CW: aversion therapy, homophobia, transphobia, psychiatric abuse, mention of conversion therapy
Walking through the ONE Archives, the Farrall Instruments AV 5 Visually Keyed Shocker, a stand-alone dark green device covered in switches and buttons, is an unnerving and rare item —a sterile metal island between stacks of periodicals and archival materials. The tabletop machine is small enough to fit in most spaces, but large enough to be easily noticed.
The placement of this “shocker” within an LGBTQ+ historical archive immediately evokes racing thoughts about its use: Where were these devices sold and utilized? When were these common, and do they still exist? Who operated them? And of course, why were they made in the first place? This article takes a closer look at the mechanics and history of these devices and anti-gay aversion therapy, where machines like these were used on homosexual patients to “cure” them by means of “shocking the gay away.”
An earlier article on the use of aversion therapy to “shock the gay away” was published by HuffPost, written by then ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives Project Manager Jamie Scot in 2013. You can find that article here. For a video introduction, see our TikTok on the machine here. This piece builds on these, offering more context and analysis for this eye-catching ONE Archives object.