problem is that she needs to get a boyfriend instead. Ranma tries inviting her on a date as a girl but then coming as a guy, which Akane objects to simply because he's too inept to pull it off (and would give Ranma ''another'' unwanted suitor if it did). The "punchline", as it turns out, is that Tsubasa ''isn't'' a vocally-homosexual girl, but a [[CampStraight vocally-heterosexual crossdressing boy]]. Oddly, Ukyo assumed Tsubasa was a gay guy (she knew Tsubasa was male, but not that he knew [[{{Bifauxnen}} Ukyo]] was a girl) and didn't have any problem with it.

* ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'': Tsubasa Kurenai is introduced as a PsychoLesbian virulently rejecting any interest in men and stalking any girl that shows the slightest bit of kindness, including Ukyo, Akane, and [[SexShifter girl Ranma]]. Ranma and Akane spend the whole time telling Tsubasa her problem is that she needs to get a boyfriend instead. Ranma tries inviting her on a date as a girl but then coming as a guy, which Akane objects to simply because he's too inept to pull it off (and would give Ranma ''another'' unwanted suitor if it did). The "punchline", as it turns out, is that Tsubasa ''isn't'' a vocally-homosexual girl, but a vocally-heterosexual crossdressing boy. Oddly, Ukyo assumed Tsubasa was a gay guy (she knew Tsubasa was male, but not that he knew [[{{Bifauxnen}} Ukyo]] was a girl) and didn't have any problem with it.

* {{Double Subver|sion}}ted in ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'', Ranma and co try to cure what they think is Tsubasa's LesYay[[invoked]] crush on Ukyo by setting her up on a date with Ranma himself. However, in the end, it turned out that while Tsubasa was an extremely convincing WholesomeCrossdresser ''he'' was totally heterosexual. ''Ranma ½'', unfortunately more or less a product of its time, has a slight stigma against homosexuality: Ukyo, Akane, and Ranma consider Tsubasa a "[[{{Hentai}} pervert]]" that needs correcting when they find out he's only interested in girls (at this point they still think he's a girl), and when Tsubasa gets exposed as a stalking transvestite, he, of all people, says he doesn't like guys because he's NOT a "pervert".

Whether the homosexual character being "cured" is male or female and ''how'' they're cured, depends more on when the work was written than on anything else. Before about 1970 (and dating so far back that it's OlderThanSteam) lesbianism was thought of not as an active attraction to women but as a neurotic, unhealthy rejection of men or [[UsefulNotes/{{Asexual}} even of sex entirely]] ("sex" at the time being thought of as all about men). For this reason, a lot of "cures" involved the woman finding a good man, or even a bad one (in that a lot of times the "cures" for lesbians were basically rape). Gay men's homosexuality was seen as a deeper-rooted psychological problem, often due to supposedly [[MyBelovedSmother over-indulgent mothers]] (a popular cause for all sorts of ills at the time). It's only in the past 30-40 years that the idea of male and female homosexuality having a similar cause and "cure" has come about and been shown in media.

* ''VideoGame/SnootGame'', a visual novel made by an anonymous team of Website/FourChan users, features this as part of it being a parody/critique of ''VideoGame/GoodbyeVolcanoHigh''. Fang, the protagonist of the latter game, is nonbinary, having come out and transitioned prior to the events of the game. ''Snoot Game'' both belittles and interrogates this identity over the course of its story, and should the player make the right choices, it's eventually revealed that [[spoiler:Fang became nonbinary out of peer pressure from Trish]]. The game's two best endings feature Fang detransitioning into a cis woman, while in the two worst endings, Fang stays nonbinary and [[spoiler:either becomes a school shooter or a washed-up, drug-addicted loser]].

* In ''Videogame/DragonAgeInquisition'', one of the major reasons Dorian Pavus left Tevinter was because [[spoiler:his own ''father'' tried to use BloodMagic to make Dorian heterosexual (it should be noted that this has more to do with Tevinter obsession with bloodlines, rather than ''actual'' dislike of homosexuality in itself). The ritual is noted to have had a significant risk of lobotomizing him instead.]]

* In the 11th major expansion Monks and Mystics of ''VideoGame/CrusaderKingsII'', it featured a Satanic cult where your character's homosexuality can be "cured" by certain sexual events, such as a satanic orgy with a long-tail succubus. However, homosexuality can be "bestow upon" you by demons.

* An episode of ''Series/{{Perception}}'' about the murder of a psychiatrist had it revealed that he was trying to do this with several of his patients. It was eventually learned that the doctor himself was gay and was having an affair with one of the men, who killed him because the doctor wanted to stop his treatment so they could have a legitimate relationship, which would have destroyed his marriage.

Once quite common, this trope is increasingly becoming a {{discredited|Trope}} one due to homosexuals, in general, being moved to the realm of formerly acceptable targets as well as some cathartic backlash against the once common idea of "curing" homosexuality. There is also the growing body of research showing that homosexuality is likely to have a biological cause, and attempts to "cure" it with psychotherapy or other non-medical techniques are not only usually ineffective but can often be dangerous, and the rejection of this trope by all major medical and psychological organizations such as the American Psychiatric Association. Especially as it can raise the suicide rate of its 'patients' up to 10 times the population average. It is now illegal to subject minors to this in UsefulNotes/{{California}}, with other states following suit; additionally, conversion therapy has been found to be a violation of state consumer-protection laws (essentially, false advertising/fraud, or in trope terms, it's pure [[SnakeOilSalesman snake oil]]) in UsefulNotes/NewJersey (following a 2015 verdict), which likely portends similar findings elsewhere in the US at least (most states' consumer protection laws are worded very similarly).

Once quite common, this trope is increasingly becoming a {{discredited|Trope}} one due to homosexuals, in general, being moved to the realm of OnceAcceptableTargets as well as some cathartic backlash against the once common idea of "curing" homosexuality. There is also the growing body of research showing that homosexuality is likely to have a biological cause, and attempts to "cure" it with psychotherapy or other non-medical techniques are not only usually ineffective but can often be dangerous, and the rejection of this trope by all major medical and psychological organizations such as the American Psychiatric Association. Especially as it can raise the suicide rate of its 'patients' up to 10 times the population average. It is now illegal to subject minors to this in UsefulNotes/{{California}}, with other states following suit; additionally, conversion therapy has been found to be a violation of state consumer-protection laws (essentially, false advertising/fraud, or in trope terms, it's pure [[SnakeOilSalesman snake oil]]) in UsefulNotes/NewJersey (following a 2015 verdict), which likely portends similar findings elsewhere in the US at least (most states' consumer protection laws are worded very similarly).

** Inverted in "Cooter", when a "gay bomb" weapon malfunctions, causing Jack and Pentagon brass to start hitting on each other. In a later episode, it is implied things went further as Jack fretted about meeting a general he'd had sex with under the influence.[[note]]''Series/ThirtyRock''[='=]s writers were aware that this was an experimental weapon [[AluminumChristmasTrees the military was actually working on]], but it wasn't necessarily a gay bomb, more a pheromone gas that made people have sex with [[AnythingThatMoves anyone nearby]] as a way of distracting the other side. They never actually got it past the planning stages, for the obvious reason of it being a ridiculously stupid idea.[[/note]]

* ''WebComic/DumbingOfAge'' mocks a story arc from ''ComicStrip/NineChickweedLane'', in which Seth, who identifies as gay, falls for a female dancer because of how well she danced, by having the [[ShowWithinAShow parody]] say "[[https://www.dumbingofage.com/2022/comic/book-13/02-turning-saints-into-the-sea/semi/ I'm fixed! Your matchless legs have cured me of my homosexuality!]] (Look under Joyce's strip.)

* ''Film/{{Dope}}'': Diggy's family tries to cure her lesbianism through prayer every Sunday at their church. As the narrator relates this we see her in the middle of a prayer circle the only time she's wearing feminine clothing looking bored then checking out an attractive woman nearby. She jokes that maybe it worked due to being turned on by seeing Music/JustinBieber.

* ''Series/{{Dope}}'': Diggy's family tries to cure her lesbianism through prayer every Sunday at their church. As the narrator relates this we see her in the middle of a prayer circle the only time she's wearing feminine clothing looking bored then checking out an attractive woman nearby. She jokes that maybe it worked due to being turned on by seeing Music/JustinBieber.

* The last issue of ''Webcomic/{{Sonichu}}'' before its long hiatus involves Chris-chan donating some of his "[[HaveIMentionedIAmHeterosexualToday pure straight]]" blood to science so that they can create a [[YouKeepUsingThatWord vaccine]] [[ArtisticLicensePharmacology that erases homosexuality]] [[LegoGenetics on a genetic level]], which he uses to turn his arch-nemesis straight and "turned him good" and injects into the water supply with the help of TimeTravel, eventually eradicating homosexuality off the face of the Earth entirely. It also cured UsefulNotes/{{asexuality}} too. For some reason, they didn't use future Chris. And it raises some questions though: did the distribution of the gay vaccine in the past create a time paradox, or did the gay vaccine simply fail?

* In ''Love Drugged'' by James Klise, the main character attempts to cure his own homosexuality by taking an experimental pill that claims to be able to remove homosexual urges, even though it's currently untested and the side effects include nausea, rage problems, and blinding headaches. [[spoiler:It doesn't quite work as he hoped, however - the pills only help with diminishing his homosexual urges, but don't create heterosexual urges in their place, leaving him basically desexualized, angry, and in pain.]]

* In ''Film/{{Blackbird}}'', Randy tries to do this to himself, and later his mother and Pastor Crandall try to drive the homosexuality out of him, all without success.

* Alfie in ''Literature/AlfiesHome'' gets "cured".

* Parodied in ''Comicbook/SwampThing'' Vol. 2 #165, an [[SomethingCompletelyDifferent out-of-continuity]] {{Satire}} on mid-[[TheNineties nineties]] American conservatism. As part of his pendulum shift from [[NewAgeRetroHippie hippiedom]], Chester Williams instantly undoes his ex-girlfriend's lesbianism with a single kiss. Cue MatchCut to the two of them kissing at their wedding.

* An [[Recap / KingOfTheHillS5E15LuanneVirgin20 episode]] of ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' offers a more sympathetic take on this. Peggy admits that before she met Hank she slept with a gay male friend in an attempt to "fix" him. In this case, the man was the one who asked because (as Peggy puts it), being gay in Texas in the 60s wasn't exactly a lot of fun. When Luanne asks "Did you fix him?", Peggy responds "Oh, no, Luanne, he was not broken. Just gay. Very, very gay."