Saving Alex, Alex Cooper
Saving Alex, Alex Cooper
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Saving Alex
When I was Fifteen I Told My Mormon Parents I Was Gay, and That's When My Nightmare Began

Author: Alex Cooper, Joanna Brooks

Narrator: Luci Christian Bell

Unabridged: 8 hr 48 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: HarperAudio

Published: 03/01/2016

Synopsis

Days after Alex Cooper told her parents that she was gay, they drove Alex from their home in Southern California to Utah, where they signed over guardianship to fellow Mormons who promised to save Alex from her homosexuality.For eight harrowing months, Alex was held captive in an unlicensed “residential treatment program,” modeled on the many “therapeutic” boot camps scattered across Utah. Alex was physically and verbally abused, and forced to stand facing a wall for up to eighteen hours a day wearing a heavy backpack full of rocks. “God’s plan does not apply to gay people,” her captors told her, using faith to punish and terrorize her. With the help of a dedicated legal team in Salt Lake City, Alex would eventually escape and make legal history in Utah by winning the right to live under the law’s protection as an openly gay teenager.Saving Alex is a horrific yet uplifting story of identity, faith, courage, acceptance, and freedom that reveals what happens when religion goes too far and how a group of dedicated Americans and one young woman fought for her rights, including finding the strength and courage to be herself, and how her story has inspired countless others along the way.

About Alex Cooper

Alex Cooper made legal history in Utah by winning the right to live under the law’s protection as an openly gay teenager. Now twenty-one, she lives in Portland, Oregon.

About Joanna Brooks

Joanna Brooks is an author and recognized expert on Mormonism and gender and LGBT issues, and Associate Vice President for Faculty Affairs at San Diego State University.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Rachel on March 04, 2016

This book is about Alex, who grew up LDS. When she came out to her parents, they kicked her out and then found a family in St. George, Utah, to convert her into being straight. Except that family wasn't licensed at all, and ended up abusing her physically, emotionally, and spiritually (and also, it'......more

Goodreads review by B.A. on March 15, 2017

The teacher that still lurks inside me fought a constant battle between rage and sorrow while reading this true story. I’m horrified that any adult would behave this way towards a child, despite the fact that I’ve seen and heard even worse. POTENTIAL SPOILERS: YOU'VE BEEN WARNED I’m proud of Alex but......more

Goodreads review by Sara on March 20, 2016

An infuriating read. The Utah Cooper describes is chillingly close to Invasion of the Body Snatchers, a place where the semblance of happy family life and a seemingly sympathetic gaze mask unfeeling conformity, but it's her ability to find empathy for both her parents and captors--even while justifi......more

Goodreads review by Traci on January 30, 2018

Fuck the people who did this to Alex. Fuck the Mormon church. And any other "church" that condones hateful acts like this book tells about. Fuck her parents. Fuck Tiana and Johnny, whoever they really are. Fuck the people who looked past Alex and didn't say anything. Fuck any close-minded, hard-hearted B......more

Goodreads review by Kelly on May 25, 2016

I'm giving this story 3 stars because of the missing information, the novice writing, and some small issues I had with the layout; however, this book was an amazing and tragic story that is necessary to share. This happens more often than not and it makes me mad, it makes me disgusted, and it also m......more

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