‘change me straight’

‘Mean Girls’ Star Daniel Franzese: I Was ‘Brainwashed’ in Conversion Therapy

Franzese told Page Six he cut ties with his mother, whom he once blamed for his sexuality, for two months.

Prior to stealing our hearts as the openly gay character Damian in Mean Girls, Daniel Franzese was trying hard to change who he was. Though his Catholic and Pentecostal Christian family was supportive when he came out as gay, Franzese told Page Six he went through a six-month bout of one-on-one conversion therapy sessions at 21. “I went to one-on-one therapy sessions with a person who was trying to change me straight and make me pray the gay away and alienate all my allies,” he said. His therapist convinced him that his mom, who was supportive, was the reason he was gay, causing them to not speak for two months, Franzese said. “They made me come out to my mom, who was literally like my best ally, and say, ‘It’s your fault,’” he said. Once he realized that the therapist was “so gay, like gay.com.org.edu” and used to identify as gay, Franzese said he stopped going. Support from fans of Mean Girls later in his life caused him to come out publicly in 2014, he said.