'Tiny needles were stuck into my fingers and I was electrocuted': Victim of Baptist gay conversion therapy describes how he was tortured at 12



Beaten repeatedly by his father after innocently telling him, aged 12, that he was attracted to his friend

Told he had AIDS, that he was the only gay person in the country and the government would kill him if they found out

Hands burned and frozen with ice while he was shown images of men hugging

Electrocuted for a month while shown explicit pictures of men

Has since been excommunicated by his family and warned by his father that he will shoot him if he ever comes home

At just 12 years of age, Samuel Brinton had no idea he was not supposed to be attracted to other boys.

So when he told his father, a Southern Baptist missionary from Iowa, that friends had found a Playboy magazine - and that he didn't get excited like they did because he only felt that way about his best friend, Dale - he could never have predicted the torture that was to follow.

After being knocked out cold by his father, so hard that he had to be rushed to the Emergency Room, Samuel was repeatedly beaten up before being subjected to months of excruciating aversion therapy.

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Reflective: Samuel described in detail the horrors he experienced in conversion therapy as a young boy

He was initially told he had AIDS and that he was the only gay person left in the country - because the government had killed all the rest of them and would come after him too if they found out he was alive.



Freezing ice cubes were placed in his hands while he was shown pictures of men hugging - so that he would associate pain with intimacy between men.

He was then repeatedly burned when shown similar images but untouched when images of men and women together were shown.

'The Month of Hell consisted of tiny needles being stuck into my fingers and then pictures of explicit acts between men would be shown and I'd be electrocuted'

Eventually, he was subjected to what was called the 'Month of Hell'. Tiny needles were stuck into his small fingers and he was electrocuted repeatedly while shown explicit pictures of men.

After being excommunicated by his family almost a decade later, Samuel has spoken about the ordeal he suffered as a child at the hands of his Southern Baptist community.

Samuel was interviewed as part of a series of gay, lesbian bisexual and transgender stories from across America found by a group called I'm From Driftwood.

The forum's founder and executive director Nathan Manske travelled the country with two colleagues to discover the many untold stories of struggles faced by gay teens in small towns and cities.

Samuel, who now studies at Kansas State University, described in detail the abuse he suffered as a result of the innocent admission he made to his father when he was a child.

He speaks of being hospitalised by his father six times before the therapy even began, before describing in detail the 'treatment' to which he was subjected.



'The Month of Hell consisted of tiny needles being stuck into my fingers and then pictures of explicit acts between men would be shown and I'd be electrocuted,' he said.

After months of torture he considered suicide, climbing onto the roof of the three-storey building where he lived.

His mother's attempt to lure him down consisted of her saying: 'I'll love you again if you just change.'

Fighter: Samuel was raised in a Southern Baptist community and was not accepted for being gay

Story: Samuel has told of his ordeal to help others who may be going through similar experiences with parents who don't accept their sexuality

'It's not the thing to say to someone standing on the edge of a building,' Samuel said.

He eventually came down and convinced his parents he had, in fact, changed - a façade that he maintained until leaving home for university, and one which brought an end to his brutal therapy.

After coming to terms with his sexuality away from home, Samuel returned to come out to them once again.

He told his mother and after she told his father he returned to find all his belongings outside the front door.

He has since been warned by his father that he will kill him if he ever comes back.

'I've tried to call them multiple times,' he said. 'I try to keep calling. I want contact.



'The last time [my dad told me] he would shoot me if I ever tried to walk in the door again.'