A gay activist has posted a video showing the so-called “exorcist” his parents hired to try and turn him straight when he was a teenager.
Andrew Hartzler, 25, says he came out to his parents when he was 14. The Kansas City family were members of an evangelical Christian sect called the International House of Prayer.
Hartzler says not only did his folks send him to conversion camp, but they also booked an exorcist to clear the demons from his room that were leading him down the wrong path.
In the footage, which Hartzler caught on a hidden camera, the so-called exorcist wanders around the room. He carried a Bible in hand and orders the demons to be gone. He lingers specifically in Hartzler’s closet.
“Devil go in Jesus’ name. You foul spirit, you leave in Jesus’ name. Every evil spirit go now in Jesus’ name. And I pray the conviction of the Lord upon this room,” he can be heard saying.
“Devil you have no more place, you can never enter this room again. I plead the blood of Christ over this closet, over every piece of clothing in here.”
@andrewhartzler hi um ya obvi i was in the closet sir #comingout #college #exorcist ♬ original sound – andrew hartzler
The video has received over 870,000 views and prompted a flood of supportive comments.
Conversion camp
Hartzler told Insider that attending conversion camp after coming out was a traumatic experience.
“It was like some of the darkest moments of my entire life. It basically just teaches you, like, learned self-hate, like learning to repress like half of your mind. It’s exhausting.”
After the camp, Hartzler saw a conversion counselor three times a week for the rest of his high school. He was then sent to the conservative Christian Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma. His parents thought their son would be removed from other gay people there, but Hartzler says this was not the case.
“There were a lot of kids with similar situations as mine.”
During his sophomore year, he again told his parents about his sexuality. He told them he was not turning straight. It did not go down well.
Hartlzer returned to university but left a hidden camera in his room as he worried about his parents going through his stuff. That’s when he caught the “exorcism”.
“My father thought my identity issues were a ‘demonic stronghold,'” he said. “He always used that type of language around my sexuality.”
Taking aim at his lawmaker aunt
Hartzler now works for the LGBTQ rights group, Oklahomans for Equality. He no longer speaks to his parents. He says he was posting the video now as it’s, “really important for people to see that there are right-wing Christian fanatics who are subjecting their children to this type of practice and that they believe being gay is something profoundly evil that has to be performed away by some ritual.”
Hartzler made headlines last December. He’s the nephew of Missouri Rep. Vicky Hartzle. The Republican lawmaker gave a tearful speech in the state House in which she spoke out against the Respect for Marriage Act.
Hartzler called his aunt out for her tear-drenched hate.
@andrewhartzler my aunt cried today #vickyhartzler #lgbtq #respectformarriage #religousexemption #congress #gay #missouri ♬ original sound – andrew hartzler
Mister P
The parents should post a video showing that exorcisms don’t work and their religion made them drive their son away and now they have no child.
London_resistance
Ah homophobic religious Fvckwlts! How could we live without them? Actually most of us seem to live without religion quite well over here in the UK.
Talking of dlckhead homophobic faiths and loony homophobic ideas how is that trans gender woo-woo gets a free pass with so many you yankie-doodle gays over there? That is the most homophobic cult i’ve experienced.
“”80 percent of [kids who are being transformed surgically] would grow up to be gay. I don’t think that’s a real surprise to anybody. But the fact that it’s 80 percent is quite the statistic…if there’s a case of mass abuse of the gay community, the most egregious examples of those mass — that mass abuse is occurring at the hands of the trans activists…”
Norway, the UK etc etc have all banned gay and lesbian kids being transed by trans rights activists
wimo
In Belgium as well, religion looses his grip.
(and that is a “blessing”)
DBMC
So, you approve of parents abusing their LGBT children.
LeBlevsez
Oh. Ye of Little Brain.
Let’s see. You highlight your ignorance of your own nations history. Turn the volume of your prejudice up to ’11’. Finally, you offer a quote that is: unattributed; paraphrased; hearsay(?); apparently calculated using a cracked base-10 crystal ball.
Exorcists, soothsayers and bigots. Oh my!
London_resistance
\
“You highlight your ignorance of your own nations history.” – I was using simple language to express simple concepts to the simple. Thus my language and information were simple and easy to understand. I didn’t use difficult and complicated examples to express the fact that the UK has stopped giving poison to camp gay boys and butch lesbian girls.
But you appear to have not even understood this
LeBlevsez
Simple. Yes.
abfab
And then they insert curry into their rant. How special.
barryaksarben
so not true. I actually know trans people and know for a fact that not all or even close to all were gay. You know nothing of what you are speaking. I saw the hidden camera in the gop planning group whose goal is to break off each letter of the alphabet so we will be easier to deal with and destroy easier. apart than together so YOU are fooling anyone.
Mister P
As you say in the UK: Rubbish. Kids aren’t “transed”.
abfab
Mr P, there must be a point in there somewhere. They took all that time to rant away likely whilst sitting in the Loo.
DBMC
Yes, that was truly one of the most bizarre rants I’ve read.
barryaksarben
thank you. evil pos that he is. Nothing but lies I even doubt he is from across the pond
Chrisk
Wow. I’m just trying to imagine having such ignorant loony tunes as parents. Plus his piece of work Aunt Vicky Hartzle.
There’s a whole lot of crazy in that family. Smart guy getting the eff out of there and away from them.
abfab
Really…and we thought Joan Crawford was an abusive parent.
Kangol2
Oh yes, the aunt was a notorious right-wing lunatic Congress-witch from Missouri.
PhillyProud
The exorcist reminds of the fat woman on Wife Swap who ran around the house claiming to be a god warrior, many years ago. It’s incredible the level of stupid people who are insanely religious drop to. It’s like they believe all those tricks on Charmed are actually real!
DBMC
This is one of the reasons these laws about educators informing parents about their children’s sexuality are bad. There are a lot of parents whose religious beliefs are more important than the health, safety and lives of their children.
GayEGO
Religions are losing members as the younger generation believes more in Science e.g. the world is round, not flat! Me, I have a good memory and remember when I was born as a gay baby!
London_resistance
Oh bless, it’s so rare and unusual to come across the dumb and stupid so open about their lack of IQ and basic intelligence, so hats off to the three of you: abfab, Mr P and DBMC for being so open and honest about it. Congrats to you Sirs.
Who else but a drizzle of warm Diarrhoea down the back of the legs after a strong curry would attack someone without any ability to refute their arguments? It’d be sad if not utterly predictable
Keep it up Sirs, keep it up. But a refutation of my arguments would be amusing to read.
abfab
You’re gross. I’m calling King Charles on you!!
dbmcvey
Thanks London, right back at you.
dbmcvey
But, do you really think your arguments deserve anything other than derision? It’s not like your comments on trans people are well reasoned and thought out.
trell
I’m from the UK, and I do want to ask London_resistance….
….WTF are you talking about?
To the rest of the Queerty regs who comment on here. Those opinions & comments are not representative of general UK attitudes….in fact, anyone trying to win an argument by referencing diarrhoea and curry and attacking another’s IQ, without actually having a counter-argument, is more than just a little bit hypocritical, and very similar to the tactics of certain MAGA-related bigots towards anyone who threatens their world view.
One thing I will say, I do agree to some degree about the first line of London_resistance’s first line. I am genuinely puzzled as to how/when/why the US allowed religion to be such a dominating element into politics. Your political leaders should be focussed on the secular elements of running a country (you know….the boring stuff: taxes, crime, economic growth etc.). Now, it just seems that every GOP is trying to be another Televangelist, and the main issues that they are supposed to be focussed on, take a back-seat. – At least here in blighty, our political leaders are a bit more focussed on the job they were elected to do, and are (generally) more sensitive to a diverse nation, and don’t wear their prejudices on their sleeves. – We all saw what happened with Nigel Farage, and even with brexit, we still have the ECHR at the heart of our laws, which do protect the rights of all protected characteristics.
No, we are not ‘there’ yet with regard to LGBTQ+ tolerance, but we are trying to head in the right direction. We don’t have idiots who are frightened that rainbows are corrupting children, but think that guns are OK, and I can guarantee, any UK politician who tries anything remotely like what DeSantis is doing, would be ousted from Parliament.
dbmcvey
Whew! Trell!
’80s slow clap!!!
Thad
I was hoping the exorcist turned gay.
That ain’t happening. So I’ll just wish Andrew Hartzler a happy, well-adjusted ever after.
PrinceofPrussia
International House of Prayercakes? Sorry, I’m gluten-free.
Fahd
Andrew Hartzler seems very admirable, courageous, and resilient. Imagine having survived all that he has, and still having his commitment to advocacy. A curse on all the parents who choose religious dogma over accepting their children as they are. What is wrong with people?
5klp471
So, let’s talk about trauma for a hot minute. I knew I was gay when I was about six, living in San Francisco. AIDS was just hitting, and I knew, even at that age, that if I had said something, I would be punished for it. My mother went to a Apostolic Pentecostal church on 24th St in The City. I have no doubt in my mind that if my mother knew I was gay, she’d have this done to me.
Jon in Canada
Religion, by definition, is a mental illness presenting as a delusional psychosis; yup, it’s right there in the DSM.
Worst still, it’s a chosen mental illness as this particular mental disorder is taught/learned. Technically, it can be argued that indoctrinating a child into a religion is child abuse…actually, it’s not “technically” child abuse, it IS child abuse.
Fname Optional Lname
These are adults. Adults who for the most part have had at least a public high school education. Adults who are responsible for raising children. A significant portion of adults in this country find this perfectly normal? Instead of educating themselves it’s just easier to give money to the preacher and accept that there are “evil spirits” lurking. I guess for some reason the evil spirit only found his way to the boys room but didn’t affect any of the “adults” in the house. Fascinating
Invader7
That exorcism didn’t work. The “exorcist” looks gay anyway. Being from a f**Ked up family like Andrews , he’s smart to stay away from that bunch of nut bags. They’re toxic , cult members !