Saturday Night Live cast member Bowen Yang has shared details about his “painful and detrimental” experience with conversion therapy.
During a preview of NBC’s Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist, Yang and the Sunday Today host discussed how The Wedding Banquet performer’s parents sent him to conversion therapy in his teenage years. “I ‘came out’ in a sense that my parents just sort of stumbled upon something, and they were like ‘Oh, we didn’t realize this is what we were dealing with,’” Yang revealed to Willie Geist in the video preview.
Yang expressed understanding of his parent’s initial reaction. “I give them a lot of grace for that because they just had no context for it,” he said.
The talented performer revealed that his parents presented him with a choice – if he attended conversion therapy, they would allow him to attend New York University and live with his sister. “Those poor people did not realize that that’s one of the gayest schools in the country,” Yang quipped, noting that undergoing conversion therapy was his only path to leaving Denver.
“I kind of played along, and I kind of just humored them and myself into seeing what it was,” shared the Las Culturistas podcast creator. Yang acknowledged that while he didn’t grasp the full impact at the time, he has since experienced significant emotional healing.
This isn’t the first time Yang has discussed this chapter of his life. The podcaster recently shared his story with co-host Matt Rogers and special guest Lady Gaga, highlighting how her music influenced his journey of self-discovery. “I think I had come out of the closet again when ‘Born This Way’ came out because I went to conversion therapy, obviously did not work out,” he revealed on the podcast.
Viewers can watch Yang’s complete Sunday Sitdown interview when it airs on April 13.
