Kriti Mehrotra
It was in 2009 when everything turned upside down for Alex Cooper as she fell in love for the first time, only to be soon rejected by family and then forcefully sent to conversion therapy. This much has even been chronicled in Lifetime’s ‘Trapped: The Alex Cooper Story,’ a biographical drama based on her memoir ‘Saving Alex,’ which she penned alongside Joanna Brooks. What this then-15-year-old high school sophomore experienced for 8 months was harrowing in every sense of the term, and she had to go down the legal route to earn her freedom again.
Alex Cooper Had a Comfortable and Happy Childhood
Born in 1994 to a mortgage salesman and a nurse turned homemaker, Alex Cooper was raised in Southern California in a devout Mormon family with five elder half-siblings. Her parents met on a blind date, and their connection was such that her father converted to Mormonism and asked his love to marry him within 6 months. He didn’t mind that she had five children from her first marriage or that she wished to be a stay-at-home mother despite being a registered nurse. All he cared about was that there was faith and love in the family, which it unwaveringly was.
As per Alex’s account in her memoir, the family home in Victorville was surrounded by apricot, pear, and plum trees, and there were chickens, roosters, and rabbits in the yard, which she absolutely loved. However, what she remembers most is being outside, playing in the sun with friends, no matter the season, and spending quality time with her family every day. She was baptized by her father at the age of 8. They used to do family prayers every evening before she went to bed and would help her learn the bible and its teachings together on Mondays. To Alex, it was all idyllic, until it wasn’t.
Alex Cooper’s Parents Gave up Their Rights to Have Her Undergo Conversion Therapy
Considering the fact that she hails from a devout Mormon family, Alex knew that her parents, as well as her community, would have trouble accepting her if they ever found out that she is a lesbian. However, when she was 15 and fell in love with a girl named Yvette, who was 18 at the time, things changed. With her, she could be herself, share the ways she had been troubled at home owing to her reality, how playing cello calmed her down, and how she hoped to one day be a hot-shot lawyer in New York City. Yvette was a free spirit who preferred Los Angeles, but they still developed an innately beautiful connection.
As Alex and Yvette’s connection grew into a relationship, the former found herself rebelling against some house rules, and that’s how she was finally caught, only for her mother to tell her to get out. She was kicked out of her home for being gay, and then, after she spent 2 weeks on a friend’s couch, they showed up and told her to pack her bags because they were taking her to Utah to her grandparents’ home for a few weeks. Little did she know that instead of her grandparents’ house, she’d be dropped off at the Siale household with Tiana and Johnny Siale, who were running a conversion therapy center from their home. According to Cooper’s memoir, her parents signed away their parental rights to the couple, meaning they could be her guardians until she turned 18.
Neither Tiana nor Johnny was a high school graduate, let alone a certified therapy provider/practitioner, but they had a lot of contacts in their community, enabling them to run their business smoothly. While Alex was there, they had two other “troubled” kids they were “helping,” all the while raising their own three kids – 12-year-old Victor, 11-year-old Joseph, and 9-year-old Sione. However, Alex described that she was essentially tortured for 8 months, pushed to get back on the track they allegedly believed God had intended for her – the path of heterosexuality with no sin, to be with her family in God’s Kingdom of Glory after death.
Alex Cooper Endured Months of Trauma Before Ultimately Escaping
Alex alleged that she endured verbal and physical abuse after her failed attempts to flee. She further claimed she was forced to wear a backpack full of stones to “feel the burden of being gay” for up to 18 hours and was kept out of school. According to her memoir, she even tried to die by suicide once when she turned 16, but when that failed, she broke down and decided to abide by the rules Tiana and Johnny had set. She followed them for nearly two and a half months before she was awarded by being allowed to enroll at school, which is when things changed for her.
Alex found herself a friend in Jason Osmanski, a kind redhead with a giant rainbow patch on his backpack, who introduced her to the school’s chapter of the Gay-Straight Alliance and its advisor/English teacher Delsy Nielson. Their openness led her to tell them the truth about who she is and why she is in Utah, after which they helped her get in touch with an attorney named Paul Burke, who immediately agreed to represent her pro bono. Unfortunately, after she was late to one class and the Siales found out, she was pulled out of school, leaving her with no choice but to escape in the middle of the night. She made it to school, contacted Paul once it opened, and ultimately found herself living in a local youth crisis center.
Alex Cooper Has Since Managed to Build a Fulfilling Life For Herself
It took Alex and Paul months, but they were eventually able to earn her the legal right to refuse conversion therapy, even if that’s what her parents or legal guardians wanted. Subsequently, the teenager chose not to press any charges against the Siales despite all she endured because she simply wanted to move on from the ordeal as quickly as possible. She and Yvette actually officially parted ways not long after, but they knew they still had a friend in one another and seemingly still keep in touch from time to time. Then, Alex focused on building a new life for herself in St. George, Utah.
Instead of returning to California, Alex graduated from Snow Canyon High School in June 2012. She then went on to earn a license in cosmetology and find love again with a woman named Lina. According to the last reports, at 30, she is out, proud, and still in a happy, healthy relationship with Lina. As of today, they reside in a cozy apartment in Portland, Oregon. In fact, her father reportedly helped her move there, and her mother had tears in her eyes while they were saying goodbye, making it clear they have since reconciled. Per her own accounts, her parents have made remarkable steps towards accepting her for who she is in the past few years.
Alex not only openly speaks with her mother almost weekly, but her father also told her that he would one day happily walk her down the aisle if she chose to get married. She made this much clear in her 2016 memoir, ‘Saving Alex: When I Was Fifteen I Told My Mormon Parents I Was Gay, and That’s When My Nightmare Began.’ Coming to her professional standing, she is the proud co-founder of WeExist, a nationwide non-profit dedicated to ending conversion therapy as well as making schools more welcoming for those in the LGBTQ+ community. Furthermore, she works with organizations like the Human Rights Campaign, the National Center for Lesbian Rights on the Born Perfect Campaign, and other such institutions in the hopes of creating a better world for queer children.
Read More: Lauren McMullen: Where is Alex Cooper’s Friend Now?
