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PFLAG x I Changed My Mind: Sue's Story
The national organization dedicated to supporting friends and families of LGBTQ+ folks is betting on people’s intellectual humility.
As the U.S. Supreme Court hears Chiles v. Salazar on Tuesday, a case that could determine whether states can continue banning so-called conversion therapy for minors, PFLAG National is releasing a short documentary that reframes the debate in human terms.
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The 12-minute film, Sue’s Story, premieres Tuesday as part of PFLAG’s I Changed My Mind series and follows a conservative evangelical mother who once believed she could “fix” her child’s gender identity through faith and therapy. The episode, produced in partnership with filmmaker Brooke Sebold, instead chronicles a different kind of conversion: a parent’s moral awakening through love, information, and loss.
Related: Almost 200 members of Congress call on the Supreme Court to uphold bans on conversion therapy
“I protested Pride when my child was 10 years old,” Sue says in the film. A self-described “lifelong Republican,” she recounts homeschooling her three children for two decades to “protect them from indoctrination.” Her youngest, Stix, came out as gay at 10 and later as transgender. The turning point came when Sue’s middle daughter told her she would either have to change or lose her child. “We were hopeful that the conversion therapy she did would change her,” Sue says. “Instead, it left her with anxiety and depression.”
All major medical associations have discredited conversion therapy as dangerous because it is not possible to change somebody's sexual orientation or gender identity. Still, although states have moved to ban use of the practice on minors, the Trevor Project reports that young people are still being subjected to the dangerous efforts.
Sebold said Sue’s vulnerability and willingness to revisit her past captured the essence of I Changed My Mind, a five-part documentary series exploring how people evolve in polarized times. “It’s not normalized in our culture to admit you once believed something harmful,” Sebold told The Advocate. “Sue had to realize that her daughter wasn’t going to change — that it was on her. And that meant letting go of her community, her identity, even her church.”
Related: How the Supreme Court’s conversion therapy case could reshape LGBTQ+ protections across America
Sebold said the series was inspired by the idea of intellectual humility, the ability to change one’s mind when presented with new information. “We live in a moment where disagreement has turned into disgust,” they said. “Sue’s story shows what it looks like to bridge that divide. Most people change because someone they love challenges them, not because of a debate or an argument.”
For Liz Owen, PFLAG National’s communications director, Sue’s journey represents the organization’s mission in miniature. Since 1973, PFLAG has helped families reconcile their faith, their fear, and their love for their LGBTQ+ children.
“When parents come to PFLAG, they’re not changing their value of loving their child; they’re learning new information about how to express that love,” Owen told The Advocate. “They thought they were doing the right thing by sending their kid to therapy. Then they realize they were getting bad information. What changes is how they show up for their child.”
Related: South Carolina city caves to Republican attorney general's demands to lift ban on conversion therapy
Owen said PFLAG’s approach, meeting families where they are, mirrors Sebold’s storytelling philosophy. “You can walk into a PFLAG meeting believing what Sue once believed, and you’ll be welcomed, not shamed,” she said. “That’s where change begins.”
The organization is experiencing record growth, Owen said, with more than 40 new chapters forming this year — many in small or conservative communities where such spaces were once unimaginable. “People are coming not only for support but to learn how to go from quietly loving their child to loudly advocating for them,” Owen said.
Sebold said the series isn’t designed to persuade but to invite reflection. “I’m not trying to change anyone’s mind,” they said. “I’m trying to listen. My goal is to create something strong enough that people can feel it in their bodies, and whatever they do with that feeling is up to them.”
As Sue’s Story premieres and the justices consider whether conversion therapy bans will stand, two definitions of “conversion” will share the national stage. One seeks to erase queer lives in the name of faith; the other restores faith by embracing queer people as family.
Related: The fight to eradicate dangerous ‘conversion therapy’ isn’t over, alarming new report warns
In Sue’s Story, that feeling is visible. Sue and her husband now attend Stix’s drag performances, cheering from the front row. Stix performs under the name Sticks and Stones, reclaiming the words that once wounded her. “She makes her own costumes,” Sue says in the episode. “She’s brilliant at what she does. I really enjoy going to drag performances. They’re just a lot of fun.”
The woman who once protested Pride now carries a sign that reads “Trans Lives Matter.” After one show, she recalls sweeping up glitter and telling her daughter, “You bring color into my life.”
Owen said stories like Sue’s are crucial in a moment when misinformation about LGBTQ+ people has hardened into policy. “These are the same fights we’ve been waging for decades,” she said. “What’s changed is how fast misinformation spreads. But our strength is the same — parents and LGBTQ+ people standing together, using the right messenger for the right listener, finding even the smallest crack of light and helping it grow.”
Watch Sue's Story below.
- YouTube youtu.be
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