Garrard Clayton Conley was born in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 15, 1985. He spent his childhood in Milligan Ridge, Mississippi County, Arkansas.
Conley's family moved to Mountain Home while he was attending Lyon College in Batesville. He earned his bachelor's degree in 2007 and served in the Peace Corps in Ukraine after graduation. Conley taught high school in Bulgaria, instructed memoir-writing classes in New York City, and has lectured on gay rights around the country.
Conley is the author of Boy Erased: A Memoir, a 2016 book relating his experiences with conversion therapy. His book is the basis for the 2018 movie Boy Erased in which Conley is portrayed by Lucas Hedges. He continues to write and is an activist for LGBQT rights. He serves on the board of the Mattachine Society in Washington, DC.
#1: Composite image of early photo of Garrard Conley and still frame from Pryor Center video interview
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#2: Garrard Conley's grandfather, Hershel Edward Conley Sr. (back) holding David Farley Conley
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#3: Garrard Conley's father, Hershel Edward Conley Jr. (front center) as a young boy with his parents, Evelyn Conley and Hershel Edward Conley Sr., and siblings, David Farley Conley (back center), and Jimmie Frances Conley (front left), January 1956
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#4: Hershel Edward Conley Sr., with his sons, Hershel Edward Conley Jr. (right) and David Farley Conley; January 26, 1954
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#5: Hershel Conley Sr.
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#6: Hershel Conley Jr., age 2
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#7: Hershel Conley Jr., 1957
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#8: Martha Jr. Caudill (Conley), age 2; October 14, 1956
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#9: Hershel Conley Jr., 10th-grade portrait, Blytheville High School, Blytheville, Arkansas; September 1967
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#10: Martha Jr. Caudill (Conley), with her sister, Mary
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#11: Martha Jr. Caudill (Conley), ca. 1970
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#12: Hershel Conley Jr., 18 years old, 1970
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#13: Hershel Conley Jr. and Martha Jr. Caudill Conley
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#14: Hershel Conley Jr. and Martha Jr. Caudill Conley
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#15: Martha Jr. Caudill Conley
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#16: Martha Jr. Caudill Conley
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#17: Martha and Hershel Conley on their wedding day; December 19, 1970
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#18: Garrard Conley
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#19: Garrard Conley
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#20: Martha Jr. Caudill Conley
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#21: Murray cotton gin machine owned by Garrard Caudill; Milligan Ridge, Arkansas
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#22: Garrard Conley with his father, Hershel Conley Jr.
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#23: Garrard Conley with his father, Hershel Conley Jr.
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#24: Garrard Conley, age 6, 1991
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#25: Garrard Conley
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#26: Garrard Conley
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#27: Garrard Conley with his father, Hershel Conley Jr.
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#28: Garrard Conley at a karate class
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#29: Garrard Conley
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#30: Garrard Conley's high school senior portrait, 2003
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#31: Garrard Conley (front row, left) during Peace Corps training
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#32: Garrard Conley in the Peace Corps, Ukraine
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#33: Martha Jr. and Hershel Conley Jr., at Norfork Lake Baptist Mission, Mountain Home, Arkansas
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#34: Garrard Conley with Hayden McIlroy Jr., David Pryor, and Barbara Pryor at the Pryor Center; Fayetteville, Arkansas, 2018
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#35: Garrard Conley signing books after he and his mother gave a presentation at the Pryor Center; Fayetteville, Arkansas, 2018
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#36: Garrard Conley and Martha Jr. Conley on stage at the Pryor Center; Fayetteville, Arkansas, 2018
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#37: Still frame from Pryor Center video interview with Garrard Conley; Fayetteville, Arkansas, 2018
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#38: Still frame from Pryor Center video interview with Garrard Conley; Fayetteville, Arkansas, 2018
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
