One Nation Under God (1993) User Reviews

informative account of ex-gay and gay civil rights movements

[el_soledad_vera · 8/10 · 10 July 2005]

With the reemergence of popular anti-gay sentiment linked with political platforms centered on the issue of same sex marriage, it might just be time for the documentary One Nation under God to reemerge as well. This film comprehensively and chronologically presents the history of homosexuality in the United States since the 1950s. It describes the attitude taken toward homosexuality prior to the American Psychiatric Associations 1974 decision to remove it from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). Moreover, it effectively displays how homophobia was present in mental health treatments during that time, and how present day reparative therapies emerged in the wake of the APA decision.

The strength of this documentary is its organization. It juxtaposes interviews and testimonies from those who work for the ex-gay movement and those whose lives have been affected by it. Though the presentation of the film is somewhat dated, the material it presents is disturbingly timeless. It will be particularly interesting to those knowledgeable about gay culture and the ex-gay movement, and makes a good compliment for the more recent Tom Murray documentary Fish Can't Fly: Conversations about GOD and Struggling to be Gay (2005). However, it is possible that anyone, regardless of prior knowledge, will relate to and learn something from the sentiments the One Nation under God expresses.

Intriguing Issues and Unanswered Questions

[gftbiloxi · 8/10 · 19 April 2008]

Associated with right-wing Christian evangelicals, Exodus advocates conversion of homosexuals into heterosexuals through various programs--although precisely what these programs are, how effective they are, and whether such conversion should be attempted at all have been contentious issues since the organization formed in 1976. ONE NATION UNDER GOD seeks to describe Exodus and similar programs and compare their somewhat vague success stories against the realities of those who attempted this sexual conversion and crashed and burned.

The major focus of the film is on Michael Bussee and Gary Cooper. Bussee was among the five co-founding members of Exodus; Cooper was an Exodus volunteer who is sometimes described as a co-founder, depending on the exact source. Both were gay men determined to become heterosexual--but precipitated a mighty scandal in the Exodus ranks when they instead fell in love with each other. Other notables interviewed include Frank Worthen, founder of Love In Action, which pre-dated Exodus; and Martin Duberman, noted author, a gay man who sought to become heterosexual through psychotherapy and whose book CURES documents the process he underwent.

As these and other interview subjects speak out on camera they are occasionally interrupted by "scientific films" drawn from the 1950s and 1960s; religious leaders who condemn or support, as case may be; and some unintentionally hilarious moments, including one that can only be described as "beauty tips for lesbians." The result is a collage of questions to which no two people have exactly the same answer. Can one change one's sexuality? Or not? If so, how? And if so, is it actually a desirable sort of thing? Although ONE NATION UNDER GOD clearly comes down on the side of those who claim that "ministries" such as Exodus are little more than dangerous pseudo-science, the answers to the questions are not quite as clear cut as one could wish--which is, in fact, one of the points the film makes: to this date there has been no serious study of Exodus' success rates. The DVD offers a reasonable transfer, but there are no bonuses of any kind--a great pity in this instance, for it is a fascinating subject that bears considerably deeper investigation than this fairly short film allows.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

How sick can people be?

[lee_eisenberg · 10/10 · 17 September 2007]

I've seen a few documentaries showing fundamentalist Christian hostility towards gays, but "One Nation Under God" shows something new: groups who try to cure individuals of homosexuality. Their idea of course is that homosexuality is a mental disorder. Specifically, they put gays and lesbians through forms of aversion therapy in the hope of making them fear their own sexual preferences.

The documentary focuses a lot on Gary Cooper and Michael Bussee, a pair of former "ex-gays": they went through the treatment provided by one of the groups and claimed that they'd gotten cured, but then didn't like denying their true preferences. As far as I'm concerned, homophobia and the belief that one can cure homosexuality is the real mental disorder.

One of the people interviewed wondered how things would turn out over the next ten or fifteen years. Well, we can now comment on that. Bill Clinton established "Don't Ask, Don't Tell". Movies like "Philadelphia", "The Birdcage" and "In & Out" offered a new look at gays (previously, cinema had usually portrayed gay men as sissies). Then of course, George W. Bush tries to make banning gay marriage a more important issue than capturing Osama bin Laden, while Jerry Falwell literally blames tolerance of homosexuality for the September 11 attacks. Not to mention that we have gay-bashing public figures who occasionally turn out to be closeted homosexuals.

All in all, I definitely recommend this documentary. You should also watch "The Times of Harvey Milk" and go to the restaurant Harvey's in San Francisco's Castro district. A large tribute to Mr. Milk, it shows the various stages of his life (including a police raid on a gay bar after Joe McCarthy associated homosexuality with communism).

Personally, I would like to see something. One of the people interviewed said that you can't try to make a straight person gay. I would like to try it on a gay-basher: force him to listen to Barbra Streisand's and Bette Midler's music, and then force him to watch "Bewitched" and "I Dream of Jeannie".

You've Got To Hide Your Love Away

[valis1949 · 26 August 2011]

ONE NATION UNDER GOD highlights the thuggish nature of evangelical reasoning when sexual matters are investigated. The film examines Christian "Cure" Counseling which employ aversion therapy and brainwashing techniques that can change erotic behavior, but seem to have only marginal effect on sexual orientation. The jubilance and exultation of these "former" Gay and Lesbians all have a resoundingly false ring. However, it has only been since 1974 that the psychiatric community no longer classified homosexuality as a character disorder, and the theological mindset is very slow to change. The message of this documentary is clearly that ignorance and hatred within the evangelical movement perverts the fundamental message of Christianity. The New Good News For Modern Man now seems to be, "We are all God's children except for those of us who are NOT"!

The "Ex-Gay" Movement Exposed

[ScottAmundsen · 10/10 · 29 May 2010]

I first came across this film when it aired on the PBS program P.O.V. in, I think it was June of 1994. At the time I was thirty-one years old and had been out since the age of nineteen, but I had never heard of the "ex-gay" movement. So when I saw the coming attractions, I sat down to watch. Needless to say I was horrified.

The historical information, such as the persecution of LGBT persons in Nazi Germany and the mostly negative attitudes in the postwar years, I already knew about. But somehow the existence of this "ministry" that professed to "change" gay persons into straight persons had escaped my notice.

That being said, this is a very involving movie for a documentary. It has lots of drama, and in spots it is downright scary, as when that one man says, and I quote: "God hates homosexuals, and so do Christians." Completely untrue, of course, but imagine being a gay kid of, say, fourteen, wondering how to cope with his or her feelings, hearing a message like that, particularly if the kid also happens to be a Christian.

It has moments of comedy as well. When the film finally gets around to interviewing Sy Rogers, who was at the time the president of Exodus, it gets positively campy. Rogers is so feminine that the whole thing literally becomes surreal. Put him in a dress and he would have been more convincing as a woman than he was as a man. And when they got into the business of "changing behaviors" -- encouraging men to play football, and teaching butch women about hair and makeup, my partner and I fairly howled with laughter.

There is a lot in this little, hour-and-twenty-six-minute film; it swings from campy comedy to human tragedy (when one of the founders of Love in Action described how he was forced to end his long-term relationship with his partner I wept). And whether you've been victimized by them, or you've never heard of them, ONE NATION UNDER GOD tells the truth about the "ex-gay" movement in a way that no other work I have ever come across does. A must see.

Michael Busee i remember you

[richard_armijo · 10 April 2017]

Michael, the ability to comment on your person digitally is not so good. my name is Richard. you remember me because we were close friends when we lived in Riverside, before i moved to Santa Maria because my dad was transferred to Vandenburg air force base. i guess we were about 12 and we met at school and became friends. i especially remember 7th grade. i read some of the commentary about your insecurities as a child. even then i was aware, being a tolerant catholic. i liked you a lot and i really do not remember you being bullied for being gay or effeminate, but if you say so it must be true. you pretty much behaved like a normal insecure early teen. before adolescent would likely be more correct. we both lived on the poor side of the tracks. then your dad, who was a contractor, built a new house for your family in a better part of town. you invited me over to help you make lolly pops. i was seated on a low chair and you were standing above me. you, taller, stood above me. then for no reason you lowered your face and kissed my mouth. i had never been kissed before by another boy. i ignored what you had initiated and continued to process the lolly pops. your mother and father did not like me, maybe they thought i was a bad influence because of my Spanish surname, or perhaps they thought i might be queer. doesn't matter much to me. i have often thought about you and your sister Kay and your mom and dad. i was aware of your being Mormon, or affiliation with the church of latter day saints. did not think much about it. but i see what your family/faith did to you, and perhaps your birth religion; a great injury. they psychologically injured you and placed you in a place of psycho/emotional risk. and that is something that rarely can be undone. your life has been over the top. i do hope you have found peace. i still have the photo you sent me from your high school graduation. i went on to UCSB and other dumpsters. i moved to New York City in 1980. but i still miss California. Richard