Wikipedia
Homosexuality and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
All homosexual or same-sex sexual activity is forbidden by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in its law of chastity, and the church teaches that God does not approve of same-sex marriage.[1] Adherents who participate in same-sex sexual behavior may face church discipline. Members of the church who experience homosexual attractions, including those who self-identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual remain in good standing in the church if they abstain from same-sex marriage and all sexual relations outside an opposite-sex marriage,[2][3][4] but all, including those participating in same-sex activity and relationships, are allowed to attend weekly church worship services.[5] However, in order to receive church ordinances such as baptism, and to enter church temples, adherents are required to abstain from same-sex relations or any sexual activity outside a legal marriage between one man and one woman.[6][7] Additionally, in the church's plan of salvation noncelibate gay and lesbian individuals will not be allowed in the top tier of heaven to receive exaltation unless they repent, and a heterosexual marriage is a requirement for exaltation.[8][9] The church's policies and treatment of LGBT people has long been a source of controversy both within and outside the church.[10][11][12] They have also been a significant cause of disagreement and disaffection by members.[13][14][15]
The LDS Church's statements and actions have overwhelmingly focused on male homosexuality and rarely mention lesbianism or bisexuality.[16]: 20 The church previously taught that homosexuality was a curable condition[17][18] and counseled members that they could and should change their attractions and provided therapy and programs with that goal.[19][20]: 13–19 [21]: 377–379 From 1976 until 1989 the Church Handbook called for church discipline for members attracted to the same sex equating merely being homosexual with the seriousness of acts of adultery and child molestation—even celibate gay people were subject to excommunication.[16]: 16, 43 [21]: 382, 422 [22]: 139 Church publications now state that "individuals do not choose to have such attractions", its church-run therapy services no longer provides sexual orientation change efforts, and the church has no official stance on the causes of homosexuality.[23][24][25] A 2016 article on a church website states that, "While shifts in sexuality can and do occur for some people, it is unethical to focus professional treatment on an assumption that a change in sexual orientation will or must occur. Again, the individual has the right to define the desired outcome."[26] These current teachings and policies leave homosexual members with the option of potentially harmful attempts to change their sexual orientation, entering a mixed-orientation opposite-sex marriage, or living a celibate lifestyle without any sexual expression (including masturbation).[27][28]: 11 [29]: 20–21
An LGBT pride flag in front of the Salt Lake City LDS temple
The LDS Church has campaigned against government recognition of same-sex marriage,[30] and the topic of same-sex marriage has been one of the church's foremost public concerns since 1993.[16]: 1 For example, church members represented as much as 80 to 90 percent of the early volunteers petitioning voters door-to-door and 50 percent of the campaign funds in support of California Proposition 8 (2008).[31] The church supported a Salt Lake City ordinance protecting members of the LGBT community against discrimination in employment while exempting religious institutions from these protections.[32]
In November 2015, the church updated its policies regarding those in legal same-sex unions, stating that such couples are apostates from the church.[33] These policies also barred such couples' children—either adopted or biological—from being baptized, confirmed, ordained, or participating in mission service until reaching adulthood and obtaining permission from the First Presidency.[34] The church reversed its policy in 2019 stating that couples in legal same-sex unions would no longer be considered apostate and that their children can be baptized without First Presidency approval. However, it also stated that it still considers same-sex marriage to be a "serious transgression," and that any same-sex sexual activity will be treated in the same way as "immoral conduct" in a heterosexual relationships.[35][36]
History and overview
Joseph Smith introduced "the new and everlasting covenant" as a temple marriage.
The entire body of the canonized LDS scriptures (which includes the Book of Mormon, Pearl of Great Price, and Doctrine and Covenants) is silent on same-sex sexual activity, except for the Bible.[37]: 114 However, sexual immorality (coupled with forsaking a ministry) was described in the Book of Mormon as the "most abominable above all sins save it be the shedding of innocent blood or denying the Holy Ghost."[38][39] The LDS Church teaches that the Bible forbids homosexuality.[40][41]: 230 [42]
Historian D. Michael Quinn has suggested that early LDS Church leaders had a more tolerant view of homosexuality, but leaders like then apostle Gordon B. Hinckley have stated that LDS leaders have always considered homosexual behavior a grievous sin.[43] The first recorded instance of a Church leader using the term "homosexuality" in a public discourse was First Presidency member J. Reuben Clark in a 1952 General Conference, though, the term had been in use in the US since 1892.[44][21]: 422 [16]: 15 The first time homosexuality was explicitly mentioned in the Church Handbook of Instructions was one word in the 1968 edition after the church had existed for 138 years.[16]: 10 It appears that by the 1940s church leaders had a greater awareness of homosexual behavior in Utah since apostle Charles Callis had been assigned to cases of church members involved in homosexuality sometime before 1947[45][46]: 271 and surveillance had been organized in 1945 to stop male-male sexual activity in the church's (now-demolished) Deseret Gymnasium steam room.[47]: 307 Callis was succeeded in the appointment over homosexual cases by apostle Spencer W. Kimball in 1947.[46]: 271 [48] Kimball later shared this role with apostle Mark E. Petersen in 1959.[46]: 381 [47]: 307 [49]: 147 Within eight years they had counseled over one thousand individuals.[16]: 33
Changes in teachings
Since the first recorded mentions of homosexuality by general LDS Church leaders, teachings and policies around the topics of the nature, etiology, mutability, and identity around same-sex romantic and physical attractions have seen many changes through the decades,[50]: 45–46 [51][20]: 13–21 including a softening in rhetoric over time.[52][53]: 169–170 [54] For example, church leaders in the past unambiguously pronounced over 30 purported causes of homosexuality (e.g. contagion, recruiting, domineering mother, selfishness) and denied any biological explanation.[16]: 19 The church has since reversed many of its stances around homosexuality including moving to a stance of neutrality on the origins of homosexuality, and its 2012 website acknowledged by implication that past leaders' advice for individuals attracted to the same-sex to marry someone of the opposite sex may have been erroneous.[16]: 217 In reference to the harsh rhetoric on homosexuality of the past, the apostle Todd Christofferson stated in a 2015 interview, "I think we can express things better." Regarding this subject, apostle Dallin H. Oaks said, "I know that the history of the church is not to seek apologies or to give them. We sometimes look back on issues and say, 'Maybe that was counterproductive for what we wish to achieve,' but we look forward and not backward."[55] A table summarizing some of the major shifts in official dialogue is found below.
| Topic | Earlier teachings | Transitional teachings | Current teachings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inborn | No [56][57][58][59] | Maybe[60] | No position[25] |
| Causes | Addiction,[61] masturbation,[62] pornography,[63] family dysfunction,[64][65][66] smothering mother,[67] distant or weak father,[68][67] sexual abuse,[69][70] selfishness,[71] speaking about it,[72] gender non-conforming dress or behavior[73] | Biological and environmental factors[74] | No position[75][76] |
| Identity & labels | Wrong to use gay labels[77][78][79] | Identifying as gay is acceptable[2][80] | |
| Sexual orientation change efforts | Electroshock aversion therapy recommended,[81][82] reparative therapy encouraged,[83] curable disease,[18][17] should be overcome[19] | Conversion therapy may be appropriate,[84] denounces any abusive practices[85] | Reparative therapy and other sexual orientation change efforts no longer practiced[86][24] |
| Heterosexual dating & marriage | As a therapeutic step[87][88][89][90] | Not to be seen as a therapy or solution[91][92] |
Previous teachings that have changed include the belief that homosexual attractions themselves were a curable illness. In 1959, in response to a rash of arrests of gay men in Utah and Idaho, church president David O. McKay had apostles Spencer W. Kimball and Mark E. Petersen focus their assignment on curing gay members.[46]: 381 [21]: 377 That same year BYU began its on-campus electroshock aversion therapy program attempting to remove or diminish homosexual attractions which lasted over three decades into the mid-1990s.[81][16]: 90 At the time, the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders classified homosexuality as a mental illness, and Kimball was adamant that it could be cured and produced literature with that goal.[93][88][94]: 7 Kimball taught that church leaders may assist gay members by reciting scripture; appealing to their reason; encouraging them to abandon gay lovers and associates; praying with them; and encouraging them to replace any sexual expression of their homosexual feelings with heterosexual expressions like opposite-sex dating.[94]: 2–6 In 1973 the American Psychiatric Association’s removed homosexuality from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders[95] and in 1990 the World Health Organization removed homosexuality from the list of disorders classified in the tenth edition of the International Classification of Diseases.[96][97]
Later the church softened its stance shifting to a focus on homosexuality as a behavior that should be overcome. This is reflected in a 1992 booklet for leaders which removed all references to homosexuality as a disease.[98] Leaders also taught on several occasions spanning the 1970s to the early 2000s that homosexual feeling may stem from a confusion over one's gender identity or gender roles.[99]: 341 Since then the church has acknowledged differences between gender identity and sexual orientation.[100][101][102]
Some changes in teachings have seemed abrupt and contradictory as was the case in September 1995 when a First Presidency member affirmed in the Ensign that an inborn homosexual orientation was a false belief with no scientific evidence and that if homosexuality were inborn it would frustrate God's plan.[103] In the next month's edition of the Ensign,[104] however, an Apostle refuted this without referring to it directly by stating that there is some evidence that inheritance plays a role in a homosexual orientation.[47]: 58
Early instances
Patriarch Smith was released amidst accusations of homosexual affairs
There were several known or alleged instances of same-sex sexual and romantic relationships by church members in the 19th century and early 20th century. These include the young man George Naylor,[105]: 1200 the actress Ada Russell,[21]: 427–428 and the researcher Mildred Berryman.[106][107][21]: 226–228 During the early days of the church, when same-sex sexual activity by a member was suspected, the accused was sometimes disfellowshipped or excommunicated, and from 1852 on, under the church-controlled Utah Territory legislature, any sex between males was punished by the courts.[105][108] The first known instance of church discipline on this was in 1841 from the alleged bisexual behavior of church leader John Bennett, allegedly with Francis Higbee.[21]: 266–267 Valeen Avery has suggested that Joseph Smith's son, David Hyrum Smith (1844–1904), may have been gay.[109]
One of the more prominent instances of homosexual activity by a Mormon man in the early 20th century was presiding patriarch Joseph Fielding Smith. He served in the position only four years before being released by church president George Albert Smith for reasons of "ill health."[110] It is reported that he had been involved in several gay affairs with at least three men[21]: 369–371 [111][112] After being released, Smith took his wife and children to Honolulu, Hawaii.[48]
Proposed historical tolerance
LDS historian Greg Prince wrote that prior to 1968 there was no standardized church response to homosexual attractions and intercourse, and that the most frequent response for over a century had been "benign neglect".[16]: 17 Former LDS historian D. Michael Quinn has suggested that early church leaders had a more tolerant view of homosexuality given that during the 19th century, the Church (like American society as a whole) was relatively tolerant of same-sex intimate relationships. However, at the time, many such relationships had no sexual component, and among those that did, the evidence is usually circumstantial.[21] Quinn also states that several active and prominent members of the church in Utah were not disciplined after publicizing that they were living in romantic relationships with their same-sex domestic partners, although there is no clear evidence these relationships involved sex.[21] These included Evan Stephens, who had been director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir until 1916 and is the author of numerous standard church hymns, who remained single but had intimate relationships and shared the same bed with a series of male domestic partners and traveling companions.[113] Some of these relationships were described under a pseudonym in The Children's Friend.[114] Also notable were Louise B. Felt and May Anderson, the church's first two general presidents of the Primary, who lived together in the same bedroom for decades and were referred to by Primary leaders as the "David and Jonathan" of Primary.[21] Quinn's interpretations of previous leaders' views and the nature of the relationships of Evan Stephens, and Felt and Anderson have been challenged as a distortion of history.[115] Kimball Young has cited the early church's practice of sealing men to each other as evidence of latent homosexuality.[116][21]: 136–138
Current teachings and policies
As of 2022 all homosexual or same-sex sexual activity is forbidden by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in its law of chastity, and the church teaches that God does not approve of same-sex marriage.[1] Adherents who participate in same-sex sexual behavior may face church discipline. Members of the church who experience homosexual attractions, including those who self-identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual remain in good standing in the church if they abstain from same-sex marriage and all sexual relations outside an opposite-sex marriage,[2][3][4] but all, including those participating in same-sex activity and relationships, are allowed to attend weekly church worship services.[5] In the church's plan of salvation noncelibate gay and lesbian individuals will not be allowed in the top tier of heaven to receive exaltation unless they repent, and a heterosexual marriage is a requirement for exaltation.[8][9]
In order to receive church ordinances such as baptism, and to enter church temples, adherents are required to abstain from same-sex relations or any sexual activity outside a legal marriage between one man and one woman.[6][7] Church discipline for homosexual activity is similar to that for members involved in heterosexual activity. For example, pre-marital sex of either kind may permanently bar a person from serving as a church missionary.[117] The church teaches that homosexual behavior has always been a grievous sin.[43][118] The church teaches that all members should take responsibility in bridling their thoughts, attitudes, feelings, desires, and passions. All members are taught to avoid any talk or activity that may arouse immoral sexual feelings.[119][120]
In 1999, Gordon B. Hinckley, then president of the church, officially welcomed gay people in the church,[121] and in an interview affirmed them as "good people".[122] Church leaders have spoken out against "gay-bashing" and other physical or verbal attacks on those involved in homosexual behavior.[123][124][125] They have also encouraged members to reach out to gay members.[30][123][43]
November 2015 Policy
In November 2015, the church clarified that its members who are in a same-sex marriage are in apostasy and would be subject to church discipline.[34][126] Prior to this, local leadership had more discretion in whether or how far to pursue church disciplinary action for members in same-sex marriages. Local church leaders still have discretion for same-sex couples who are cohabiting but not married. While explicitly including same-sex marriage in the church's definition of apostasy, the November 2015 update also addressed children of same-sex couples. In the updated policy, children living in a same-sex household may not receive a name and a blessing, nor be baptized until at least 18 years of age, and must disavow same-sex marriage and no longer be living with a parent who is, or has been, in a same-sex relationship.[127][128]
On April 4, 2019, the church revised its policy on couples in same-sex marriages again. First Presidency member Dallin H. Oaks was quoted as saying, "Previously, our Handbook characterized same-gender marriage by a member as apostasy. While we still consider such a marriage to be a serious transgression, it will not be treated as apostasy for purposes of Church discipline. Instead, the immoral conduct in heterosexual or homosexual relationships will be treated in the same way." The new policy also allows the children of same-sex couples to receive blessings from "a worthy Melchizedek Priesthood holder," with the understanding that "congregation members will contact them periodically, and that when the child who has been blessed reaches eight years of age, a Church member will contact them and propose that the child be baptized."[36][35]
Terminology used by the church
Church leaders now teach that it's okay to identify as gay.[2][122] In the past church leaders have stated that "homosexual", "lesbian", and "gay" should only be used as adjectives to describe thoughts, feelings, or behaviors, and never as nouns to describe people.[3][129][123] Church leaders and organizations have made reference to homosexuality as a sexual orientation.[3][130] Leaders have only begun directly addressing bisexual members since October 2016.[131][132] The church and its members have often referred to homosexuality with the term "same-gender attraction".[133] The church no longer speaks on the origins of homosexuality.[3][123]
Homosexuality after death
On several occasions from 2006 to 2009 multiple top leaders taught that attractions to those of the same sex won't exist after death, stating "it must be true"[134] that "gay or lesbian inclinations" will "not exist post-mortality",[135] but only occur "right now in mortality."[3] The 2007 official church publication "God Loveth His Children" states that, "others may not be free of this challenge [of same-gender attraction] in this life" but that "our bodies, feelings, and desires will be perfected in the next life so that every one of God’s children may find joy in a family."[50]: 46 [136]: 4 [137] The 2012 church website MormonsAndGays.org also stated that "a person’s attraction to the same sex can be addressed and borne as a mortal test. It should not be viewed as a permanent condition. ... some people ... may not have the opportunity to marry a person of the opposite sex in this life, a just God will provide them with ample opportunity to do so in the next."[138][139] Additionally, in the church's plan of salvation noncelibate gay and lesbian individuals will not be allowed in the top tier of heaven to receive what's called exaltation to become like God unless they repent, and a heterosexual marriage is a requirement.[8][9]
Treatment and views of LGBT people
The church has occasionally addressed the treatment and views of LGBT+ members. Church leaders have given discretion to local leaders on whether to hold church courts for suspected homosexual members, with options ranging from acquittal to excommunication.[16]: 17 In 2000 the apostle Packer addressed gay and lesbian youth stating that church leaders don't reject, but rather love them, and that they sometimes must extend tough love through teaching and discipline.[140] Additionally, the 2007 church pamphlet "God Loveth His Children" acknowledged that some gay members have felt rejection by other members. It criticized those who did not show love and challenged gay members to show love and kindness to help other members change their attitudes.[136] From 1976 until 1989 under president Kimball the Church Handbook called for church discipline for members attracted to the same sex equating merely being homosexual with the seriousness of acts of adultery and child molestation—even celibate gay people were subject to excommunication.[16]: 16, 43 [21]: 382, 422 [22]: 139 Kimball's numerous publications discussing "curing" homosexuality and condemning same-sex attractions (even without action), and his rise to the church presidency in 1973 set the stage for years of harsh treatment of gay church members.[16]: 36–37 In a 1977 Utah poll three-fourths of LDS-identified responders opposed equal rights for gay teachers or ministers and 62% favored discrimination against gays in business and government (versus 64% and 38% of non-LDS respondents respectively).[141][16]: 15 [142]: 220
There are many current and former members of the LDS Church who are attracted to people of the same sex, and they have had a variety of positive and negative experiences with leaders and other members. For example, one gay Mormon man who dates men reported never having problems with his local leaders, while another who was a Church employee described how his stake president denied his temple recommend resulting in him getting fired simply because of his friendship with other gay men and his involvement in a charity bingo for Utah Pride in a 2011 article.[143] One former LDS bishop and temple sealer Antonio A. Feliz said that his Peruvian mission was directed in the early 1960s[144] by South American area authorities to not teach known homosexuals.[145] A 1997 poll at BYU found that 1/3 of male students would avoid befriending a gay student and 42% of all students believed that even celibate, honor-code-following gay members should not be allowed to attend BYU.[146][147] Several church employees have been fired[148][149][150] or pressured to leave for being celibate but gay,[151][99]: 162–163 [152] or for supporting LGBT rights.[153][154]
In a 2007 US poll, only 24% of Mormons agreed that "homosexuality is a way of life that should be accepted," less than any other major religious group in the survey except for Jehovah's Witnesses, and 2 out of 3 (68%) latter-day saints said it should be discouraged.[155] In a similar poll seven years later, 36% said homosexuality should be accepted and over half (57%) said it should be discouraged.[156] A 2017 poll found that 40% of LDS members supported same-sex marriage and 53% were opposed.[157]: 10 Additionally, 69% of adherents supported laws that protect LGBT Americans against discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations, but 53% believed small private business should be able to deny products and services to gay or lesbian people for religious reasons.[157]: 15, 20 Currently, openly gay youth can serve a full-time proselyting mission for the church if they abstain from sexual activity, and the church website implicitly acknowledges the biological causes of homosexuality.[16]: 4
Views on gender diversity and identity
Expressions and identities for sexuality and gender are "separate, but related" aspects of a person and stem from similar biological origins.[158][159] According to current church policy, transgender and other gender diverse individuals who have undergone an “elective transsexual operation” are banned from temple rites or receiving priesthood authority. Additionally, a transgender individual who has undergone gender-confirming surgery may be baptized only with First Presidency approval, and those considering it are barred from baptism.[102] The church has acknowledged differences between gender identity and sexual orientation stating that they have "unfinished business in teaching on [transgender situations]."[101][102][160] Gender identity and roles play an important part in Latter-Day Saint teachings which teaches a strict binary of spiritual gender as literal offspring of divine parents.[161][162]
The official website on homosexuality states that "same-sex attraction and gender dysphoria are very different ... those who experience gender dysphoria may or may not also experience same-sex attraction, and the majority of those who experience same-sex attraction do not desire to change their gender"[100] Eric Hawkins stated in 2016 that LDS bishops recognize that each transgender individual's experience is different, difficult, and sensitive, and that they recognize the emotional pain many gender minorities feel. He also reaffirmed the church's views that gender is part of an eternal God-given identity and purpose, and any gender affirming operations may bar a candidate for baptism and imperil one's membership in the church.[163][160]
Criticism and controversies
The church's policies and treatment of LGBT people has long been a source of controversy both inside and outside the church[11][164] and a significant cause of disagreement and disaffection by members.[165][166][14]
Among members
A 2011 online survey of over 3,000 individuals who no longer believe church truth claims found that around ten percent would consider returning if (among several changes) LGBT persons were accepted and treated equally.[167] Past leaders' teachings on reparative therapy and the origins of homosexuality have also been criticized.[168][169]
Among the public
The controversial policies for LGBT persons has made an impression on the general public. A 2003 nationwide Pew Research Center survey of over 1,000 LGBT Americans found that 83% of them said the LDS church was "generally unfriendly towards lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people" surpassed only by "the Muslim religion" at 84%.[164] Additionally, in May 2008 a Georgia Tech gay-rights manual referred to the LDS Church as "anti-gay." After two students sued the school for discrimination, a judge ordered that the material be removed.[170][171][172]
Packer's address
One general conference address later distributed as a pamphlet that generated controversy was Packer's "To Young Men Only" which condones an example of a male missionary who punched his missionary companion for making romantic advances with Packer stating, "Well, thanks. Somebody had to do it ...."[175][118] Historians Michael Quinn and Rocky O'Donovan have argued these comments "essentially advocated anti-Gay violence",[49] and that the church itself endorsed such behavior by continuing to publish Packer's speech in pamphlet form.[176]: 38–39 Former bishop David Hardy also condemned this pamphlet and other publications as promoting violence against gay people and providing outdated misinformation on the nature of his once-suicidal gay son.[173][174] In 1995, Oaks said, "Our doctrines obviously condemn those who engage in so-called 'gay bashing'—physical or verbal attacks on persons thought to be involved in homosexual or lesbian behavior"[123] and in 2016, the church ceased publication of the pamphlet and it was removed from the church's website.[177]
Protests
The policies and treatment of LGBTQ individuals have prompted several protests and mass resignations including the following:
- 2 November 2008 – Hundreds of people gathered at the Salt Lake City library in a protest of Prop 8 organized by LDS mothers of gay children.[178][179]
- 6 November 2008 – In Los Angeles over two thousand people protested at the LDS temple over the LDS church's heavy involvement in the recent passing of California's Prop 8 banning same-sex marriage.[180]
- 7 November 2008 – Three days after Prop 8 passed nearly five thousand protesters gathered at the Salt Lake Temple.[181][182] That evening a candlelight vigil by about 600 mothers of LGBT children was also held at the Salt Lake Temple.[183][184]
- 7 October 2010 – Thousands of individuals surrounded Temple Square in protest of Boyd K. Packer's "Cleansing the Inner Vessel" conference address in which he characterized same-sex physical attractions as impure and unnatural tendencies that could be overcome.[11][185]
- 14 November 2015 – In response to a policy change on members in same-sex marriages and their children, 1,500 members gathered across from the church's offices to submit their resignation letters,[166][186] with thousands more resigning online in the weeks after.[187][14] In early November, top church leaders updated the Church Handbook banning a "child of a parent living in a same-gender relationship" from baby blessings, baptism, confirmation, priesthood ordination, and missionary service until the child had moved out, was "of legal age", "disavow[ed] the practice of same-gender cohabitation and marriage", and received approval from the Office of the First Presidency. The policy update also added entering a same-sex marriage as a type of "apostasy" mandating a disciplinary council.[188][12] However, according to a November 2016 study, the vast majority of active members supported the new policy on same-sex parents and their children.[189]
Mixed-orientation marriage
Many gay and lesbian members of the LDS Church have felt that they should marry someone of the opposite sex because of the church's emphasis on marriage. According to LDS historian Greg Prince for decades church leaders counseled many men to marry a woman with the promise this would "cure" their homosexuality, and the overall track record of these mixed-orientation marriages have been dismal and sometimes lethal.[16]: 27 [190]: 108 [191] The church's 2012 website acknowledged by implication that past leaders' advice for individuals attracted to the same-sex to marry someone of the opposite sex may have been erroneous.[16]: 217 Evergreen director David Pruden was quoted as stating in 2002 that 40% of the approximately 150 callers requesting help each month on their hotline were Mormon men married to women, and distressed about their homosexual attractions.[192] Additionally, a 2004 publication quoted Family Services statistics which showed that about half of the approximately 400 gay Mormon men they had seen as clients for over a year during the past 30 years were married, though only half of those were able to stay married.[193] Artist Trevor Southey stated that he was counseled by the church to marry a woman in an attempt to reorient his sexuality, and the marriage ultimately failed.[16]: 9
The church teaches that heterosexual marriage is one of several requirements for afterlife entry into the "highest degree of glory" in the celestial kingdom. Church leaders previously encouraged this, with one former church employee stating in 1986 that he had experienced pressure to marry at the age of 24 in the belief that it would change his homosexual feelings, later resulting in a divorce.[194] Leaders have stated that those who do not have an opportunity to be married in this life have been promised that they will have an opportunity to do so in the afterlife[195][196][123] Leaders have said that homosexual attractions will not continue past death, and that if the individual is faithful in this life, they will receive every blessing in the eternities, including eternal marriage.[3]
The most recent statement by a general church leader as of 2015 was when the apostle Oaks stated that leaders "definitely do not recommend marriage as a solution for same-gender feelings. No, it’s not a therapy. In times past, decades ago, there were some practices to that effect. We have eradicated them in the Church now."[92] Another current mention is in the church website on homosexuality which features a gay man married to a straight woman.[197]
The first high-ranking LDS leaders to publicly speak out against mixed-orientation marriages was Gordon Hinckley in 1987 when he stated that "marriage should not be viewed as a therapeutic step to solve problems such as homosexual inclinations or practices ...."[43][16]: 29 Oaks had also previously stated in 2007 that marriages should not be entered under false pretenses[3] and that doing so can damage the lives of others.[98] Church leaders are warned that encouraging members to cultivate heterosexual feelings generally leads to frustration and discouragement.[98] Previously, the church had taught that it was possible to overcome same-sex feelings[129] and that heterosexual feelings can emerge once an individual ceases any same-sex sexual activity.[98] Oaks did state in 2007, however, that marriage would be appropriate for a man attracted to men who had "shown their ability to deal with these feelings or inclinations and put them in the background, and feel a great attraction for a daughter of God and therefore desire to enter marriage and have children and enjoy the blessings of eternity."[3] Several gay LDS men reported in the church's newspaper that they were able to maintain a heterosexual marriage in 2007.[198]
Research
Several surveys have been done on the topic of LGBT Mormons and opposite-sex marriages. A 1997 study by members of the BYU Family Studies Department found that of over 200 single LDS women of diverse ages polled, 33% would be willing to seriously date and consider marriage with a hypothetical LDS college grad who had been sexually active with other men 3 years ago.[199] A 2015 study found that 51% of the 1,612 LGBT Mormon respondents who had entered a mixed-orientation marriage ended up divorcing,[191]: 301 [200] and projected that 69% of all these marriages would ultimately end in divorce.[190]: 108 [201][202] The study also found that engaging in mixed-orientation marriages and involvement in the LDS church were correlated with higher rates of depression and a lower quality of life for LGBT people.[203]
Political involvement around LGBT rights
The LDS church has held notable influence on laws around LGBT individuals in the United States, especially in the state of Utah.
The LDS Church has been involved with many pieces of legislation relating to LGBT discrimination and same-sex marriage. These include playing an important role in defeating same-sex marriage legalization in Hawaii (Amendment 2), Alaska (Measure 2), Nebraska (Initiative 416), Nevada (Question 2), California (Prop 22), and Utah (Amendment 3).[16]: 2, 65, 69, 71, 78, 85 Leaders have stated that it will become involved in political matters if it perceives that there is a moral issue at stake and wields considerable influence on a national level.[204][205][206] In 1997 then church president Gordon Hinckley declared the church would "do all it can to stop the recognition of same-sex marriage in the United States", and the apostle M. Russell Ballard has said the church is "locked in" if anything interferes with the principle of marriage only being between a man and a woman.[16]: 73 [207]
The church distributed hundreds of thousands of these Protect Marriage Coalition lawn signs during their involvement with the pro-Prop 8 campaign.[208]
The church opposes same-sex marriage, but does not object to rights regarding hospitalization and medical care, fair housing and employment rights, or probate rights, so long as these do not infringe on the integrity of the family or the constitutional rights of churches and their adherents to administer and practice their religion free from government interference.[209][210] Church leaders are prohibited from employing their authority to perform same-sex marriages, and church property cannot be used for same-sex marriages or receptions.[211]
A 2017 Public Religion Research Institute survey found that over half (53%) of all Mormon adults believed small private business should be able to deny products and services to gay or lesbian people for religious reasons (compared to 33% of the 40,000+ American adults surveyed),[157]: 15, 23 and 24% of all Mormon adults oppose laws that protect LGBT Americans against discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations.[212][157]: 20 A 2017 Public Religion Research Institute survey found that over half (52%) of Mormon young adults (18–29) supported same-sex marriage while less than a third (32%) of Mormon seniors (65+) did the same.[157]: 11 [212]
LGBT students at Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University (BYU) is the largest religious university in North America and is the flagship institution of the LDS Church's educational system. Large surveys of over 7,000 BYU students in 2020 and 2017 found that over 13% had marked their sexual orientation as something other than “strictly heterosexual,” while the other survey showed that .2% had reported their gender identity as transgender or something other than cisgender male or female.[215][216]
A BYU study from 1950 to 1972 showed that 10% of BYU men and 2% of BYU women indicated having had a "homosexual experience."[217][176]: 45 Several LGBT rights organizations have criticized BYU's Honor Code as it relates to LGBT students and The Princeton Review has regularly ranked BYU among the most LGBT-unfriendly schools in the United States.[213][214][218] As of 2017 BYU campus offered no official LGBT-specific resources.[219]
LGBT BYU students at a USGA meeting in 2017
BYU has seen many changes in policies around its LGBT student population. In 1962 a ban on students known to have a homosexual orientation was enacted by Ernest Wilkinson, but softened a decade later by his successor Dallin H. Oaks in 1973 to only ban "overt and active homosexuals."[21]: 375 [220][221] Under Oaks there was a system of surveillance and searches of student dorms in order to expel students suspected of any same-sex sexual activity.[222][223] These efforts included stake outs by BYU security looking for license plates of BYU students at gay bars in Salt Lake City and fake contact advertisements placed in gay publications attempting to ensnare BYU students.[224][225][226] In the late 1990s a reference to "homosexual conduct" was added to the BYU Honor Code,[227] and there was a ban on coming out for lesbian, gay, or bisexual students.[228][229][230] In 2007, BYU changed the honor code to read that stating one's sexual orientation was not an honor code issue.[231][232] This allowed for the formation of a group called USGA (Understanding Same-Gender Attraction) consisting of BYU students and other members of the Provo community which began meeting on campus in 2010 to discuss issues relating to homosexuality and the LDS Church.[233] By December 2012 they were no longer allowed to hold meetings on campus.[234] In February 2020, BYU removed the ban on "homosexual behavior" from its Honor Code,[235] which many initially thought allowed LGBT students to perform public displays of romantic affection, although, like straight students, they still must abstain from sexual relationships outside of marriage;[235] however, BYU leadership later clarified removing "homosexual behavior" from the Honor Code still did not permit any public displays of romantic affection towards a same-sex partner, which sparked more outrage and protests from the LGBT community.[236][237][238][239]
Sexual orientation change efforts
The 2011 Broadway musical The Book of Mormon satirized church teachings on changing sexual orientation with an LDS missionary character saying he could "turn it off like a light switch" in reference to his gay feelings.[240][241]
Because of its ban against same-sex sexual activity and same-sex marriage the LDS Church has a long history of teaching that its adherents who are attracted to the same sex can and should attempt to alter their feelings through righteous striving and sexual orientation change efforts (also called conversion therapy or reparative therapy).[242] These current teachings and policies leave homosexual members with the option of potentially harmful attempts to change their sexual orientation, entering a mixed-orientation opposite-sex marriage, or living a celibate lifestyle without any sexual expression (including masturbation).[27][28]: 11 [29]: 20–21
While the LDS church has somewhat softened its stance toward LGBTQ individuals in recent years, leaders continued to communicate into 2015 that changing one's sexual orientation was possible through personal righteousness, prayer, faith in Christ, psychotherapy, and group therapy and retreats.[40] In the 60s and 70s Church leaders taught that homosexuality was a curable disease and they encouraged self-help attempts by homosexual members to change their sexual orientation and cultivate heterosexual feelings.[20]: 13–19 To assist in this, leaders developed an aversion therapy program on BYU campus for gay adolescents and adults in '59[81] since simply being attracted to people of the same sex was an excommunicable sin under church president Kimball.[20]: 2 The on-campus aversion therapy program lasted into the mid-90s.[16]: 90
BYU's Honor Code office required some students reported for homosexual behavior to undergo electroshock and vomit aversion therapies in the 1970s[49]: 155
Teachings later changed as it became clear these self-help and aversive techniques were not working and, thus, from the 80s to the 2000s reparative therapy (also called conversion therapy) became the dominant treatment method. It was often recommended by Evergreen in an attempt to change or remove homosexual attractions. In a 2010 survey of 625 Utah individuals 55% of Mormons believed sexual orientation could be changed,[243] and a 2015 survey of 1,612 LGBT Mormons and former Mormons found that 73% of men and 43% of women had attempted sexual orientation change, usually through multiple methods across many years.[244]: 5 Counselor-led sexual orientation change efforts dwindled among members around 2015[20]: 17–20 as church teachings evolved with leaders explicitly stating in 2012 that same-sex sexual attractions were not a choice[20]: 21 and affirming in 2016 that therapy focusing on a change in sexual orientation was unethical.[245][24]
LGBT Mormon suicides and homelessness
In society at large LGBT individuals especially youth are at a higher risk of depression, anxiety, and suicide[246][247] due to minority stress stemming from societal anti-LGBT biases and stigma, rejection, and internalized homophobia.[248] Some individuals and organizations have linked church teachings against homosexuality and the treatment of LGBT Mormons by other members and leaders as contributing to LGBT Mormon suicides.[249][250][251] LDS historian Gregory Prince stated that by condemning homosexuality as "evil, self-inflicted, and impossible in postmortal existence" LDS church leaders have enabled harsh behavior by its members with the alarming number of LDS LGBT homeless and Utah's highest per capita teen suicide rate in the country manifesting the effects of this cruelty.[16]: 4 LGBT Mormon suicides and experiences with suicidal ideation have received media coverage.[252][253][254]
In 2013 it was estimated that among the approximately 1000 homeless Utah youths, 30% to 40% were LGBTQ with about half of those coming from LDS homes[255][256] The Ogden, Utah OUTreach Resource Center has reported that over half of their often homeless youth clients identify as LGBTQ.[257] In the large 2012 survey "Growing Up LGBT in America" over two-thirds of LGBT youth in Utah reported not feeling accepted in their community, compared to 42% of LGBT youth nationwide, and 3/4 said they would need to leave Utah to feel accepted.[258][259] In January 2016 the LDS church mourned over reported suicides of LGBT Mormons and stated that leaders and members are taught to "reach out in an active, caring way to all, especially to youth who feel estranged or isolated."[260] The Affirmation website reported over 30 LGBT Mormon victims died by suicide between 1971 and 2008[261][262] including five gay male BYU students who all died by suicide in 1965.[49]: 156 [263]
LGBT Mormon people and organizations
Some principle homosexual Mormon groups
Though there are no official numbers for how many members of the LDS Church identify their romantic orientation as gay, bisexual, or lesbian, BYU's newspaper cited two LDS therapists who stated in 2003 that the supermajority-Mormon BYU student body is "somewhere around 4 to 5 percent" homosexual.[264] Family Services estimates that there are, on average, four or five members per church ward who experience same-sex attraction.[265] The most recent external study, conducted in 1972, shows that between 10 and 13 percent of college-aged Mormon men reported past experimentation with homosexual behavior, which was similar to the percentage of non-Mormon men who similarly reported. The study did not tabulate the number of homosexuals who had never had a homosexual experience.[266] Another poll of BYU students in 1997 found that 10% had a gay family member and 69% knew someone attracted to those of the same sex.[146] Gary Watts, former president of Family Fellowship, estimates that only 10 percent of homosexual Mormons remain in the church.[267] Others dispute that estimate, saying numbers in support groups for active Latter-day Saints and for self-identified gay Mormons are comparable.[citation needed] There is a variety of terminology used, including "Moho", to refer to a Mormon homosexual.[268]
Some nationally recognized LGBT former Mormons Tyler Glenn (left) and Kate Kendell.
Prominent LGBT or homosexually attracted Mormons include Elder Christofferson's brother Tom Christofferson, therapist Ty Mansfield, therapist David Matheson, and therapist Josh Weed. Prominent LGBT former Mormons include writer Dustin Lance Black, singer Tyler Glenn, historian D. Michael Quinn, gay rights activist Leonard Matlovich, and attorney Kate Kendell. Organization that have supported Mormons and former Mormons that experience attractions to those of the same sex include Affirmation, North Star, Mormons Building Bridges, Mama Dragons, Evergreen International, USGA. Break-off churches for LGBT Mormons include the United Order Family of Christ in the 70s and the Restoration Church of Jesus Christ by Antonio Feliz from the 80s to 2010.[citation needed]
Depiction in pop culture and media
Topics discussing the LDS Church and LGBT people have been featured in many films, plays, and pieces of literature. Examples include the following:
- Films: Latter Days, Believer, 8: The Mormon Proposition, G.B.F.,[269] TLC's My Husband's Not Gay,[270] Church & State,[271] Same-Sex Attracted[272]
- Theatrical productions: Book of Mormon musical,[273] Angels in America, 8, 14,[274] Facing East,[275] Confessions of a Mormon Boy, Missa Solemnis or The Play About Henry,[276][277]
- Books: Advise and Consent.[278][279]
Timeline of important publications and speeches
1800s to the 1950s
This highly influential publication was the first general-authority-authored book to explicitly contain church stances on homosexuality.
- 1897 – During the October general conference, First Presidency member George Q. Cannon used the media attention on the 1895 conviction and two-year imprisonment of famed Irish poet Oscar Wilde as an opportunity to condemn homosexual behavior as an abominable, filthy, nameless crime. He continued stating that the only way to stop homosexuals was for God to wipe them out.[280][281]
- 1952 – An increase in US public discourse around homosexuality in the McCarthyist Lavender scare era contributed to the first explicit mention of the topic in general conference. Apostle Clark lamented homosexuality is found among men and women, and that homosexual people exercise great influence in shaping culture.[44][49]: 146 [16]: 15
- 1958 – General authority Bruce R. McConkie published Mormon Doctrine, in which he states that homosexuality is among Lucifer's chief means of leading souls to hell. In the section on Chastity he stated that it's better to be dead clean, than alive unclean.[282][21]: 375 The book was viewed by many members both then and now as representing official doctrine despite never being endorsed by the church.[16]: 16
1960s
- 1964 – Apostle Spencer W. Kimball called homosexuality a malady, disease, and an abominable and detestable crime against nature that was curable by self mastery.[283] He cited one lay bishop (a businessman by trade) assigned by the church to administer a program of rehabilitation through which he claimed there had been numerous "cures." He said the police, the courts, and the judges had referred many cases directly to the church.[18][142]: 91
The 1968 leader handbook was the first release to explicitly mention homosexuality.
- 1965 – Kimball again addressed homosexuality in his BYU speech "Love vs. Lust." He called it a gross, heinous, obnoxious, abominable, vicious sin. The text states that those with homosexual desires could correct and overcome them like the cure for alcoholism. In the speech he stated BYU will never knowingly enroll nor tolerate anyone with these tendencies who fails to repent, and that it is a damnable heresy for a homosexual person to say that God made them that way. He also stated that sometimes masturbation is an introduction to homosexuality.[93][49]: 149
- 1965 – Ernest L. Wilkinson, addressed the BYU student body stating a ban on students with homosexual feelings since they contaminate the campus.[284][285][49]: 154
- 1968 – A version of the Church Handbook was released containing the first explicit mention of homosexuality, specifying that homo-sexual [sic] acts require a church court.[286][21]: 380
- 1969 – Kimball released his book The Miracle of Forgiveness, in which he teaches that masturbation can lead to acts of homosexuality. It became a best-seller in the church and was routinely given to missionaries.[16]: 34 His book was quoted in a 1979 church manual where it states that homosexuality is curable and certainly overcome as long as the person continues knocking at the door to a cure until their knuckles are bloody.[287][288] Kimball viewed many homosexuals as basically good people trapped in sin and posited that some totally conquer homosexuality in a few months, but sometimes leads to sex with animals.[289]
1970s
- 1970 – Victor L. Brown of the Presiding Bishopric gave an April general conference address in which he states that a normal and healthy 12- or 13-year-old boy or girl could develop into a homosexual if exposed to pornographic literature and other abnormalities.[290][291][292]: 297
Spencer W. Kimball was assigned as a church specialist on homosexuality in 1946[46]: 381 and shaped church teachings on the subject through numerous speeches and publications in the '60s and '70s.
- 1970 – The church produced Hope for Transgressors, in which apostles Spencer W. Kimball and Mark E. Petersen offer ideas to leaders about how to effect a total "cure" and bring the lives of men with homosexual feelings into total normalcy.[16]: 36 [94] Ideas include prayer, cutting off contact with homosexual friends, dating women, marriage,[283] and scripture reading. He calls homosexuality a despicable, degraded, dread practice, and a perversion that would doom the world, though calling the homosexual individual an afflicted one. The guide notes that Kimball and Petersen were designated as the church specialists on homosexuality, and that homosexuality is not totally the fault of family conditions and concludes it "CAN be cured" (emphasis in the original).[88]
- 1971 – Apostle Kimball revised and retitled Hope for Transgressors as a 34-page letter to homosexual men titled New Horizons for Homosexuals. In it he calls homosexuality a ruinous practice of perversion that the church will never condone that begins with curiosity. He states that saying perverts are born that way is a base lie since homosexuality is curable and can be overcome and recovered from. It also calls homosexuality ugly, degenerate, unnatural, vicious, base, a waste of power, a deep sin, and an end to the family and civilization."[53]: 149 The publication advises that for the homosexual to recover they must shun anyone associated with the transgression and pray and read the scriptures.[293] The pamphlet would be reissued in 1978 as a 30-page pamphlet titled A Letter to a Friend.[49]: 147
A 1973 church publication which taught that a passive father and domineering mother can cause homosexuality, and that conforming to gender norms will change it.
- 1973 – The church published a guide for bishops and stake presidents titled "Homosexuality: Welfare Services Packet 1", which posited that homosexual behavior begins by being molested with the note that not all who are molested become homosexual. It also suggested that homosexuality is caused by a domineering mother and a passive father. As far as changing the sexual orientation of the person, the packet says that the lesbian needs to learn feminine behavior, and the gay man must learn the manly, heterosexual, or straight way of life.[142]: 91 [294][69]
- 1974 – New Church president Spencer W. Kimball gave an October general conference speech in which he again stated that masturbation leads to homosexuality, and also added pornography can as well.[295]: 342–343 [296]
- 1975 – The Ensign published an article by Presiding bishop Victor L. Brown which addressed parents stating that a "lack of proper affection in the home" can result in homosexual children.[297][295]: 339
Members of LDS Social Services (renamed "Family Services" in '95) were tasked with treating homosexual Mormons in 1972[298]: 15 and produced several important publications on homosexuality in '73, '95, and '99.
- 1975 – Robert L. Blattner of LDS Social Services gave an address at the Association of Mormon Counselors and Psychotherapists (AMCAP) annual conference. Blattner served as a special assistant to the LDS Commissioner of Personal Welfare Victor L. Brown Jr.[298]: 15 In the address Blattner states that the causes of homosexuality in men are a lack of relationship with peers and a disturbed family background with an absent father and controlling mother. For the causes of female homosexuality he only notes the lack of information. He said homosexual behavior and alcoholism are similar and noted that most people can be helped by electric shock behavior modification in reference to BYU's aversion therapy program.[299][300]
- 1976 – A version of the Church Handbook was released changing the previous grounds for a church court from "homo-sexual [sic] acts" to "homosexuality."[301][302] This change seemed to make Mormons vulnerable to church punishment for having a homosexual orientation alone even without sexual activity.[21]: 382, 422 [16]: 16, 43 [22]: 139
Apostle Boyd K. Packer played a large role in shaping over three decades of teachings on homosexuality through numerous speeches containing the subject.
- 1976 – Apostle Boyd K. Packer gave the sermon "To Young Men Only" in the October general conference. The sermon counseled against perverse physical contact between men. Packer commended a missionary who was upset after he floored (i.e. punched so hard he fell to the ground) his assigned male companion in response to unwanted sexual advances, saying "somebody had to do it."[283] He further asserted that it is a lie that some are born with homosexual attractions. The sermon was published as a pamphlet by the church from 1980 to 2016.[118][177]
Pamphlet containing apostle Packer's 1978 BYU speech on homosexuality.
- 1978 – Apostle Packer delivered the sermon "To the One" at BYU[129] in response to the recent controversy generated from a widely circulated pro-gay pamphlet by a gay BYU student and gay BYU instructor.[303][49]: 157–159 [304] He characterized homosexual interaction as a perversion and presented the possibility that it had its roots in selfishness and could be cured with unselfish thoughts and acts.[16]: 19, 199 [305][129]: 6 He stated that homosexuality was not discussed much by publicly by the church since talking about it can very foolishly cause things leaders are trying to prevent.[129]: 19 [16]: 20
- 1978 – The First Presidency released a statement outlining reasons for their opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment including unnatural consequences like an increase in the practice of homosexual and lesbian activities.[306][53]: 150–151
1980s
- 1980 – The Ensign published an article stating that a passing of the Equal Rights Amendment would lead to legalizing same-sex marriage and children being raised in a homosexual home.[307][53]: 151
- 1981 – In an April General Conference, church Seventy Hartman Rector Jr. stated "If children have a happy family experience they will not want to be homosexual", and that homosexuality is an acquired addiction like drugs and pornography.[308][309][310]
- 1981 – The church issued a guide for LDS Social Services employees instructing them that a homosexual orientation is not inborn and there is hope of change, as well as stating that a homosexual man is afraid of the other sex and does not fully understand how to act and think like a masculine man.[311][298]: 20
- 1981 – Another church guide was released for local church leaders which stated that homosexual inclinations are changeable and not inborn. The booklet gave guidelines for the treatment and prevention of homosexuality such as dating, praying, and reading church literature. It taught that homosexual behavior is learned and influenced by an unhealthy childhood, masturbation, and experimentation.[312][21]: 51 [313]
- 1983 – The Church Handbook was updated to state that a church court may be convened to consider serious transgressions including homosexuality and lesbianism but is not required.[314] Some leaders punished even celibate people who confessed to experiencing homosexual feelings.[22]: 139
- 1986 – Dallin H. Oaks commented on a CBS-TV interview that marriage is not doctrinal therapy for homosexual relations, and that he did not know if any leaders had advised homosexual individuals to enter mixed-orientation marriages.[315][21]: 393 [316]
- 1987 – Gordon B. Hinckley of the First Presidency gave an April conference address in which he stated, marriage should not be viewed as a therapeutic step to solve problems such as homosexual inclinations or practices."[292]: 13 [317]
- 1989 – The Church Handbook was updated to clarify offenses as homosexual relations rather than just homosexuality itself.[22]: 139 Additionally the update required a church court for any homosexual activity by a member holding a prominent church position such as a bishop.[318]
1990s
- 1990 – A version of the "For the Strength of Youth" pamphlet first mentioned homosexuality, characterizing it as an unnatural affection, a sex perversion and an abomination.[319][320][321]
- 1991 – The First Presidency sent a letter on November 14 to be read in all congregations stating homosexual thoughts and feelings can and should be overcome by sincere repentance, persistent effort, the help of others, and counsel from a bishop. The letter made a distinction between thoughts and behavior, and called for love and understanding for those struggling to overcome gay thoughts.[322][323][324]
Cover of a 1992 manual which marked a shift in LDS church rhetoric towards changing homosexual behavior rather than feelings.[28]: 40–41
- 1992 – The church published a guide for local leaders which stated that homosexual feelings can be overcome, and sometimes heterosexual feelings emerge leading to happy, eternal marriage relationships.[98]: 6 [28]: 40–41 [16]: 18–19 The pamphlet did not frame homosexuality as a disease corresponding to the recent change by the World Health Organization removing homosexuality as a mental disorder.[283]
- 1994 – The First Presidency issued a statement encouraging members to contact their legislators in an effort to reject same-sex marriage.[30][325]
- 1995 – First presidency member James Faust wrote an article denying any biological components in the causes of homosexuality.[47]: 58 He also stated that gay relationships would help unravel society.[103]
"The Family: A Proclamation to the World" is a 1995 LDS church statement used as a legal document in several court case amicus briefs opposing same-sex marriage.[326]
- 1995 – Church president Gordon B. Hinckley read "The Family: A Proclamation to the World" in the Fall General Conference which states that marriage between a man and a woman is essential and ordained of God. It also teaches that gender is an essential part of one's eternal identity and purpose.[53]: 154–155 [161] The document has been submitted by the church in several amicus briefs as evidence against legalizing same-sex marriages.[326]
- 1995 – Church president Hinckley condemned same-sex marriage in the October General Conference, but invited members of the church reach out and sympathize with homosexual individuals.[50]: 45–46 [327][328]
- 1995 – An article by Dallin H. Oaks denounced gay bashing and gave a nuanced view on potential biological components of the etiology of homosexuality. It also advised against using the sexual identifiers gay or lesbian.[283][104]
- 1995 – The church's Family Services published a manual for practitioners which stated that dysfunctional family relationships and abuse were at the root of homosexuality, and gave advice on how to prevent and treat homosexuality.[329][330]: 107 [331]
- 1997 – Church president Gordon B. Hinckley gave an interview in which he called gay members of the church good people and said they're not reprimanded for their attractions unless involved in sexual transgressions. He affirmed that gay Mormons must live a celibate life.[333][99]: 162
- 1998 – The Church Handbook was updated to ban members from full-time missionary service who had participated in "homosexual acts" from age 15 (unless it had been at least one year since the occurrence and there was strong evidence of reformation).[334]: 81 The update also included the first church policy sections on homosexuality and same-gender marriage, stating that members with homosexual thoughts, feelings, or actions should be helped to understand faith, repentance, life's purpose, and to accept responsibility for their thoughts.[53]: 166 Additionally, the manual encourages members to appeal to government officials to reject same-sex marriage.[334]: 159
- 1999 – The Area Presidency of the North America West Area sent a May 11 letter to all area leaders directing members to donate their means and time to pass the Knight Initiative against same-sex marriage in California.[16]: 77 [335] A second letter invited church members to donate money, and a third letter (sent a month and a half before the proposition would pass) asked members to redouble their efforts in contacting neighbors and to place provided yard signs.[16]: 77–78 [336][337]
- 1999 – The church published an Ensign article which states that homosexuality is changeable and heterosexual feelings will emerge and is caused by personality traits, sexual abuse, familial factors, and treatment by peers.[295]: 346 [338]
2000s
- 2000 – Packer gave an October General Conference address in which he calls homosexuality a temptation which may lead to despair, disease, and death that begins as an innocent curiosity which leads to a pattern and then addiction. He said the idea that God created homosexual people with "overpowering, unnatural desires" is false and that they can be cured and healed.[339][340][341]
The 2001 update to the youth guideline pamphlet removed the harsher language of the 1990 edition which characterized homosexual feelings as unnatural, perverse, and an abomination.
- 2001 – The eighth version of the "For the Strength of Youth" pamphlet was published updating the section discussing homosexuality to only say that homosexual activity is a serious sin and that those "struggling with same-gender attraction" should talk to their parents and bishop.[342][137]
- 2004 – The church published True to the Faith, which states that homosexual activity is contrary to the purposes of human sexuality, distorts loving relationships, and prevents people from receiving blessings. The book further says that sexual sins are more serious than any other sins except murder and denying the Holy Ghost.[343][344]: 10
- 2004 – The First Presidency issued a July 7 statement saying the church favors a constitutional amendment barring the legal status of any marriage outside one between one man and one woman.[345][346] A few months later on October 19 they expounded this stance with the First Presidency Statement on Same-Gender Marriage supporting the 2004 movement for this amendment.[347] The letter states that the church reaches out with understanding and respect for homosexual persons and realizes there may be great loneliness in their lives, but defend their stance.[30][344]: 10
- 2006 – Jeffrey R. Holland and Marlin K. Jensen were interviewed in March with questions about various topics including homosexuality by PBS. Jensen stated that he did not think the church could ever change its position on homosexual behavior, and acknowledged that this creates a lot of pain since homosexual Mormons have no hope of falling in love in a church-sanctioned way.[348] Holland stated that he doesn't anticipate a change in church stance, and affirmed that gay or lesbian inclinations disappear after death.[135][137][349]: 36
- 2006 – The Church Handbook was updated again,[350] stating that the church reaches out with respect and understanding to same-sex attracted individuals.[351]
- 2006 – A revision to the church's Mission Presidents Handbook recommended that, barring unusual circumstances, a missionary who makes a belated confession to a serious transgression like pre-mission homosexual acts should be sent home.[352]: 27 The manual also specified that any baptismal candidate confessing to a homosexual transgression during a baptismal interview (usually with a mission district leader) needs a searching interview with the local mission president for baptism approval.[352]: 43
The apostle Dallin Oaks has been an influential figure in church interactions with homosexual people, instituting a system of surveillance to identify and expel or attempt to "cure" homosexual students as president of BYU in the '70s, and doing numerous important video interviews and articles on the topic in the '80s, '90s, and 2000s.
- 2006 – The church published an extensive April interview[3] with Oaks and Lance B. Wickman to clarify the church's stance on homosexuality.[3][353] In the interview, Wickman states that the church doesn't counsel against conversion therapy and that it may be appropriate for some. However, Oaks states they can't endorse the aversive therapies recommended in the past to fix it, and they don't accept responsibility for the abuses suffered by individuals who had experienced this now disavowed therapy method. He further stated that giving even same-sex civil unions and domestic partnerships the same government rights given to opposite-sex marriage would not be appropriate. He added that a mixed-orientation marriage would be appropriate for a gay member who could put homosexual feelings in the background and felt a great attraction to someone of the opposite sex.[143] He compared devout homosexual Mormons to those with physical or mental disabilities who will also not be able to marry, and added that same-sex attraction did not exist in the pre-earth life and will not exist in the next life. On family acceptance he stated that parents of gay children in same-sex relationships might tell them they can't stay overnight or expect any public appearances with the couple that may imply an approval of their relationship. He further stated the Lord's way is to love the sinner while condemning the sin.[3][137]
- 2006 – In April Apostle Russell M. Nelson signed a letter with other religious leaders urging the US government to pass an amendment banning same-sex marriage. On May 25 the First Presidency released another statement supporting the amendment and urging members to contact their senators.[354][344]: 10–11
- 2006 – Apostle Dallin H. Oaks gave an October General Conference address in which he stated change is possible but don't focus on the causes of same-sex attraction. Oaks then explained that if faith, prayers, and priesthood don't heal one from an affliction that the Atonement can help one bear the burden.[355]
- 2007 – The church's BYU Board of Trustees, under the direction of First Presidency member Monson, revised the Honor Code in April to clarify that coming out is not an Honor Code issue, while continuing to ban all forms of physical intimacy expressing homosexual feelings.[356][357][137]
This was the first church publication on homosexuality produced in nearly three decades for members to read since "To the One" and "A Letter to a Friend" were released in 1978.
- 2007 – In July, the church published the booklet "God Loveth His Children" summarizing church teachings on homosexuality.[50]: 46 [136][137]
- 2008 – The First Presidency again urged California members to do all they can by giving effort and time to help pass a state amendment banning same-sex marriage in a June 29 letter.[283][358] A few months later Apostles Ballard and Cook and L. Whitney Clayton gave an October 8 satellite broadcast[359] to all California members titled "The Divine Institution of Marriage Broadcast." In the broadcast they asked members to donate four hours per week and to set aside Saturdays morning to calling people and other efforts supporting the passage of Prop 8. They clarified that tolerance does not mean tolerating transgression, and noted the existence of temple-worthy members attracted to the same sex. Additionally, a video[360] of Apostle Bednar answering youth's questions was shown from the church's official website PreservingMarriage.org.[361] Members were directed to register on the coalition website ProtectMarriage.com.[362][363][364]
- 2009 – On September 19 Seventy Bruce C. Hafen promised members of Evergreen that if they were faithful they may develop heterosexual attractions in this life, and would be resurrected with heterosexual attractions, citing apostle Oaks and affirming that "it MUST be true" (emphasis in original).[332]: 79 [365][134]
2010 to present
- 2010 – A 2010 update to the Church Handbook noted that the records of adult members who had repeated homosexual activities would be permanently annotated.[366] It also advised that homosexual activity during or after the last three teenage years would bar someone from missionary service.[366] The Handbook 2 also stated that members who experience same-sex attraction but don't engage in homosexual behavior may receive church callings and temple recommends.[367]
- 2010 – Apostle Packer delivered an October conference address referring to homosexual relationships as "substitutes or counterfeits for marriage."[368] He says that it is "not so" that some are "preset and cannot overcome what they feel are inborn temptations toward the impure and unnatural." He goes on to say "Why would our Heavenly Father do that to anyone?", which was omitted in the printed version of the talk.[369][370][283] He says "we will not change this moral standard". His remarks sparked a protest on October 7 in which thousands surrounded Temple Square.[11][185]
- 2011 – The church's BYU Honor Code was updated to remove the ban on the advocacy and promotion of homosexual behavior as being morally acceptable.[137][371]
- 2012 – In May the church released a statement approving the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) administration's decision to remove the 1991 ban on homosexual youth.[372][373] The release stated that sexual orientation had never disqualified boys from joining LDS troops as long as they abided by church standards barring any pre-marital sexual activity,[374][375] though, the policy remains unclear for young men participating in same-sex dating without sexual activity. In 2010, Mormon scouts constituted the largest group of young men in the BSA (21% in 2010).[376]
This header was at the top of the LDS church's first official website on homosexuality from December 2012 until an update in October 2016.
- 2012 – In December the church launched a website dedicated to the topic of homosexuality in an effort to encourage understanding.[23] The website stated that individuals don't choose to experience same-sex attractions.[377][378][137]
- 2015 – Church leaders held a "Fairness for All" news conference on January 27 supporting LGBT non-discrimination laws for housing and employment that would also protect religious individuals.[379] Apostle Christofferson called for a balance between religious freedom and LGBT rights while Neill F. Marriott of the Young Women's presidency recognized the centuries of ridicule, persecution, and violence against homosexuals. Apostle Oaks followed stating that the church rejects persecution based on gender or sexual orientation and called for legislation protecting religious freedoms and LGBT citizens in housing, employment, and public accommodations. Apostle Holland closed outlining the church's stance on religious freedom.[380][381][382] In answer to a press question afterwards Christofferson affirmed his love for his gay brother Tom who was in a 20-year relationship with a man.[383][384][137]
- 2015 – In early March the church released a public statement[385] and employed its lobbyists[386] to garner support for a proposed nondiscrimination and religious rights bill which would grant housing and employment protection for LGBT persons in Utah. Though similar bills had failed 6 times before,[387] SB 296 was passed on March 11 and another statement of church approval was released.[388] the new law (nicknamed the "Utah Compromise")[389] passed and was praised by many.[390][391]
- 2015 – Three days after the US Supreme Court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage the First Presidency sent a June 29 letter to be read to every US congregation affirming changing US law would not change God's moral law. The letter clarified that leaders should not perform same-sex marriages, and that any church property cannot be used for activities related to same-sex marriages. The letter welcomed all visitors on church property as long as LDS standards of conduct were respected.[392][393]
- 2015 – Following a Boy Scouts of America (BSA) policy change on July 27 allowing for gay scout leaders[394] (though allowing for churches to continue banning them)[395] the church stated that it had always welcomed gay youth, but that allowing openly gay leaders was inconsistent with church doctrine. The official press release (preceded by one on May 21[396] and July 13[397]) alluded to a potential change in church-BSA relations. Despite the majority of church members wanting to drop relations with the BSA,[398] however, no change in relations occurred.[399]
- 2015 – On November 5 an updated letter to leaders for the Church Handbook was leaked. A new policy banned a child of a parent living in a same-gender relationship from baby blessings, baptism, confirmation, priesthood ordination, and missionary service until the child was not living with their homosexual parent(s), was of legal age, and disavowed same-gender cohabitation and marriage, in addition to receiving approval from the First Presidency. The policy update added that entering a same-sex marriage was a type of "apostasy", mandating a disciplinary council.[188][12] The next day, apostle Christofferson stated that the policy was about love and protecting children from difficulties, challenges, and conflicts between parents and the church.[400][137] On November 13, the First Presidency released a letter clarifying that the policy only applied to children who lived mostly with the parent in a same-sex relationship, and that those who had already received ordinances before the change could continue with further ordinances.[401][402] The next day around 1,500 members gathered across from the Church Office to submit their resignation letters in response to the policy change, with thousands more resigning online in the weeks after.[166][186][14] Two months later, apostle Nelson stated that the change was revealed to President Monson in a sacred moment when the Lord inspired him to declare the will of the Lord.[403]
- 2016 – The church released a statement through spokesman Dale Jones on January 28 mourning the reported suicides of 32 LGBT Mormons. The release stated that leaders and members are taught to reach out in an active, caring way to all, especially to youth who feel estranged or isolated.[260][137]
- 2016 – On February 17 church spokesperson Dale Jones spoke against passing any LGBT-related laws which could affect the balance of religious liberty and gay rights.[404] The statement was in reference to proposed Utah hate crime bill SB107 which would add sexual orientation to the current list of characteristics protected from hate crimes in Utah.[405] The bill failed as it had in past years and its Mormon Republican sponsor criticized his church for its opposition to the bill citing the church's press release as the reason for its failure.[406][407]
- 2016 – Apostle David A. Bednar answered a member's question in a February 23 broadcast stating that there are no homosexual members of the church since we are not defined by sexual attraction or behavior. He compared homosexuality to a physical handicap.[408]
- 2016 – Church spokesman Eric Hawkins stated on March 15 that the church denounces any therapy that subjects an individual to abusive practices and hopes LGBT Mormons find compassion and understanding from family members, professional counselors and church members.[409] The statement was in response to media inquiries around the experiences of a lesbian Mormon teen subjected to physically abusive therapy attempting to change her attractions which lead to a suicide attempt.[410][137]
The 2016 website update contained the first church disavowal of all therapy focusing on changing sexual orientation.
- 2016 – In June the Mexican area authority presidency had a letter read in congregations around the country urging members to oppose the national legalization of same-sex marriage and pointed them to the political organization Conciencia Nacional por la Libertad Religiosa.[411][412]
- 2016 – In October, the official Mormons and Gays website was revised and moved to mormonandgay.lds.org.[413] The update supported members in identifying as gay[414][100][137] and noted that therapy focusing on changing sexual orientation is unethical.[26][415]
- 2017 – The Pacific area presidency sent a letter to be read in September in all Australian congregations which reemphasized the church's position against same-sex marriage and parenting and urged members to "vote their conscience" in the upcoming national referendum on the issue.[416]
- 2017 – The apostle Oaks stated that the Family Proclamation's teachings on same-sex marriage were not changeable policies but statements of eternal truth, the will of God, and the basis for church teachings and practice over the last two decades. He lamented the increase in public acceptance of same-sex marriage and acknowledged the conflicts with friends and family that opposing this acceptance could cause. He further stated that despite the conflict church members should choose God and the LDS Church's plan and way.[417][418]
- 2021 – In an address to faculty and staff at BYU, Apostle Holland called for "a little more musket fire from this temple of learning" in "defending marriage as the union of a man and a woman."[419] The same years, a tentative $250 million payout agreement was reached in lawsuits regarding allegations of the church covering up incidents of sex abuse in its former Boy Scout of America chapters.[420][421]
See also
- Community of Christ#LGBTQ Participation
- DezNat (Deseret Nation) – anti-LGBT, alt-right-affiliated Mormon Twitter community.
- Timeline of LGBT Mormon history
- LGBT Mormon people and organizations
- Gender minorities and the LDS church
- Brigham Young University LGBT history
- Sexuality and Mormonism
- Law of adoption (Mormonism)
- LGBT rights in Utah
- Civil rights and Mormonism
- List of Christian denominational positions on homosexuality
- All Dead Mormons Are Now Gay
References
- ^ a b "Same-Sex Marriage". LDS Church.
- ^ a b c d "Frequently Asked Questions". Mormon and Gay. LDS Church. October 2016.
If you experience same-sex attraction, you may choose to use a sexual orientation label to describe yourself. ... If you decide to ... openly identify as gay, you should be supported.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oaks, Dallin H.; Wickman, Lance B. (September 2006). "Same-Gender Attraction". Newsroom (Interview: Transcript). Interviewed by LDS Church Public Affairs staffers. Salt Lake City, Utah: LDS Church. See also the Salt Lake Tribune archived transcript here.
- ^ a b Hinckley, Gordon B. (November 1998). "What Are People Asking about Us?". Ensign. LDS Church.
- ^ a b . mormon.org. LDS Church. Archived from the original on February 15, 2019. Retrieved July 2, 2014.
- ^ a b "Gospel Topics: Temples", churchofjesuschrist.org, LDS Church, retrieved July 2, 2014
- ^ a b "Gospel Topics: Church Disciplinary Councils", churchofjesuschrist.org, LDS Church, retrieved July 2, 2014
- ^ a b c Beaver, Michelle (March 11, 2011). "Mormon church has a fractured history with gays". The Mercury News. San Jose, CA: MediaNews Group, Inc. Bay Area News Group.
There are three levels to the heaven in which Mormons believe, and to make it to the highest level, one must be married. Perhaps the most sacred church ordinance is the temple marriage, a "sealing" between a man and a woman that is believed to be eternal, according to Richley Crapo, a Utah State University professor. There is no place for homosexuality in Mormon marriages, and no place for noncelibate homosexuals in the top level of Mormon heaven, unless that person has repented accordingly in the afterlife.
- ^ a b c Petrey, Taylor G. (February 4, 2015). "My Husband's Not Gay: Homosexuality and the LDS Church". Religion & Politics. Washington University in St. Louis. John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics.
In the Mormon cosmos, as presently understood, there is simply no room for same-sex relationships. For Mormons, the afterlife consists of heterosexual pairs of divinized men and women. Often church leaders have counseled Mormons who experience same-sex attraction that their unwelcome feelings will disappear in the afterlife. ... [T]he very structure of heaven can only accommodate opposite-sex marriages.
- ^ Browning, Bill (December 21, 2021). "Utah billionaire leaves Mormon church with blistering accusation it is actively harming the world". LGBTQ Nation. San Francisco. from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved December 25, 2021.
- ^ a b c d Winters, Rosemary (October 19, 2010). "Mormon apostle's words about gays spark protest". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
- ^ a b c Bailey, Sarah Pulliam (November 11, 2016). "Mormon Church to exclude children of same-sex couples from getting blessed and baptized until they are 18". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 12, 2016.
- ^ Murphy, Caryle. "Most U.S. Christian groups grow more accepting of homosexuality". pewresearch.org. Pew Research Center. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
- ^ a b c d Levin, Sam (August 15, 2016). "'I'm not a Mormon': fresh 'mass resignation' over anti-LGBT beliefs". The Guardian. Retrieved December 11, 2016.
- ^ Hatch, Heidi (April 13, 2016). "Millennial Mormons leaving faith at higher rate than previous generations". CBS Television Sinclair Broadcast Group. KUTV.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah Prince, Gregory A. (2019). Gay Rights and the Mormon Church: Intended Actions, Unintended Consequences. Salt Lake City: The University of Utah Press. ISBN 9781607816638.
- ^ a b Kimball, Spencer W. (1969), The Miracle of Forgiveness, Bookcraft, ISBN 978-0-88494-192-7,
[Homosexuality] is curable and forgivable. ... Certainly it can be overcome .... [T]o those who say that this practice ... is incurable, I respond: 'How can you say the door cannot be opened until your knuckles are bloody ...? It can be done.'
Quoted on page 31 of - ^ a b c Kimball, Spencer W. (July 10, 1964). A Counselling Problem in the Church. Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University. pp. 13–14.
We know such a disease [homosexuality] is curable.
- ^ a b Understanding and Helping Those Who Have Homosexual Problems. LDS Church. 1992. pp. 3–4. Retrieved November 3, 2016.
[S]uch thoughts and feelings, regardless of their causes, can and should be overcome and sinful behavior should be eliminated. ... Change is possible.
- ^ a b c d e f Prince, Gregory A. (September 27, 2017). (PDF). thc.utah.edu. University of Utah Tanner Humanities Center. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 28, 2019. Retrieved October 21, 2017. Video of the presentation.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Quinn, D. Michael (1996). Same-Sex Dynamics among Nineteenth-Century Americans: A Mormon Example. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0252022050.
- ^ a b c d e Schow, Ron (Fall 2005). "Homosexual Attractions and LDS Marriage Decisions" (PDF). Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought. 38 (3). doi:10.2307/45227379. JSTOR 45227379. S2CID 254393745. Retrieved June 18, 2017.
- ^ a b . mormonsandgays.org. LDS Church. December 6, 2012. Archived from the original on December 6, 2012.
- ^ a b c Jones, Morgan (February 7, 2018). "The Weeds' story is one of many stories of LGBT Latter-day Saints that continue to be written". Deseret News. LDS Church.
Today, [LDS] Family Services says it offers the following: 'We assist individuals and families as they respond to same-sex attraction. Our therapists do not provide what is commonly referred to as 'reparative therapy' or 'sexual orientation change efforts'.'
- ^ a b "Interview With Elder Dallin H. Oaks and Elder Lance B. Wickman: "Same-Gender Attraction"". Mormon Newsroom. LDS Church. September 2006.
The Church does not have a position on the causes of any of ... same-gender attraction. Those are scientific questions ....
- ^ a b "Seeking Professional Help". mormonandgay.lds.org. LDS Church. October 2016.
- ^ a b Fish, Jessica N.; Russell, Stephen T. (August 2020). "Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Change Efforts are Unethical and Harmful". American Journal of Public Health. 110 (8): 1113–1114. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2020.305765. PMC 7349462. PMID 32639919.
With substantial evidence of serious harms associated with exposure to [sexual orientation and gender identity change efforts (SOGICE)] particularly for minors, 21 states (and multiple cities and counties) have passed bipartisan laws or regulations prohibiting SOGICE. ... Furthermore, compared with LGBTQ youths with no exposure, those exposed to SOGICE showed 1.76 times greater odds of seriously considering suicide, 2.23 times greater odds of having attempted suicide, and 2.54 times greater odds of multiple suicide attempts in the previous year.
- ^ a b c d Phillips, Rick (2005). (PDF). Frankfurt, Germany: Peter Lang Publishing. ISBN 978-0820474809. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 18, 2017. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
- ^ a b Cook, Bryce (Summer 2017). . Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought. 50 (2). doi:10.5406/dialjmormthou.50.2.0001. S2CID 190443414. Archived from the original on February 5, 2022. Retrieved November 12, 2017.
- ^ a b c d "First Presidency Statement on Same-Gender Marriage". LDS Church. October 20, 2004. Retrieved January 23, 2015.
- ^ McKinley, Jesse; Johnson, Kirk (November 14, 2008). "Mormons Tipped Scale in Ban on Gay Marriage". The New York Times. Retrieved August 26, 2011.
- ^ Taylor, Scott (November 10, 2009). . Deseret News. Archived from the original on November 14, 2009. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
- ^ "Mormon Church to exclude children of same-sex couples from getting blessed and baptized until they are 18". The Washington Post. November 6, 2015. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
- ^ a b "Mormons Reinforce Stand on Same-Sex Marriage". New York Times. November 6, 2015.
- ^ a b "LDS Church dumps its controversial LGBTQ policy, cites 'continuing revelation' from God". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved April 4, 2019.
- ^ a b "First Presidency Shares Messages From General Conference Leadership Session". Mormon Newsroom. April 4, 2019. Retrieved April 4, 2019.
- ^ Phillips, Richard (January 1, 1993). "Prophets and Preference: Constructing and Maintaining a Homosexual Identity in the Mormon Church". All Graduate Theses and Dissertations: Utah State University (Paper 2513). Retrieved June 12, 2017.
- ^ Alma 39:5
- ^ 2 Nephi 13:9
- ^ a b Galliher, Renee; Bradshaw, William; Hyde, Daniel; Dehlin, John; Crowell, Katherine (April 2015). "Sexual orientation change efforts among current or former LDS church members". Journal of Counseling Psychology. 62 (2): 96. doi:10.1037/cou0000011. PMID 24635593.
The LDS church claims the Holy Bible as scripture and, through traditional Biblical interpretations, has historically both condemned same-sex sexuality as sinful and explicitly encouraged its lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) members to attempt sexual orientation change. While the LDS church has somewhat softened its stance toward LGBTQ individuals in recent years, it continues to communicate to its LGBTQ members that sexual orientation change is possible through various means including prayer, personal righteousness, faith in Jesus Christ, psychotherapy, group therapy, and group retreats. In these respects, the LDS church's approach to SSA has closely paralleled other religious traditions including Orthodox Judaism, evangelical Christianity, and Roman Catholicism.
- ^ Williams, Clyde J. (1996). The Teachings of Harold B. Lee. Salt Lake City, Utah: Bookcraft Inc. ISBN 978-1570084836.
- ^ Faulconer, James E. (1999), , Romans 1: Notes and Reflections, Provo, Utah: FARMS, Brigham Young University, ISBN 978-0-934893-44-2, OCLC 42580110, archived from the original on October 11, 2012, retrieved April 25, 2012
- ^ a b c d Hinckley, Gordon B. (May 1987). "Reverence and Morality". Ensign: 45.
- ^ a b Clark, J. Reuben (October 2, 1952). "Home and the Building of Home Life". Relief Society Magazine: 793–794.
... [T]he crimes for which Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed—we have coined a softer name for them than came from old; we now speak of homosexuality, which, it is tragic to say, is found among both sexes. ...Not without foundation is the contention of some that the homosexuals are today exercising great influence in shaping our art, literature, music, and drama.
- ^ Mohrman, K. (May 2015). "Queering the LDS Archive". Radical History Review. 2015 (122): 154. doi:10.1215/01636545-2849585. Retrieved February 5, 2017.
- ^ a b c d e Kimball, Edward L.; Kimball, Andrew E. (1977). Spencer W. Kimball: Twelfth President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Salt Lake City: Bookcraft. ISBN 978-0884943303. Also available at archive.org
- ^ a b c d Quinn, D. Michael (January 15, 1997). The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power (1 ed.). Salt Lake City, Utah: Signature Books. ISBN 978-1560850601. Retrieved June 15, 2017.
- ^ a b Williams, Ben (September 1, 2011). "Lamba Lore: The birth of Mormon homophobia". Q Salt Lake Magazine. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Corcoran, Brent; O'Donovan, Rocky (1994). Multiply and Replenish: Mormon Essays on Sex and Family. Salt Lake City, Utah: Signature Books. ISBN 978-1560850502. Retrieved November 29, 2016.
- ^ a b c d e Vance, Laura (March 13, 2015). Women in New Religions. New York City, NY: New York University Press. ISBN 978-1479816026. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
- ^ Harrison, Mette Ivie (March 18, 2016). "Mormons and Gays: Where Are We Now?". Huffington Post. Oath Inc. Retrieved June 23, 2017.
- ^ Schow, Ron; Schow, Wayne; Raynes, Marybeth (June 1991). Peculiar People: Mormons and Same-Sex Orientation. Signature Books. pp. xxiv–xxvii. ISBN 978-1-56085-046-5. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f Young, Neil J. (July 1, 2016). Out of Obscurity: Mormonism Since 1945. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0199358229. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
- ^ "Mormon stance on gays softening". Richmond Times-Dispatch. October 9, 2013. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
- ^ Fletcher Stack, Peggy (January 30, 2015). "We all can be more civil on LGBT issues, Mormon leader says". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved July 31, 2017.
- ^ Packer, Boyd K. (1976). (PDF). LDS Church. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 11, 2016.
There is a falsehood that some are born with an attraction to their own kind.... That is a malicious and destructive lie.
- ^ Faust, James E. "Serving the Lord and Resisting the Devil". ChurchofJesusChrist.org. LDS Church. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
The false belief of inborn homosexual orientation denies to repentant souls the opportunity to change and will ultimately lead to discouragement, disappointment, and despair.
- ^ Understanding and Changing Homosexual Orientation Problems. LDS Church. 1981. p. 4.
Because man does have moral free agency it is inconsistent to believe that a person's homosexual orientation is inborn or locked in, and there is no real hope of change.
- ^ Homosexuality. Salt Lake City, UT: LDS Church. 1981. p. 2.
It is inconceivable that—as some involved in homosexual behavior claim—[the Lord] would permit his children to be born with desires and inclinations which would require behavior contrary to his plan.
Also quoted in this 'Newsweek' article. - ^ Oaks, Dallin (October 1995). "Same-Gender Attraction". ChurchofJesusChrist.org. LDS Church.
Perhaps such susceptibilities are inborn or acquired without personal choice ... [and] may have some relationship to inheritance.
- ^ Rector, Hartman Jr. (April 1981). Turning the Hearts. Salt Lake City, Utah: LDS Church. Event occurs at 6:47.
[T]o be homosexual ... I am sure is an acquired addiction, just as drugs, alcohol and pornography are.
Video also available at churchofjesuschrist.org - ^ Kimball, Spencer W. (1980). "President Kimball Speaks Out on Morality".
Sometimes masturbation is the introduction to the more serious ... sin of homosexuality.
- ^ Brown, Victor L. (April 1970). . Salt Lake City, Utah: LDS Church. pp. 31–33. Archived from the original on October 21, 2017.
A normal 12- or 13-year-old boy or girl exposed to pornographic literature could develop into a homosexual.
- ^ Benson, Ezra. "Fundamentals of Enduring Family Relationships". ChurchofJesusChrist.org. LDS Church.
[S]exual promiscuity, homosexuality, drug abuse, alcoholism, vandalism, pornography, and violence. These grave problems are symptoms of failure in the home ....
- ^ Kimball, Spencer. "Listen to the Prophets". ChurchofJesusChrist.org. LDS Church. Retrieved May 25, 2017.
Once the carnal in man is no longer checked by the restraints of family life and by real religion, there comes an avalanche of appetites ... whether it is an increase in homosexuality, corruption, drugs, or abortion.
- ^ Brown, Victor. "Two Views of Sexuality". ChurchofJesusChrist.org. LDS Church.
Parents need to know that lack of proper affection in the home can result in unnatural behavior in their children such as homosexuality ....
- ^ a b Understanding and Changing Homosexual Orientation Problems. LDS Church. 1981. pp. 6–7.
If the father is rejecting or uninvolved, or if the mother becomes 'smothering' in an attempt to fill the void left by a weak father, the child can become ... a prime candidate for homosexual (homoerotic) thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
- ^ Clarke, J. Richard. "Ministering to Needs through LDS Social Services". ChurchofJesusChrist.org. LDS Church.
Homosexuality would not occur where there is a normal, loving father-and-son relationship.
- ^ a b Brown Jr., Victor L.; Bergin, Allen E. (1973). Homosexuality: Welfare Services Packet 1. LDS Church. pp. 4–5.
Homosexual behavior begins in various ways. Some young children are molested by strangers, acquaintances, or even relatives. ...However, not all who are molested become homosexual.
- ^ Byrd, A. Dean (September 1999). "When a Loved One Struggles with Same-Sex Attraction". ChurchofJesusChrist.org. LDS Church.
Homosexuality results from an interaction of social, biological, and psychological factors. These factors may include ... sexual abuse ....
- ^ Packer, Boyd K. (1978). To The One. LDS Church. pp. 36–38. from the original on February 26, 2020.
Have you explored the possibility that the cause [of homosexual temptation] ... will turn out to be a very typical form of selfishness—selfishness in a very subtle form? ... It is very possible to cure it by treating selfishness.
- ^ Packer, Boyd K. (1978). To The One. LDS Church. pp. 34, 39.
There is a reason why we in the Church do not talk more openly about [homosexual temptation]. ...[W]e can very foolishly cause things we are trying to prevent by talking too much about them.
- ^ Brown, Victor. "The Meaning of Morality". ChurchofJesusChrist.org. LDS Church.
The Lord ... did not intend either of the sexes to adopt the other's traits ... men should look and act like men and that women should look and act like women. When these differences are ignored ... [it] can lead to ... homosexuality.
- ^ Bergin, Allen (October 1988). "Questions and Answers". ChurchofJesusChrist.org. LDS Church.
For example, though a person may suffer from homosexual inclinations that are caused by some combination of biology and environment ....
- ^ "Interview With Elder Dallin H. Oaks and Elder Lance B. Wickman: "Same-Gender Attraction"". Mormon Newsroom. LDS Church. September 2006.
Whether nature or nurture—those are things the Church doesn't have a position on.
- ^ "Same-Sex Attraction". ChurchofJesusChrist.org. LDS Church.
We may not know precisely why some people feel attracted to others of the same sex, but for some it is a complex reality and part of the human experience.
- ^ Oaks, Dallin (October 1995). "Same-Gender Attraction". ChurchofJesusChrist.org. LDS Church.
We should refrain from using [gay and lesbian] as nouns to identify specific persons. Our religious doctrine dictates this usage.
- ^ Understanding and Helping Those Who Have Homosexual Problems. LDS Church. 1992. p. 3. Retrieved November 3, 2016.
Be careful not to label the person as 'homosexual' or 'gay'. Such labels can undermine the person's believe that change is possible ....
- ^ Henderson, Emma (March 2, 2016). "Mormon leader claims church has no homosexual members". Independent. ESI Media.
First I want to change the question – there are no homosexual members of the church. We are not defined by sexual attraction. We are not defined by sexual behavior. We are sons and daughters of god and all of us have different challenges in the flesh.
- ^ "Same-Sex Attraction". ChurchofJesusChrist.org. LDS Church.
Identifying as gay, lesbian, or bisexual or experiencing same-sex attraction is not a sin and does not prohibit one from participating in the Church, holding callings, or attending the temple.
- ^ a b c Quinn, D. Michael (1996). Same-Sex Dynamics among Nineteenth-Century Americans: A Mormon Example. University of Illinois Press. p. 379. ISBN 978-0252022050.
Shortly after that [21 May] 1959 meeting of the Church Board of Education, BYU began 'aversion therapy' to 'cure,' 'repair,' or 'reorient' the same-sex desires of Mormon males. These young men were referred to this program by BYU's mental health counselors, by LDS bishops and stake presidents, by BYU's office to enforce student standards, or by referrals from outside BYU (such as mission presidents and general authorities).
- ^ Blattner, Robert L. (October 1, 1975). "Counseling the Homosexual In A Church Setting". Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy. 1 (1): 3. Retrieved November 14, 2016.
What is the church's feeling about electric shock and other forms of behavior modification? ... Our experience so far has been that most people coming to us can be helped with it.
- ^ Bingham, Ronald D.; Potts, Richard W. (April 1, 1993). "Homosexuality: An LDS Perspective". Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy. Brigham Young University. 19 (1): 14. from the original on December 1, 2017. Retrieved December 1, 2017.
Most Church leaders seem to agree that professional counselors can play an important role in helping individuals experiencing problems with homosexuality. ... The Church has supported efforts of the LDS Social Services and other consulting professionals to research the issues and to offer a reparative therapy approach which assumes that homosexual behavior can be changed.
- ^ "Interview With Elder Dallin H. Oaks and Elder Lance B. Wickman: "Same-Gender Attraction"". Mormon Newsroom. LDS Church. September 2006.
If a young man says, 'Look, I really want these [homosexual] feelings to go away… I would do anything for these feelings to go away,' is it legitimate to look at clinical therapy of some sort that would address those issues? Well, it may be appropriate for that person to seek therapy. Certainly the Church doesn't counsel against that kind of therapy.
- ^ Woodruff, Daniel (March 15, 2016). "New book details LDS teen's 'humiliating' gay conversion therapy in Utah". CBS Television Sinclair Broadcast Group. KUTV. Retrieved December 3, 2016.
The Church denounces any therapy that subjects an individual to abusive practices.
- ^ "Seeking Professional Help". mormonandgay.lds.org. LDS Church. October 2016.
[I]t is unethical to focus professional treatment on an assumption that a change in sexual orientation will or must occur.
- ^ Kimball, Spencer W. (1969), The Miracle of Forgiveness, Bookcraft, ISBN 978-0-88494-192-7,
Some have ... convinced themselves that they ... have no desire toward the opposite sex. ... [L]et this individual repent of his perversion, force himself to return to normal pursuits and interests ... with the opposite sex, and this normal pattern [heterosexual dating] can become natural again.
Quoted on page 31 of - ^ a b c Kimball, Spencer; Petersen, Mark (1970). Hope for Transgressors. LDS Church. pp. 5–6.
The entrenched homosexual has ... moved all of his interests and affections to those of his own sex ... and herein is another step. When you feel he is ready he should be encouraged to date and gradually move his life toward the normal. ...[G]radually they can move their romantic interests where they belong. Marriage and normal life can follow.
- ^ Understanding and Changing Homosexual Orientation Problems. LDS Church. 1981. pp. 20, 25.
Homosexual orientation problems ... are often a reflection of poor interpersonal relationships with ... peers. ... Discuss dating and dating practices. Give female interaction assignments. ...[S]peaking to a girl may be considered a task, as may inviting her to a movie. However, to actually meet her, escort her to the movie, escort her home, and say goodnight is an experience cycle ... designed to meet a predetermined goal.
- ^ Homosexuality. Salt Lake City, UT: LDS Church. 1981. p. 6. Retrieved November 22, 2016.
Encourage the member to be in appropriate situations with members of the opposite sex, even if he has to force himself. ... Encourage him (if single) to begin dating and gradually increase its frequency.
- ^ a b Oaks, Dallin H.; Wickman, Lance B. (September 2006). "Same-Gender Attraction". Newsroom (Interview: Transcript). Interviewed by LDS Church Public Affairs staffers. Salt Lake City, Utah: LDS Church.
President Hinckley, faced with the fact that apparently some had believed [marriage] to be a remedy, and perhaps that some Church leaders had even counseled marriage as the remedy for [homosexual] feelings, made this statement: 'Marriage should not be viewed as a therapeutic step to solve problems such as homosexual inclinations or practices.'
See also the Salt Lake Tribune archived transcript here. - ^ a b c Oaks, Dallin (January 29, 2015). Trib Talk: LDS leaders Oaks, Christofferson will appear on Trib Talk to discuss religious freedom. Salt Lake City, Utah: The Salt Lake Tribune. Event occurs at 17:32.
We definitely do not recommend marriage as a solution for same-gender feelings. No, it's not a therapy. In times past, decades ago, there were some practices to that effect. We have eradicated them in the Church now.
- ^ a b Kimball, Spencer W (January 5, 1965). "BYU Speeches of the Year: Love vs. Lust".. . Note: References to homosexuality were removed in the reprinted version of the speech in the 1972 book compilation of Kimball's speeches "Faith Precedes the Miracle."
- ^ a b c Kimball, Spencer; Petersen, Mark (1970). Hope for Transgressors. LDS Church.
- ^ Haldeman, Douglas C. (April 1994), "The practice and ethics of sexual orientation conversion therapy", Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 62 (2): 221–227, doi:10.1037/0022-006X.62.2.221, PMID 8201058
- ^ Cochran, Susan D. (2014). . Bulletin of the World Health Organization. World Health Organization. 92 (9): 672–9. doi:10.2471/BLT.14.135541. PMC 4208576. PMID 25378758. Archived from the original on September 5, 2014. Retrieved February 4, 2017.
- ^ Chhiber, Ashley (July 3, 2014). "World Health Organization told to declassify sexual orientation as basis of mental disorders". Pink News. Retrieved February 4, 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f Understanding and Helping Those Who Have Homosexual Problems. LDS Church. 1992. Retrieved November 3, 2016.
- ^ a b c Waterman, Bryan; Kagel, Brian (1998). The Lord's University: Freedom and Authority at BYU. Signature books. ISBN 978-1-56085-117-2.
- ^ a b c "Frequently Asked Questions". Mormon and Gay. LDS Church. October 2016.
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In the first study, BYU student Samuel Clayton, with the help of several faculty members, gave questionnaires anonymously to 420 students in randomly selected classes. ... Some of Clayton's findings include: 69 percent know someone who is same-sex oriented, 12 percent have a family member who is same-sex oriented, 24 percent would avoid befriending a same-sex-oriented student, 56 percent believe same-sex-oriented students should be allowed to attend BYU if they obey the honor code. Clayton said there was 'a significant gender gap ... Only 16 percent of women would avoid befriending a same-sex-oriented person, compared to 33 percent of men.
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As part of a project for their English class, Sam Clayton, Dale Franklin and Melanie Dinger conducted the school-approved survey to 420 students in randomly selected classes on campus. ... [Clayton] feels the results show a substantial amount of intolerance and prejudice among students towards same-sex oriented people. Clayton, who says he is gay, points to the 42 percent of students who are ignorant of or opposed to the school's policy. He also said that while 91 percent of those surveyed said they were familiar with the church's stance, only a third actually were.
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[F]ar too many of our lesbian and gay youths kill themselves because of what you say about them.... those who believe your false promises and remain celibate in the hopes of eventual 'cure' are consigned to a misery.
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The extent of the problem is seen in the fact that Evergreen receives over 150 requests for help each month from those with homosexual attractions; 40 percent of these requests come from men who are married. Only 10 percent of the calls come from women. The remaining 50 percent are from single men. This pattern indicates a great deal of social pressure on LDS men with homosexual attractions to marry heterosexually, with unfortunate outcomes for many of them and their spouses and children.
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An LDS Family Services therapist who spoke to us about his clinical experience likely has had the most extensive experience in working with single and married homosexual Latter-day Saint men—approximately eight hundred men in more than thirty years. Approximately half of these clients left counseling after one or two sessions; the other half, who were in therapy for one to three years, include roughly two hundred single men and two hundred married men. Among the two hundred single men, only 10 percent were able to marry. Almost all of them (nineteen of twenty) identified themselves as bisexual. Of the two hundred married males (a large portion of whom, it is probably safe to speculate, were likely bisexual), only half were able to stay in their marriages, although there is no information as to what kinds of accommodations they had to make to do so, nor how many of these marriages will ultimately endure.
A copy of The Persistence of Same Sex Attraction in Latter-day Saints Who Undergo Counseling or Change Therapy (2004) can be found . - ^ Lindsey, Robert (October 30, 1986). "Utah Now Facing Problem of AIDS: Disease Is Occurring Despite Strict Mormon Teachings About Sexual Conduct". The New York Times. p. A19. ProQuest 111005850.
'A lot of men are forced to marry, and they play around on the side,' said Davyd Daniels, a former Mormon ... William Blevins, 40, a former librarian at the Mormon Church's genealogical center, said the church put pressure on him to marry at 24 in belief 'it would cure me' of homosexual leanings. It did not, he said, adding that 'I still had my feelings' and that after he fathered four children the church discharged him, then excommunicated him and forced him to disclose the identities of several other employees at the church's headquarters with whom he had had sexual relations. He said his wife left him and remarried and he no longer has custody of the children.
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Respondents then were asked four questions: 1. Would they gracefully decline or accept the request to work with him for one year? 2. After one year, he is romantic and sexually attracted to you, but he still has same-sex attraction. He promises never to engage in any sex outside marriage. Would you accept or decline? 3. You continue your friendship and he works hard until you are convinced he has only a weak same-sex attraction. He is romantically and sexually attracted to you. Would you accept or decline? 4. Would your response change if he had never been sexually active?Researchers found that 33 percent answered yes to question 1; 11 percent to question 2; 23 percent to question 3; and 33 percent to question 4.
- ^ Fletcher Stack, Peggy (January 14, 2015). "Study Reveals What Really Happens When Gay Mormon Men Marry Straight Women". The Huffington Post.
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The study found that: Between 51 percent and 69 percent of mixed-orientation Mormon marriages end in divorce, well above the roughly 25 percent of LDS couples who split up.
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The major findings from the study are that non-biologically based views regarding the etiology of SSA [same-sex attraction], remaining active in the LDS church, remaining single, and engaging in mixed-orientation marriages were all associated with higher reported levels of internalized homophobia, sexual identity distress, and depression, and lower levels of self-esteem and quality of life. ... This study does affirm and extend the existing literature by suggesting that psychosocially based beliefs about SSA etiology active participation in non-LGBT-affirming churches, being single and celibate, and mixed-orientation marriage—all of which are common beliefs and/or practices within modern, active LDS culture—are associated with poorer psychosocial health, well-being, and quality of life for LGBT Mormons. Conversely, biological beliefs about SSA etiology, complete disaffiliation from the LDS church, legal same-sex marriage, and sexual activity are all associated with higher levels of psychosocial health, well-being, and quality of life for LGBT Mormons.
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The online survey was conducted in spring 2017. Email invitations were sent to 29,471 BYU students; 13,784 (48%) started the survey and 12,602 completed the survey, for a response rate of 43%. Demographic data revealed the survey participants to be very similar to the broader BYU population in terms of gender, ethnicity, year in school, and other measures. Key demographics include the following: ... Gender: 52% male, 48% female, and 0.2% transgender or other.
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1975 (Jan.) [BYU] began an effort to expel all homosexual male students. BYU security officers interrogated students majoring in fine arts or drama. Security operatives also took down license plate numbers of cars parked outside Salt Lake City's gay bars and cross-checked them with cars registered with BYU by current students. BYU's president acknowledged these activities ....
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Brigham Young University says its security police staked out homosexual bars in Salt Lake City to investigate homosexual activity at the Latter-day Saint‐owned school, but stopped the practice once administrators learned of it. Paul Richards, director of public relations for the university, confirmed yesterday allegations by the American Civil Liberties Union that security officers ventured off campus and wrote letters to a homosexual‐oriented newspaper soliciting responses as part of a crackdown on homosexuals. ... 'Those things were done,' Mr. Richards said.
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homosexuality, church, jesus, christ, latter, saints, homosexual, same, sexual, activity, forbidden, church, jesus, christ, latter, saints, church, chastity, church, teaches, that, does, approve, same, marriage, adherents, participate, same, sexual, behavior, . All homosexual or same sex sexual activity is forbidden by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints LDS Church in its law of chastity and the church teaches that God does not approve of same sex marriage 1 Adherents who participate in same sex sexual behavior may face church discipline Members of the church who experience homosexual attractions including those who self identify as gay lesbian or bisexual remain in good standing in the church if they abstain from same sex marriage and all sexual relations outside an opposite sex marriage 2 3 4 but all including those participating in same sex activity and relationships are allowed to attend weekly church worship services 5 However in order to receive church ordinances such as baptism and to enter church temples adherents are required to abstain from same sex relations or any sexual activity outside a legal marriage between one man and one woman 6 7 Additionally in the church s plan of salvation noncelibate gay and lesbian individuals will not be allowed in the top tier of heaven to receive exaltation unless they repent and a heterosexual marriage is a requirement for exaltation 8 9 The church s policies and treatment of LGBT people has long been a source of controversy both within and outside the church 10 11 12 They have also been a significant cause of disagreement and disaffection by members 13 14 15 Contents 1 History and overview 1 1 Changes in teachings 1 2 Early instances 1 3 Proposed historical tolerance 2 Current teachings and policies 2 1 November 2015 Policy 2 2 Terminology used by the church 2 3 Homosexuality after death 3 Treatment and views of LGBT people 4 Views on gender diversity and identity 5 Criticism and controversies 5 1 Among members 5 2 Among the public 5 3 Packer s address 5 4 Protests 6 Mixed orientation marriage 6 1 Research 7 Political involvement around LGBT rights 8 LGBT students at Brigham Young University 9 Sexual orientation change efforts 10 LGBT Mormon suicides and homelessness 11 LGBT Mormon people and organizations 11 1 Depiction in pop culture and media 12 Timeline of important publications and speeches 12 1 1800s to the 1950s 12 2 1960s 12 3 1970s 12 4 1980s 12 5 1990s 12 6 2000s 12 7 2010 to present 13 See also 14 References 15 External links The LDS Church s statements and actions have overwhelmingly focused on male homosexuality and rarely mention lesbianism or bisexuality 16 20 The church previously taught that homosexuality was a curable condition 17 18 and counseled members that they could and should change their attractions and provided therapy and programs with that goal 19 20 13 19 21 377 379 From 1976 until 1989 the Church Handbook called for church discipline for members attracted to the same sex equating merely being homosexual with the seriousness of acts of adultery and child molestation even celibate gay people were subject to excommunication 16 16 43 21 382 422 22 139 Church publications now state that individuals do not choose to have such attractions its church run therapy services no longer provides sexual orientation change efforts and the church has no official stance on the causes of homosexuality 23 24 25 A 2016 article on a church website states that While shifts in sexuality can and do occur for some people it is unethical to focus professional treatment on an assumption that a change in sexual orientation will or must occur Again the individual has the right to define the desired outcome 26 These current teachings and policies leave homosexual members with the option of potentially harmful attempts to change their sexual orientation entering a mixed orientation opposite sex marriage or living a celibate lifestyle without any sexual expression including masturbation 27 28 11 29 20 21 An LGBT pride flag in front of the Salt Lake City LDS temple The LDS Church has campaigned against government recognition of same sex marriage 30 and the topic of same sex marriage has been one of the church s foremost public concerns since 1993 16 1 For example church members represented as much as 80 to 90 percent of the early volunteers petitioning voters door to door and 50 percent of the campaign funds in support of California Proposition 8 2008 31 The church supported a Salt Lake City ordinance protecting members of the LGBT community against discrimination in employment while exempting religious institutions from these protections 32 In November 2015 the church updated its policies regarding those in legal same sex unions stating that such couples are apostates from the church 33 These policies also barred such couples children either adopted or biological from being baptized confirmed ordained or participating in mission service until reaching adulthood and obtaining permission from the First Presidency 34 The church reversed its policy in 2019 stating that couples in legal same sex unions would no longer be considered apostate and that their children can be baptized without First Presidency approval However it also stated that it still considers same sex marriage to be a serious transgression and that any same sex sexual activity will be treated in the same way as immoral conduct in a heterosexual relationships 35 36 History and overview EditSee also Christianity and homosexuality Homosexual behavior and Judaism The Bible and homosexuality Homosexuality in the Hebrew Bible Homosexuality in the New Testament and Leviticus 18 Joseph Smith introduced the new and everlasting covenant as a temple marriage The entire body of the canonized LDS scriptures which includes the Book of Mormon Pearl of Great Price and Doctrine and Covenants is silent on same sex sexual activity except for the Bible 37 114 However sexual immorality coupled with forsaking a ministry was described in the Book of Mormon as the most abominable above all sins save it be the shedding of innocent blood or denying the Holy Ghost 38 39 The LDS Church teaches that the Bible forbids homosexuality 40 41 230 42 Historian D Michael Quinn has suggested that early LDS Church leaders had a more tolerant view of homosexuality but leaders like then apostle Gordon B Hinckley have stated that LDS leaders have always considered homosexual behavior a grievous sin 43 The first recorded instance of a Church leader using the term homosexuality in a public discourse was First Presidency member J Reuben Clark in a 1952 General Conference though the term had been in use in the US since 1892 44 21 422 16 15 The first time homosexuality was explicitly mentioned in the Church Handbook of Instructions was one word in the 1968 edition after the church had existed for 138 years 16 10 It appears that by the 1940s church leaders had a greater awareness of homosexual behavior in Utah since apostle Charles Callis had been assigned to cases of church members involved in homosexuality sometime before 1947 45 46 271 and surveillance had been organized in 1945 to stop male male sexual activity in the church s now demolished Deseret Gymnasium steam room 47 307 Callis was succeeded in the appointment over homosexual cases by apostle Spencer W Kimball in 1947 46 271 48 Kimball later shared this role with apostle Mark E Petersen in 1959 46 381 47 307 49 147 Within eight years they had counseled over one thousand individuals 16 33 Changes in teachings Edit Since the first recorded mentions of homosexuality by general LDS Church leaders teachings and policies around the topics of the nature etiology mutability and identity around same sex romantic and physical attractions have seen many changes through the decades 50 45 46 51 20 13 21 including a softening in rhetoric over time 52 53 169 170 54 For example church leaders in the past unambiguously pronounced over 30 purported causes of homosexuality e g contagion recruiting domineering mother selfishness and denied any biological explanation 16 19 The church has since reversed many of its stances around homosexuality including moving to a stance of neutrality on the origins of homosexuality and its 2012 website acknowledged by implication that past leaders advice for individuals attracted to the same sex to marry someone of the opposite sex may have been erroneous 16 217 In reference to the harsh rhetoric on homosexuality of the past the apostle Todd Christofferson stated in a 2015 interview I think we can express things better Regarding this subject apostle Dallin H Oaks said I know that the history of the church is not to seek apologies or to give them We sometimes look back on issues and say Maybe that was counterproductive for what we wish to achieve but we look forward and not backward 55 A table summarizing some of the major shifts in official dialogue is found below Summary of changes in teachings on homosexuality Topic Earlier teachings Transitional teachings Current teachingsInborn No 56 57 58 59 Maybe 60 No position 25 Causes Addiction 61 masturbation 62 pornography 63 family dysfunction 64 65 66 smothering mother 67 distant or weak father 68 67 sexual abuse 69 70 selfishness 71 speaking about it 72 gender non conforming dress or behavior 73 Biological and environmental factors 74 No position 75 76 Identity amp labels Wrong to use gay labels 77 78 79 Identifying as gay is acceptable 2 80 Sexual orientation change efforts Electroshock aversion therapy recommended 81 82 reparative therapy encouraged 83 curable disease 18 17 should be overcome 19 Conversion therapy may be appropriate 84 denounces any abusive practices 85 Reparative therapy and other sexual orientation change efforts no longer practiced 86 24 Heterosexual dating amp marriage As a therapeutic step 87 88 89 90 Not to be seen as a therapy or solution 91 92 Previous teachings that have changed include the belief that homosexual attractions themselves were a curable illness In 1959 in response to a rash of arrests of gay men in Utah and Idaho church president David O McKay had apostles Spencer W Kimball and Mark E Petersen focus their assignment on curing gay members 46 381 21 377 That same year BYU began its on campus electroshock aversion therapy program attempting to remove or diminish homosexual attractions which lasted over three decades into the mid 1990s 81 16 90 At the time the American Psychiatric Association s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders classified homosexuality as a mental illness and Kimball was adamant that it could be cured and produced literature with that goal 93 88 94 7 Kimball taught that church leaders may assist gay members by reciting scripture appealing to their reason encouraging them to abandon gay lovers and associates praying with them and encouraging them to replace any sexual expression of their homosexual feelings with heterosexual expressions like opposite sex dating 94 2 6 In 1973 the American Psychiatric Association s removed homosexuality from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 95 and in 1990 the World Health Organization removed homosexuality from the list of disorders classified in the tenth edition of the International Classification of Diseases 96 97 Later the church softened its stance shifting to a focus on homosexuality as a behavior that should be overcome This is reflected in a 1992 booklet for leaders which removed all references to homosexuality as a disease 98 Leaders also taught on several occasions spanning the 1970s to the early 2000s that homosexual feeling may stem from a confusion over one s gender identity or gender roles 99 341 Since then the church has acknowledged differences between gender identity and sexual orientation 100 101 102 Some changes in teachings have seemed abrupt and contradictory as was the case in September 1995 when a First Presidency member affirmed in the Ensign that an inborn homosexual orientation was a false belief with no scientific evidence and that if homosexuality were inborn it would frustrate God s plan 103 In the next month s edition of the Ensign 104 however an Apostle refuted this without referring to it directly by stating that there is some evidence that inheritance plays a role in a homosexual orientation 47 58 Early instances Edit Patriarch Smith was released amidst accusations of homosexual affairs There were several known or alleged instances of same sex sexual and romantic relationships by church members in the 19th century and early 20th century These include the young man George Naylor 105 1200 the actress Ada Russell 21 427 428 and the researcher Mildred Berryman 106 107 21 226 228 During the early days of the church when same sex sexual activity by a member was suspected the accused was sometimes disfellowshipped or excommunicated and from 1852 on under the church controlled Utah Territory legislature any sex between males was punished by the courts 105 108 The first known instance of church discipline on this was in 1841 from the alleged bisexual behavior of church leader John Bennett allegedly with Francis Higbee 21 266 267 Valeen Avery has suggested that Joseph Smith s son David Hyrum Smith 1844 1904 may have been gay 109 One of the more prominent instances of homosexual activity by a Mormon man in the early 20th century was presiding patriarch Joseph Fielding Smith He served in the position only four years before being released by church president George Albert Smith for reasons of ill health 110 It is reported that he had been involved in several gay affairs with at least three men 21 369 371 111 112 After being released Smith took his wife and children to Honolulu Hawaii 48 Proposed historical tolerance Edit LDS historian Greg Prince wrote that prior to 1968 there was no standardized church response to homosexual attractions and intercourse and that the most frequent response for over a century had been benign neglect 16 17 Former LDS historian D Michael Quinn has suggested that early church leaders had a more tolerant view of homosexuality given that during the 19th century the Church like American society as a whole was relatively tolerant of same sex intimate relationships However at the time many such relationships had no sexual component and among those that did the evidence is usually circumstantial 21 Quinn also states that several active and prominent members of the church in Utah were not disciplined after publicizing that they were living in romantic relationships with their same sex domestic partners although there is no clear evidence these relationships involved sex 21 These included Evan Stephens who had been director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir until 1916 and is the author of numerous standard church hymns who remained single but had intimate relationships and shared the same bed with a series of male domestic partners and traveling companions 113 Some of these relationships were described under a pseudonym in The Children s Friend 114 Also notable were Louise B Felt and May Anderson the church s first two general presidents of the Primary who lived together in the same bedroom for decades and were referred to by Primary leaders as the David and Jonathan of Primary 21 Quinn s interpretations of previous leaders views and the nature of the relationships of Evan Stephens and Felt and Anderson have been challenged as a distortion of history 115 Kimball Young has cited the early church s practice of sealing men to each other as evidence of latent homosexuality 116 21 136 138 Current teachings and policies EditAs of 2022 all homosexual or same sex sexual activity is forbidden by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints LDS Church in its law of chastity and the church teaches that God does not approve of same sex marriage 1 Adherents who participate in same sex sexual behavior may face church discipline Members of the church who experience homosexual attractions including those who self identify as gay lesbian or bisexual remain in good standing in the church if they abstain from same sex marriage and all sexual relations outside an opposite sex marriage 2 3 4 but all including those participating in same sex activity and relationships are allowed to attend weekly church worship services 5 In the church s plan of salvation noncelibate gay and lesbian individuals will not be allowed in the top tier of heaven to receive exaltation unless they repent and a heterosexual marriage is a requirement for exaltation 8 9 In order to receive church ordinances such as baptism and to enter church temples adherents are required to abstain from same sex relations or any sexual activity outside a legal marriage between one man and one woman 6 7 Church discipline for homosexual activity is similar to that for members involved in heterosexual activity For example pre marital sex of either kind may permanently bar a person from serving as a church missionary 117 The church teaches that homosexual behavior has always been a grievous sin 43 118 The church teaches that all members should take responsibility in bridling their thoughts attitudes feelings desires and passions All members are taught to avoid any talk or activity that may arouse immoral sexual feelings 119 120 In 1999 Gordon B Hinckley then president of the church officially welcomed gay people in the church 121 and in an interview affirmed them as good people 122 Church leaders have spoken out against gay bashing and other physical or verbal attacks on those involved in homosexual behavior 123 124 125 They have also encouraged members to reach out to gay members 30 123 43 November 2015 Policy Edit In November 2015 the church clarified that its members who are in a same sex marriage are in apostasy and would be subject to church discipline 34 126 Prior to this local leadership had more discretion in whether or how far to pursue church disciplinary action for members in same sex marriages Local church leaders still have discretion for same sex couples who are cohabiting but not married While explicitly including same sex marriage in the church s definition of apostasy the November 2015 update also addressed children of same sex couples In the updated policy children living in a same sex household may not receive a name and a blessing nor be baptized until at least 18 years of age and must disavow same sex marriage and no longer be living with a parent who is or has been in a same sex relationship 127 128 On April 4 2019 the church revised its policy on couples in same sex marriages again First Presidency member Dallin H Oaks was quoted as saying Previously our Handbook characterized same gender marriage by a member as apostasy While we still consider such a marriage to be a serious transgression it will not be treated as apostasy for purposes of Church discipline Instead the immoral conduct in heterosexual or homosexual relationships will be treated in the same way The new policy also allows the children of same sex couples to receive blessings from a worthy Melchizedek Priesthood holder with the understanding that congregation members will contact them periodically and that when the child who has been blessed reaches eight years of age a Church member will contact them and propose that the child be baptized 36 35 Terminology used by the church Edit Church leaders now teach that it s okay to identify as gay 2 122 In the past church leaders have stated that homosexual lesbian and gay should only be used as adjectives to describe thoughts feelings or behaviors and never as nouns to describe people 3 129 123 Church leaders and organizations have made reference to homosexuality as a sexual orientation 3 130 Leaders have only begun directly addressing bisexual members since October 2016 131 132 The church and its members have often referred to homosexuality with the term same gender attraction 133 The church no longer speaks on the origins of homosexuality 3 123 Homosexuality after death Edit On several occasions from 2006 to 2009 multiple top leaders taught that attractions to those of the same sex won t exist after death stating it must be true 134 that gay or lesbian inclinations will not exist post mortality 135 but only occur right now in mortality 3 The 2007 official church publication God Loveth His Children states that others may not be free of this challenge of same gender attraction in this life but that our bodies feelings and desires will be perfected in the next life so that every one of God s children may find joy in a family 50 46 136 4 137 The 2012 church website MormonsAndGays org also stated that a person s attraction to the same sex can be addressed and borne as a mortal test It should not be viewed as a permanent condition some people may not have the opportunity to marry a person of the opposite sex in this life a just God will provide them with ample opportunity to do so in the next 138 139 Additionally in the church s plan of salvation noncelibate gay and lesbian individuals will not be allowed in the top tier of heaven to receive what s called exaltation to become like God unless they repent and a heterosexual marriage is a requirement 8 9 Treatment and views of LGBT people EditThe church has occasionally addressed the treatment and views of LGBT members Church leaders have given discretion to local leaders on whether to hold church courts for suspected homosexual members with options ranging from acquittal to excommunication 16 17 In 2000 the apostle Packer addressed gay and lesbian youth stating that church leaders don t reject but rather love them and that they sometimes must extend tough love through teaching and discipline 140 Additionally the 2007 church pamphlet God Loveth His Children acknowledged that some gay members have felt rejection by other members It criticized those who did not show love and challenged gay members to show love and kindness to help other members change their attitudes 136 From 1976 until 1989 under president Kimball the Church Handbook called for church discipline for members attracted to the same sex equating merely being homosexual with the seriousness of acts of adultery and child molestation even celibate gay people were subject to excommunication 16 16 43 21 382 422 22 139 Kimball s numerous publications discussing curing homosexuality and condemning same sex attractions even without action and his rise to the church presidency in 1973 set the stage for years of harsh treatment of gay church members 16 36 37 In a 1977 Utah poll three fourths of LDS identified responders opposed equal rights for gay teachers or ministers and 62 favored discrimination against gays in business and government versus 64 and 38 of non LDS respondents respectively 141 16 15 142 220 There are many current and former members of the LDS Church who are attracted to people of the same sex and they have had a variety of positive and negative experiences with leaders and other members For example one gay Mormon man who dates men reported never having problems with his local leaders while another who was a Church employee described how his stake president denied his temple recommend resulting in him getting fired simply because of his friendship with other gay men and his involvement in a charity bingo for Utah Pride in a 2011 article 143 One former LDS bishop and temple sealer Antonio A Feliz said that his Peruvian mission was directed in the early 1960s 144 by South American area authorities to not teach known homosexuals 145 A 1997 poll at BYU found that 1 3 of male students would avoid befriending a gay student and 42 of all students believed that even celibate honor code following gay members should not be allowed to attend BYU 146 147 Several church employees have been fired 148 149 150 or pressured to leave for being celibate but gay 151 99 162 163 152 or for supporting LGBT rights 153 154 In a 2007 US poll only 24 of Mormons agreed that homosexuality is a way of life that should be accepted less than any other major religious group in the survey except for Jehovah s Witnesses and 2 out of 3 68 latter day saints said it should be discouraged 155 In a similar poll seven years later 36 said homosexuality should be accepted and over half 57 said it should be discouraged 156 A 2017 poll found that 40 of LDS members supported same sex marriage and 53 were opposed 157 10 Additionally 69 of adherents supported laws that protect LGBT Americans against discrimination in employment housing and public accommodations but 53 believed small private business should be able to deny products and services to gay or lesbian people for religious reasons 157 15 20 Currently openly gay youth can serve a full time proselyting mission for the church if they abstain from sexual activity and the church website implicitly acknowledges the biological causes of homosexuality 16 4 Views on gender diversity and identity EditMain article Gender minorities and the LDS church Expressions and identities for sexuality and gender are separate but related aspects of a person and stem from similar biological origins 158 159 According to current church policy transgender and other gender diverse individuals who have undergone an elective transsexual operation are banned from temple rites or receiving priesthood authority Additionally a transgender individual who has undergone gender confirming surgery may be baptized only with First Presidency approval and those considering it are barred from baptism 102 The church has acknowledged differences between gender identity and sexual orientation stating that they have unfinished business in teaching on transgender situations 101 102 160 Gender identity and roles play an important part in Latter Day Saint teachings which teaches a strict binary of spiritual gender as literal offspring of divine parents 161 162 The official website on homosexuality states that same sex attraction and gender dysphoria are very different those who experience gender dysphoria may or may not also experience same sex attraction and the majority of those who experience same sex attraction do not desire to change their gender 100 Eric Hawkins stated in 2016 that LDS bishops recognize that each transgender individual s experience is different difficult and sensitive and that they recognize the emotional pain many gender minorities feel He also reaffirmed the church s views that gender is part of an eternal God given identity and purpose and any gender affirming operations may bar a candidate for baptism and imperil one s membership in the church 163 160 Criticism and controversies EditMain article Criticism of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints The church s policies and treatment of LGBT people has long been a source of controversy both inside and outside the church 11 164 and a significant cause of disagreement and disaffection by members 165 166 14 Among members Edit A 2011 online survey of over 3 000 individuals who no longer believe church truth claims found that around ten percent would consider returning if among several changes LGBT persons were accepted and treated equally 167 Past leaders teachings on reparative therapy and the origins of homosexuality have also been criticized 168 169 Among the public Edit The controversial policies for LGBT persons has made an impression on the general public A 2003 nationwide Pew Research Center survey of over 1 000 LGBT Americans found that 83 of them said the LDS church was generally unfriendly towards lesbian gay bisexual and transgender people surpassed only by the Muslim religion at 84 164 Additionally in May 2008 a Georgia Tech gay rights manual referred to the LDS Church as anti gay After two students sued the school for discrimination a judge ordered that the material be removed 170 171 172 Packer s address Edit Packer s conference address published here has been criticized of condoning anti gay violence 49 150 173 174 One general conference address later distributed as a pamphlet that generated controversy was Packer s To Young Men Only which condones an example of a male missionary who punched his missionary companion for making romantic advances with Packer stating Well thanks Somebody had to do it 175 118 Historians Michael Quinn and Rocky O Donovan have argued these comments essentially advocated anti Gay violence 49 and that the church itself endorsed such behavior by continuing to publish Packer s speech in pamphlet form 176 38 39 Former bishop David Hardy also condemned this pamphlet and other publications as promoting violence against gay people and providing outdated misinformation on the nature of his once suicidal gay son 173 174 In 1995 Oaks said Our doctrines obviously condemn those who engage in so called gay bashing physical or verbal attacks on persons thought to be involved in homosexual or lesbian behavior 123 and in 2016 the church ceased publication of the pamphlet and it was removed from the church s website 177 Protests Edit The policies and treatment of LGBTQ individuals have prompted several protests and mass resignations including the following 2 November 2008 Hundreds of people gathered at the Salt Lake City library in a protest of Prop 8 organized by LDS mothers of gay children 178 179 6 November 2008 In Los Angeles over two thousand people protested at the LDS temple over the LDS church s heavy involvement in the recent passing of California s Prop 8 banning same sex marriage 180 7 November 2008 Three days after Prop 8 passed nearly five thousand protesters gathered at the Salt Lake Temple 181 182 That evening a candlelight vigil by about 600 mothers of LGBT children was also held at the Salt Lake Temple 183 184 7 October 2010 Thousands of individuals surrounded Temple Square in protest of Boyd K Packer s Cleansing the Inner Vessel conference address in which he characterized same sex physical attractions as impure and unnatural tendencies that could be overcome 11 185 14 November 2015 In response to a policy change on members in same sex marriages and their children 1 500 members gathered across from the church s offices to submit their resignation letters 166 186 with thousands more resigning online in the weeks after 187 14 In early November top church leaders updated the Church Handbook banning a child of a parent living in a same gender relationship from baby blessings baptism confirmation priesthood ordination and missionary service until the child had moved out was of legal age disavow ed the practice of same gender cohabitation and marriage and received approval from the Office of the First Presidency The policy update also added entering a same sex marriage as a type of apostasy mandating a disciplinary council 188 12 However according to a November 2016 study the vast majority of active members supported the new policy on same sex parents and their children 189 Mixed orientation marriage EditFurther information Mixed orientation marriage LDS leaders have stated that opposite sex marriage should not be viewed as a therapeutic step for members physically attracted to those of the same sex 92 91 Many gay and lesbian members of the LDS Church have felt that they should marry someone of the opposite sex because of the church s emphasis on marriage According to LDS historian Greg Prince for decades church leaders counseled many men to marry a woman with the promise this would cure their homosexuality and the overall track record of these mixed orientation marriages have been dismal and sometimes lethal 16 27 190 108 191 The church s 2012 website acknowledged by implication that past leaders advice for individuals attracted to the same sex to marry someone of the opposite sex may have been erroneous 16 217 Evergreen director David Pruden was quoted as stating in 2002 that 40 of the approximately 150 callers requesting help each month on their hotline were Mormon men married to women and distressed about their homosexual attractions 192 Additionally a 2004 publication quoted Family Services statistics which showed that about half of the approximately 400 gay Mormon men they had seen as clients for over a year during the past 30 years were married though only half of those were able to stay married 193 Artist Trevor Southey stated that he was counseled by the church to marry a woman in an attempt to reorient his sexuality and the marriage ultimately failed 16 9 The church teaches that heterosexual marriage is one of several requirements for afterlife entry into the highest degree of glory in the celestial kingdom Church leaders previously encouraged this with one former church employee stating in 1986 that he had experienced pressure to marry at the age of 24 in the belief that it would change his homosexual feelings later resulting in a divorce 194 Leaders have stated that those who do not have an opportunity to be married in this life have been promised that they will have an opportunity to do so in the afterlife 195 196 123 Leaders have said that homosexual attractions will not continue past death and that if the individual is faithful in this life they will receive every blessing in the eternities including eternal marriage 3 The most recent statement by a general church leader as of 2015 was when the apostle Oaks stated that leaders definitely do not recommend marriage as a solution for same gender feelings No it s not a therapy In times past decades ago there were some practices to that effect We have eradicated them in the Church now 92 Another current mention is in the church website on homosexuality which features a gay man married to a straight woman 197 The first high ranking LDS leaders to publicly speak out against mixed orientation marriages was Gordon Hinckley in 1987 when he stated that marriage should not be viewed as a therapeutic step to solve problems such as homosexual inclinations or practices 43 16 29 Oaks had also previously stated in 2007 that marriages should not be entered under false pretenses 3 and that doing so can damage the lives of others 98 Church leaders are warned that encouraging members to cultivate heterosexual feelings generally leads to frustration and discouragement 98 Previously the church had taught that it was possible to overcome same sex feelings 129 and that heterosexual feelings can emerge once an individual ceases any same sex sexual activity 98 Oaks did state in 2007 however that marriage would be appropriate for a man attracted to men who had shown their ability to deal with these feelings or inclinations and put them in the background and feel a great attraction for a daughter of God and therefore desire to enter marriage and have children and enjoy the blessings of eternity 3 Several gay LDS men reported in the church s newspaper that they were able to maintain a heterosexual marriage in 2007 198 Research Edit Several surveys have been done on the topic of LGBT Mormons and opposite sex marriages A 1997 study by members of the BYU Family Studies Department found that of over 200 single LDS women of diverse ages polled 33 would be willing to seriously date and consider marriage with a hypothetical LDS college grad who had been sexually active with other men 3 years ago 199 A 2015 study found that 51 of the 1 612 LGBT Mormon respondents who had entered a mixed orientation marriage ended up divorcing 191 301 200 and projected that 69 of all these marriages would ultimately end in divorce 190 108 201 202 The study also found that engaging in mixed orientation marriages and involvement in the LDS church were correlated with higher rates of depression and a lower quality of life for LGBT people 203 Political involvement around LGBT rights EditMain article LGBT rights and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints See also The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints and politics in the United States The LDS church has held notable influence on laws around LGBT individuals in the United States especially in the state of Utah The LDS Church has been involved with many pieces of legislation relating to LGBT discrimination and same sex marriage These include playing an important role in defeating same sex marriage legalization in Hawaii Amendment 2 Alaska Measure 2 Nebraska Initiative 416 Nevada Question 2 California Prop 22 and Utah Amendment 3 16 2 65 69 71 78 85 Leaders have stated that it will become involved in political matters if it perceives that there is a moral issue at stake and wields considerable influence on a national level 204 205 206 In 1997 then church president Gordon Hinckley declared the church would do all it can to stop the recognition of same sex marriage in the United States and the apostle M Russell Ballard has said the church is locked in if anything interferes with the principle of marriage only being between a man and a woman 16 73 207 The church distributed hundreds of thousands of these Protect Marriage Coalition lawn signs during their involvement with the pro Prop 8 campaign 208 The church opposes same sex marriage but does not object to rights regarding hospitalization and medical care fair housing and employment rights or probate rights so long as these do not infringe on the integrity of the family or the constitutional rights of churches and their adherents to administer and practice their religion free from government interference 209 210 Church leaders are prohibited from employing their authority to perform same sex marriages and church property cannot be used for same sex marriages or receptions 211 A 2017 Public Religion Research Institute survey found that over half 53 of all Mormon adults believed small private business should be able to deny products and services to gay or lesbian people for religious reasons compared to 33 of the 40 000 American adults surveyed 157 15 23 and 24 of all Mormon adults oppose laws that protect LGBT Americans against discrimination in employment housing and public accommodations 212 157 20 A 2017 Public Religion Research Institute survey found that over half 52 of Mormon young adults 18 29 supported same sex marriage while less than a third 32 of Mormon seniors 65 did the same 157 11 212 LGBT students at Brigham Young University EditMain article Brigham Young University LGBT history See also Church Educational System Honor Code BYU has been ranked as the worst large US university for LGBT persons 213 214 Brigham Young University BYU is the largest religious university in North America and is the flagship institution of the LDS Church s educational system Large surveys of over 7 000 BYU students in 2020 and 2017 found that over 13 had marked their sexual orientation as something other than strictly heterosexual while the other survey showed that 2 had reported their gender identity as transgender or something other than cisgender male or female 215 216 A BYU study from 1950 to 1972 showed that 10 of BYU men and 2 of BYU women indicated having had a homosexual experience 217 176 45 Several LGBT rights organizations have criticized BYU s Honor Code as it relates to LGBT students and The Princeton Review has regularly ranked BYU among the most LGBT unfriendly schools in the United States 213 214 218 As of 2017 BYU campus offered no official LGBT specific resources 219 LGBT BYU students at a USGA meeting in 2017 BYU has seen many changes in policies around its LGBT student population In 1962 a ban on students known to have a homosexual orientation was enacted by Ernest Wilkinson but softened a decade later by his successor Dallin H Oaks in 1973 to only ban overt and active homosexuals 21 375 220 221 Under Oaks there was a system of surveillance and searches of student dorms in order to expel students suspected of any same sex sexual activity 222 223 These efforts included stake outs by BYU security looking for license plates of BYU students at gay bars in Salt Lake City and fake contact advertisements placed in gay publications attempting to ensnare BYU students 224 225 226 In the late 1990s a reference to homosexual conduct was added to the BYU Honor Code 227 and there was a ban on coming out for lesbian gay or bisexual students 228 229 230 In 2007 BYU changed the honor code to read that stating one s sexual orientation was not an honor code issue 231 232 This allowed for the formation of a group called USGA Understanding Same Gender Attraction consisting of BYU students and other members of the Provo community which began meeting on campus in 2010 to discuss issues relating to homosexuality and the LDS Church 233 By December 2012 they were no longer allowed to hold meetings on campus 234 In February 2020 BYU removed the ban on homosexual behavior from its Honor Code 235 which many initially thought allowed LGBT students to perform public displays of romantic affection although like straight students they still must abstain from sexual relationships outside of marriage 235 however BYU leadership later clarified removing homosexual behavior from the Honor Code still did not permit any public displays of romantic affection towards a same sex partner which sparked more outrage and protests from the LGBT community 236 237 238 239 Sexual orientation change efforts EditMain article Sexual orientation change efforts and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints See also Brigham Young University LGBT history Aversion therapy at BYU The 2011 Broadway musical The Book of Mormon satirized church teachings on changing sexual orientation with an LDS missionary character saying he could turn it off like a light switch in reference to his gay feelings 240 241 Because of its ban against same sex sexual activity and same sex marriage the LDS Church has a long history of teaching that its adherents who are attracted to the same sex can and should attempt to alter their feelings through righteous striving and sexual orientation change efforts also called conversion therapy or reparative therapy 242 These current teachings and policies leave homosexual members with the option of potentially harmful attempts to change their sexual orientation entering a mixed orientation opposite sex marriage or living a celibate lifestyle without any sexual expression including masturbation 27 28 11 29 20 21 While the LDS church has somewhat softened its stance toward LGBTQ individuals in recent years leaders continued to communicate into 2015 that changing one s sexual orientation was possible through personal righteousness prayer faith in Christ psychotherapy and group therapy and retreats 40 In the 60s and 70s Church leaders taught that homosexuality was a curable disease and they encouraged self help attempts by homosexual members to change their sexual orientation and cultivate heterosexual feelings 20 13 19 To assist in this leaders developed an aversion therapy program on BYU campus for gay adolescents and adults in 59 81 since simply being attracted to people of the same sex was an excommunicable sin under church president Kimball 20 2 The on campus aversion therapy program lasted into the mid 90s 16 90 BYU s Honor Code office required some students reported for homosexual behavior to undergo electroshock and vomit aversion therapies in the 1970s 49 155 Teachings later changed as it became clear these self help and aversive techniques were not working and thus from the 80s to the 2000s reparative therapy also called conversion therapy became the dominant treatment method It was often recommended by Evergreen in an attempt to change or remove homosexual attractions In a 2010 survey of 625 Utah individuals 55 of Mormons believed sexual orientation could be changed 243 and a 2015 survey of 1 612 LGBT Mormons and former Mormons found that 73 of men and 43 of women had attempted sexual orientation change usually through multiple methods across many years 244 5 Counselor led sexual orientation change efforts dwindled among members around 2015 20 17 20 as church teachings evolved with leaders explicitly stating in 2012 that same sex sexual attractions were not a choice 20 21 and affirming in 2016 that therapy focusing on a change in sexual orientation was unethical 245 24 LGBT Mormon suicides and homelessness EditMain article LGBT Mormon suicides and homelessness LGBT persons are at a higher risk of depression anxiety and suicide In society at large LGBT individuals especially youth are at a higher risk of depression anxiety and suicide 246 247 due to minority stress stemming from societal anti LGBT biases and stigma rejection and internalized homophobia 248 Some individuals and organizations have linked church teachings against homosexuality and the treatment of LGBT Mormons by other members and leaders as contributing to LGBT Mormon suicides 249 250 251 LDS historian Gregory Prince stated that by condemning homosexuality as evil self inflicted and impossible in postmortal existence LDS church leaders have enabled harsh behavior by its members with the alarming number of LDS LGBT homeless and Utah s highest per capita teen suicide rate in the country manifesting the effects of this cruelty 16 4 LGBT Mormon suicides and experiences with suicidal ideation have received media coverage 252 253 254 In 2013 it was estimated that among the approximately 1000 homeless Utah youths 30 to 40 were LGBTQ with about half of those coming from LDS homes 255 256 The Ogden Utah OUTreach Resource Center has reported that over half of their often homeless youth clients identify as LGBTQ 257 In the large 2012 survey Growing Up LGBT in America over two thirds of LGBT youth in Utah reported not feeling accepted in their community compared to 42 of LGBT youth nationwide and 3 4 said they would need to leave Utah to feel accepted 258 259 In January 2016 the LDS church mourned over reported suicides of LGBT Mormons and stated that leaders and members are taught to reach out in an active caring way to all especially to youth who feel estranged or isolated 260 The Affirmation website reported over 30 LGBT Mormon victims died by suicide between 1971 and 2008 261 262 including five gay male BYU students who all died by suicide in 1965 49 156 263 LGBT Mormon people and organizations EditMain article LGBT Mormon people and organizations Some principle homosexual Mormon groups Though there are no official numbers for how many members of the LDS Church identify their romantic orientation as gay bisexual or lesbian BYU s newspaper cited two LDS therapists who stated in 2003 that the supermajority Mormon BYU student body is somewhere around 4 to 5 percent homosexual 264 Family Services estimates that there are on average four or five members per church ward who experience same sex attraction 265 The most recent external study conducted in 1972 shows that between 10 and 13 percent of college aged Mormon men reported past experimentation with homosexual behavior which was similar to the percentage of non Mormon men who similarly reported The study did not tabulate the number of homosexuals who had never had a homosexual experience 266 Another poll of BYU students in 1997 found that 10 had a gay family member and 69 knew someone attracted to those of the same sex 146 Gary Watts former president of Family Fellowship estimates that only 10 percent of homosexual Mormons remain in the church 267 Others dispute that estimate saying numbers in support groups for active Latter day Saints and for self identified gay Mormons are comparable citation needed There is a variety of terminology used including Moho to refer to a Mormon homosexual 268 Some nationally recognized LGBT former Mormons Tyler Glenn left and Kate Kendell Prominent LGBT or homosexually attracted Mormons include Elder Christofferson s brother Tom Christofferson therapist Ty Mansfield therapist David Matheson and therapist Josh Weed Prominent LGBT former Mormons include writer Dustin Lance Black singer Tyler Glenn historian D Michael Quinn gay rights activist Leonard Matlovich and attorney Kate Kendell Organization that have supported Mormons and former Mormons that experience attractions to those of the same sex include Affirmation North Star Mormons Building Bridges Mama Dragons Evergreen International USGA Break off churches for LGBT Mormons include the United Order Family of Christ in the 70s and the Restoration Church of Jesus Christ by Antonio Feliz from the 80s to 2010 citation needed Depiction in pop culture and media Edit See also Latter Day Saints in popular culture Topics discussing the LDS Church and LGBT people have been featured in many films plays and pieces of literature Examples include the following Films Latter Days Believer 8 The Mormon Proposition G B F 269 TLC s My Husband s Not Gay 270 Church amp State 271 Same Sex Attracted 272 Theatrical productions Book of Mormon musical 273 Angels in America 8 14 274 Facing East 275 Confessions of a Mormon Boy Missa Solemnis or The Play About Henry 276 277 Books Advise and Consent 278 279 Timeline of important publications and speeches EditMain article Timeline of LGBT Mormon history 1800s to the 1950s Edit Main articles Timeline of LGBT Mormon history in the 19th century Timeline of LGBT Mormon history in the early 20th century and Timeline of LGBT Mormon history in the 1950s This highly influential publication was the first general authority authored book to explicitly contain church stances on homosexuality 1897 During the October general conference First Presidency member George Q Cannon used the media attention on the 1895 conviction and two year imprisonment of famed Irish poet Oscar Wilde as an opportunity to condemn homosexual behavior as an abominable filthy nameless crime He continued stating that the only way to stop homosexuals was for God to wipe them out 280 281 1952 An increase in US public discourse around homosexuality in the McCarthyist Lavender scare era contributed to the first explicit mention of the topic in general conference Apostle Clark lamented homosexuality is found among men and women and that homosexual people exercise great influence in shaping culture 44 49 146 16 15 1958 General authority Bruce R McConkie published Mormon Doctrine in which he states that homosexuality is among Lucifer s chief means of leading souls to hell In the section on Chastity he stated that it s better to be dead clean than alive unclean 282 21 375 The book was viewed by many members both then and now as representing official doctrine despite never being endorsed by the church 16 16 1960s Edit Main article Timeline of LGBT Mormon history in the 1960s 1964 Apostle Spencer W Kimball called homosexuality a malady disease and an abominable and detestable crime against nature that was curable by self mastery 283 He cited one lay bishop a businessman by trade assigned by the church to administer a program of rehabilitation through which he claimed there had been numerous cures He said the police the courts and the judges had referred many cases directly to the church 18 142 91 The 1968 leader handbook was the first release to explicitly mention homosexuality 1965 Kimball again addressed homosexuality in his BYU speech Love vs Lust He called it a gross heinous obnoxious abominable vicious sin The text states that those with homosexual desires could correct and overcome them like the cure for alcoholism In the speech he stated BYU will never knowingly enroll nor tolerate anyone with these tendencies who fails to repent and that it is a damnable heresy for a homosexual person to say that God made them that way He also stated that sometimes masturbation is an introduction to homosexuality 93 49 149 1965 Ernest L Wilkinson addressed the BYU student body stating a ban on students with homosexual feelings since they contaminate the campus 284 285 49 154 Kimball s influential book taught that homosexuality was curable and was officially recommended as a resource for homosexual members into the 90s 98 2 1968 A version of the Church Handbook was released containing the first explicit mention of homosexuality specifying that homo sexual sic acts require a church court 286 21 380 1969 Kimball released his book The Miracle of Forgiveness in which he teaches that masturbation can lead to acts of homosexuality It became a best seller in the church and was routinely given to missionaries 16 34 His book was quoted in a 1979 church manual where it states that homosexuality is curable and certainly overcome as long as the person continues knocking at the door to a cure until their knuckles are bloody 287 288 Kimball viewed many homosexuals as basically good people trapped in sin and posited that some totally conquer homosexuality in a few months but sometimes leads to sex with animals 289 1970s Edit Main article Timeline of LGBT Mormon history in the 1970s 1970 Victor L Brown of the Presiding Bishopric gave an April general conference address in which he states that a normal and healthy 12 or 13 year old boy or girl could develop into a homosexual if exposed to pornographic literature and other abnormalities 290 291 292 297 Spencer W Kimball was assigned as a church specialist on homosexuality in 1946 46 381 and shaped church teachings on the subject through numerous speeches and publications in the 60s and 70s 1970 The church produced Hope for Transgressors in which apostles Spencer W Kimball and Mark E Petersen offer ideas to leaders about how to effect a total cure and bring the lives of men with homosexual feelings into total normalcy 16 36 94 Ideas include prayer cutting off contact with homosexual friends dating women marriage 283 and scripture reading He calls homosexuality a despicable degraded dread practice and a perversion that would doom the world though calling the homosexual individual an afflicted one The guide notes that Kimball and Petersen were designated as the church specialists on homosexuality and that homosexuality is not totally the fault of family conditions and concludes it CAN be cured emphasis in the original 88 Booklet revisions of Kimball s influential 70s discourse on homosexuality from the top 70 71 78 49 147 16 36 1971 Apostle Kimball revised and retitled Hope for Transgressors as a 34 page letter to homosexual men titled New Horizons for Homosexuals In it he calls homosexuality a ruinous practice of perversion that the church will never condone that begins with curiosity He states that saying perverts are born that way is a base lie since homosexuality is curable and can be overcome and recovered from It also calls homosexuality ugly degenerate unnatural vicious base a waste of power a deep sin and an end to the family and civilization 53 149 The publication advises that for the homosexual to recover they must shun anyone associated with the transgression and pray and read the scriptures 293 The pamphlet would be reissued in 1978 as a 30 page pamphlet titled A Letter to a Friend 49 147 A 1973 church publication which taught that a passive father and domineering mother can cause homosexuality and that conforming to gender norms will change it 1973 The church published a guide for bishops and stake presidents titled Homosexuality Welfare Services Packet 1 which posited that homosexual behavior begins by being molested with the note that not all who are molested become homosexual It also suggested that homosexuality is caused by a domineering mother and a passive father As far as changing the sexual orientation of the person the packet says that the lesbian needs to learn feminine behavior and the gay man must learn the manly heterosexual or straight way of life 142 91 294 69 1974 New Church president Spencer W Kimball gave an October general conference speech in which he again stated that masturbation leads to homosexuality and also added pornography can as well 295 342 343 296 1975 The Ensign published an article by Presiding bishop Victor L Brown which addressed parents stating that a lack of proper affection in the home can result in homosexual children 297 295 339 Members of LDS Social Services renamed Family Services in 95 were tasked with treating homosexual Mormons in 1972 298 15 and produced several important publications on homosexuality in 73 95 and 99 1975 Robert L Blattner of LDS Social Services gave an address at the Association of Mormon Counselors and Psychotherapists AMCAP annual conference Blattner served as a special assistant to the LDS Commissioner of Personal Welfare Victor L Brown Jr 298 15 In the address Blattner states that the causes of homosexuality in men are a lack of relationship with peers and a disturbed family background with an absent father and controlling mother For the causes of female homosexuality he only notes the lack of information He said homosexual behavior and alcoholism are similar and noted that most people can be helped by electric shock behavior modification in reference to BYU s aversion therapy program 299 300 1976 A version of the Church Handbook was released changing the previous grounds for a church court from homo sexual sic acts to homosexuality 301 302 This change seemed to make Mormons vulnerable to church punishment for having a homosexual orientation alone even without sexual activity 21 382 422 16 16 43 22 139 Apostle Boyd K Packer played a large role in shaping over three decades of teachings on homosexuality through numerous speeches containing the subject 1976 Apostle Boyd K Packer gave the sermon To Young Men Only in the October general conference The sermon counseled against perverse physical contact between men Packer commended a missionary who was upset after he floored i e punched so hard he fell to the ground his assigned male companion in response to unwanted sexual advances saying somebody had to do it 283 He further asserted that it is a lie that some are born with homosexual attractions The sermon was published as a pamphlet by the church from 1980 to 2016 118 177 Pamphlet containing apostle Packer s 1978 BYU speech on homosexuality 1978 Apostle Packer delivered the sermon To the One at BYU 129 in response to the recent controversy generated from a widely circulated pro gay pamphlet by a gay BYU student and gay BYU instructor 303 49 157 159 304 He characterized homosexual interaction as a perversion and presented the possibility that it had its roots in selfishness and could be cured with unselfish thoughts and acts 16 19 199 305 129 6 He stated that homosexuality was not discussed much by publicly by the church since talking about it can very foolishly cause things leaders are trying to prevent 129 19 16 20 1978 The First Presidency released a statement outlining reasons for their opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment including unnatural consequences like an increase in the practice of homosexual and lesbian activities 306 53 150 151 1980s Edit Main article Timeline of LGBT Mormon history in the 1980s The church opposed the ERA in part from believing it would lead to same sex marriage and parenting 307 1980 The Ensign published an article stating that a passing of the Equal Rights Amendment would lead to legalizing same sex marriage and children being raised in a homosexual home 307 53 151 1981 In an April General Conference church Seventy Hartman Rector Jr stated If children have a happy family experience they will not want to be homosexual and that homosexuality is an acquired addiction like drugs and pornography 308 309 310 1981 The church issued a guide for LDS Social Services employees instructing them that a homosexual orientation is not inborn and there is hope of change as well as stating that a homosexual man is afraid of the other sex and does not fully understand how to act and think like a masculine man 311 298 20 Cover of a 1981 church manual which taught homosexuality wasn t inborn but caused by masturbation or an unhealthy childhood and was changeable through praying and heterosexual dating 312 21 51 1981 Another church guide was released for local church leaders which stated that homosexual inclinations are changeable and not inborn The booklet gave guidelines for the treatment and prevention of homosexuality such as dating praying and reading church literature It taught that homosexual behavior is learned and influenced by an unhealthy childhood masturbation and experimentation 312 21 51 313 1983 The Church Handbook was updated to state that a church court may be convened to consider serious transgressions including homosexuality and lesbianism but is not required 314 Some leaders punished even celibate people who confessed to experiencing homosexual feelings 22 139 1986 Dallin H Oaks commented on a CBS TV interview that marriage is not doctrinal therapy for homosexual relations and that he did not know if any leaders had advised homosexual individuals to enter mixed orientation marriages 315 21 393 316 1987 Gordon B Hinckley of the First Presidency gave an April conference address in which he stated marriage should not be viewed as a therapeutic step to solve problems such as homosexual inclinations or practices 292 13 317 1989 The Church Handbook was updated to clarify offenses as homosexual relations rather than just homosexuality itself 22 139 Additionally the update required a church court for any homosexual activity by a member holding a prominent church position such as a bishop 318 1990s Edit Main article Timeline of LGBT Mormon history in the 1990s 1990 A version of the For the Strength of Youth pamphlet first mentioned homosexuality characterizing it as an unnatural affection a sex perversion and an abomination 319 320 321 1991 The First Presidency sent a letter on November 14 to be read in all congregations stating homosexual thoughts and feelings can and should be overcome by sincere repentance persistent effort the help of others and counsel from a bishop The letter made a distinction between thoughts and behavior and called for love and understanding for those struggling to overcome gay thoughts 322 323 324 Cover of a 1992 manual which marked a shift in LDS church rhetoric towards changing homosexual behavior rather than feelings 28 40 41 1992 The church published a guide for local leaders which stated that homosexual feelings can be overcome and sometimes heterosexual feelings emerge leading to happy eternal marriage relationships 98 6 28 40 41 16 18 19 The pamphlet did not frame homosexuality as a disease corresponding to the recent change by the World Health Organization removing homosexuality as a mental disorder 283 1994 The First Presidency issued a statement encouraging members to contact their legislators in an effort to reject same sex marriage 30 325 1995 First presidency member James Faust wrote an article denying any biological components in the causes of homosexuality 47 58 He also stated that gay relationships would help unravel society 103 The Family A Proclamation to the World is a 1995 LDS church statement used as a legal document in several court case amicus briefs opposing same sex marriage 326 1995 Church president Gordon B Hinckley read The Family A Proclamation to the World in the Fall General Conference which states that marriage between a man and a woman is essential and ordained of God It also teaches that gender is an essential part of one s eternal identity and purpose 53 154 155 161 The document has been submitted by the church in several amicus briefs as evidence against legalizing same sex marriages 326 1995 Church president Hinckley condemned same sex marriage in the October General Conference but invited members of the church reach out and sympathize with homosexual individuals 50 45 46 327 328 1995 An article by Dallin H Oaks denounced gay bashing and gave a nuanced view on potential biological components of the etiology of homosexuality It also advised against using the sexual identifiers gay or lesbian 283 104 1995 The church s Family Services published a manual for practitioners which stated that dysfunctional family relationships and abuse were at the root of homosexuality and gave advice on how to prevent and treat homosexuality 329 330 107 331 During his 13 years as president Hinckley brought a shift in tone towards empathy in church public discussions on homosexuality 50 45 332 62 1997 Church president Gordon B Hinckley gave an interview in which he called gay members of the church good people and said they re not reprimanded for their attractions unless involved in sexual transgressions He affirmed that gay Mormons must live a celibate life 333 99 162 1998 The Church Handbook was updated to ban members from full time missionary service who had participated in homosexual acts from age 15 unless it had been at least one year since the occurrence and there was strong evidence of reformation 334 81 The update also included the first church policy sections on homosexuality and same gender marriage stating that members with homosexual thoughts feelings or actions should be helped to understand faith repentance life s purpose and to accept responsibility for their thoughts 53 166 Additionally the manual encourages members to appeal to government officials to reject same sex marriage 334 159 1999 The Area Presidency of the North America West Area sent a May 11 letter to all area leaders directing members to donate their means and time to pass the Knight Initiative against same sex marriage in California 16 77 335 A second letter invited church members to donate money and a third letter sent a month and a half before the proposition would pass asked members to redouble their efforts in contacting neighbors and to place provided yard signs 16 77 78 336 337 1999 The church published an Ensign article which states that homosexuality is changeable and heterosexual feelings will emerge and is caused by personality traits sexual abuse familial factors and treatment by peers 295 346 338 2000s Edit Main article Timeline of LGBT Mormon history in the 2000s 2000 Packer gave an October General Conference address in which he calls homosexuality a temptation which may lead to despair disease and death that begins as an innocent curiosity which leads to a pattern and then addiction He said the idea that God created homosexual people with overpowering unnatural desires is false and that they can be cured and healed 339 340 341 The 2001 update to the youth guideline pamphlet removed the harsher language of the 1990 edition which characterized homosexual feelings as unnatural perverse and an abomination 2001 The eighth version of the For the Strength of Youth pamphlet was published updating the section discussing homosexuality to only say that homosexual activity is a serious sin and that those struggling with same gender attraction should talk to their parents and bishop 342 137 2004 The church published True to the Faith which states that homosexual activity is contrary to the purposes of human sexuality distorts loving relationships and prevents people from receiving blessings The book further says that sexual sins are more serious than any other sins except murder and denying the Holy Ghost 343 344 10 2004 The First Presidency issued a July 7 statement saying the church favors a constitutional amendment barring the legal status of any marriage outside one between one man and one woman 345 346 A few months later on October 19 they expounded this stance with the First Presidency Statement on Same Gender Marriage supporting the 2004 movement for this amendment 347 The letter states that the church reaches out with understanding and respect for homosexual persons and realizes there may be great loneliness in their lives but defend their stance 30 344 10 2006 Jeffrey R Holland and Marlin K Jensen were interviewed in March with questions about various topics including homosexuality by PBS Jensen stated that he did not think the church could ever change its position on homosexual behavior and acknowledged that this creates a lot of pain since homosexual Mormons have no hope of falling in love in a church sanctioned way 348 Holland stated that he doesn t anticipate a change in church stance and affirmed that gay or lesbian inclinations disappear after death 135 137 349 36 2006 The Church Handbook was updated again 350 stating that the church reaches out with respect and understanding to same sex attracted individuals 351 2006 A revision to the church s Mission Presidents Handbook recommended that barring unusual circumstances a missionary who makes a belated confession to a serious transgression like pre mission homosexual acts should be sent home 352 27 The manual also specified that any baptismal candidate confessing to a homosexual transgression during a baptismal interview usually with a mission district leader needs a searching interview with the local mission president for baptism approval 352 43 The apostle Dallin Oaks has been an influential figure in church interactions with homosexual people instituting a system of surveillance to identify and expel or attempt to cure homosexual students as president of BYU in the 70s and doing numerous important video interviews and articles on the topic in the 80s 90s and 2000s 2006 The church published an extensive April interview 3 with Oaks and Lance B Wickman to clarify the church s stance on homosexuality 3 353 In the interview Wickman states that the church doesn t counsel against conversion therapy and that it may be appropriate for some However Oaks states they can t endorse the aversive therapies recommended in the past to fix it and they don t accept responsibility for the abuses suffered by individuals who had experienced this now disavowed therapy method He further stated that giving even same sex civil unions and domestic partnerships the same government rights given to opposite sex marriage would not be appropriate He added that a mixed orientation marriage would be appropriate for a gay member who could put homosexual feelings in the background and felt a great attraction to someone of the opposite sex 143 He compared devout homosexual Mormons to those with physical or mental disabilities who will also not be able to marry and added that same sex attraction did not exist in the pre earth life and will not exist in the next life On family acceptance he stated that parents of gay children in same sex relationships might tell them they can t stay overnight or expect any public appearances with the couple that may imply an approval of their relationship He further stated the Lord s way is to love the sinner while condemning the sin 3 137 2006 In April Apostle Russell M Nelson signed a letter with other religious leaders urging the US government to pass an amendment banning same sex marriage On May 25 the First Presidency released another statement supporting the amendment and urging members to contact their senators 354 344 10 11 2006 Apostle Dallin H Oaks gave an October General Conference address in which he stated change is possible but don t focus on the causes of same sex attraction Oaks then explained that if faith prayers and priesthood don t heal one from an affliction that the Atonement can help one bear the burden 355 2007 The church s BYU Board of Trustees under the direction of First Presidency member Monson revised the Honor Code in April to clarify that coming out is not an Honor Code issue while continuing to ban all forms of physical intimacy expressing homosexual feelings 356 357 137 This was the first church publication on homosexuality produced in nearly three decades for members to read since To the One and A Letter to a Friend were released in 1978 2007 In July the church published the booklet God Loveth His Children summarizing church teachings on homosexuality 50 46 136 137 2008 The First Presidency again urged California members to do all they can by giving effort and time to help pass a state amendment banning same sex marriage in a June 29 letter 283 358 A few months later Apostles Ballard and Cook and L Whitney Clayton gave an October 8 satellite broadcast 359 to all California members titled The Divine Institution of Marriage Broadcast In the broadcast they asked members to donate four hours per week and to set aside Saturdays morning to calling people and other efforts supporting the passage of Prop 8 They clarified that tolerance does not mean tolerating transgression and noted the existence of temple worthy members attracted to the same sex Additionally a video 360 of Apostle Bednar answering youth s questions was shown from the church s official website PreservingMarriage org 361 Members were directed to register on the coalition website ProtectMarriage com 362 363 364 2009 On September 19 Seventy Bruce C Hafen promised members of Evergreen that if they were faithful they may develop heterosexual attractions in this life and would be resurrected with heterosexual attractions citing apostle Oaks and affirming that it MUST be true emphasis in original 332 79 365 134 2010 to present Edit Main articles Timeline of LGBT Mormon history in the 2010s and Timeline of LGBT Mormon history in the 2020s 2010 A 2010 update to the Church Handbook noted that the records of adult members who had repeated homosexual activities would be permanently annotated 366 It also advised that homosexual activity during or after the last three teenage years would bar someone from missionary service 366 The Handbook 2 also stated that members who experience same sex attraction but don t engage in homosexual behavior may receive church callings and temple recommends 367 2010 Apostle Packer delivered an October conference address referring to homosexual relationships as substitutes or counterfeits for marriage 368 He says that it is not so that some are preset and cannot overcome what they feel are inborn temptations toward the impure and unnatural He goes on to say Why would our Heavenly Father do that to anyone which was omitted in the printed version of the talk 369 370 283 He says we will not change this moral standard His remarks sparked a protest on October 7 in which thousands surrounded Temple Square 11 185 2011 The church s BYU Honor Code was updated to remove the ban on the advocacy and promotion of homosexual behavior as being morally acceptable 137 371 2012 In May the church released a statement approving the Boy Scouts of America BSA administration s decision to remove the 1991 ban on homosexual youth 372 373 The release stated that sexual orientation had never disqualified boys from joining LDS troops as long as they abided by church standards barring any pre marital sexual activity 374 375 though the policy remains unclear for young men participating in same sex dating without sexual activity In 2010 Mormon scouts constituted the largest group of young men in the BSA 21 in 2010 376 This header was at the top of the LDS church s first official website on homosexuality from December 2012 until an update in October 2016 2012 In December the church launched a website dedicated to the topic of homosexuality in an effort to encourage understanding 23 The website stated that individuals don t choose to experience same sex attractions 377 378 137 2015 Church leaders held a Fairness for All news conference on January 27 supporting LGBT non discrimination laws for housing and employment that would also protect religious individuals 379 Apostle Christofferson called for a balance between religious freedom and LGBT rights while Neill F Marriott of the Young Women s presidency recognized the centuries of ridicule persecution and violence against homosexuals Apostle Oaks followed stating that the church rejects persecution based on gender or sexual orientation and called for legislation protecting religious freedoms and LGBT citizens in housing employment and public accommodations Apostle Holland closed outlining the church s stance on religious freedom 380 381 382 In answer to a press question afterwards Christofferson affirmed his love for his gay brother Tom who was in a 20 year relationship with a man 383 384 137 2015 In early March the church released a public statement 385 and employed its lobbyists 386 to garner support for a proposed nondiscrimination and religious rights bill which would grant housing and employment protection for LGBT persons in Utah Though similar bills had failed 6 times before 387 SB 296 was passed on March 11 and another statement of church approval was released 388 the new law nicknamed the Utah Compromise 389 passed and was praised by many 390 391 2015 Three days after the US Supreme Court ruled in favor of same sex marriage the First Presidency sent a June 29 letter to be read to every US congregation affirming changing US law would not change God s moral law The letter clarified that leaders should not perform same sex marriages and that any church property cannot be used for activities related to same sex marriages The letter welcomed all visitors on church property as long as LDS standards of conduct were respected 392 393 2015 Following a Boy Scouts of America BSA policy change on July 27 allowing for gay scout leaders 394 though allowing for churches to continue banning them 395 the church stated that it had always welcomed gay youth but that allowing openly gay leaders was inconsistent with church doctrine The official press release preceded by one on May 21 396 and July 13 397 alluded to a potential change in church BSA relations Despite the majority of church members wanting to drop relations with the BSA 398 however no change in relations occurred 399 2015 On November 5 an updated letter to leaders for the Church Handbook was leaked A new policy banned a child of a parent living in a same gender relationship from baby blessings baptism confirmation priesthood ordination and missionary service until the child was not living with their homosexual parent s was of legal age and disavowed same gender cohabitation and marriage in addition to receiving approval from the First Presidency The policy update added that entering a same sex marriage was a type of apostasy mandating a disciplinary council 188 12 The next day apostle Christofferson stated that the policy was about love and protecting children from difficulties challenges and conflicts between parents and the church 400 137 On November 13 the First Presidency released a letter clarifying that the policy only applied to children who lived mostly with the parent in a same sex relationship and that those who had already received ordinances before the change could continue with further ordinances 401 402 The next day around 1 500 members gathered across from the Church Office to submit their resignation letters in response to the policy change with thousands more resigning online in the weeks after 166 186 14 Two months later apostle Nelson stated that the change was revealed to President Monson in a sacred moment when the Lord inspired him to declare the will of the Lord 403 2016 The church released a statement through spokesman Dale Jones on January 28 mourning the reported suicides of 32 LGBT Mormons The release stated that leaders and members are taught to reach out in an active caring way to all especially to youth who feel estranged or isolated 260 137 2016 On February 17 church spokesperson Dale Jones spoke against passing any LGBT related laws which could affect the balance of religious liberty and gay rights 404 The statement was in reference to proposed Utah hate crime bill SB107 which would add sexual orientation to the current list of characteristics protected from hate crimes in Utah 405 The bill failed as it had in past years and its Mormon Republican sponsor criticized his church for its opposition to the bill citing the church s press release as the reason for its failure 406 407 2016 Apostle David A Bednar answered a member s question in a February 23 broadcast stating that there are no homosexual members of the church since we are not defined by sexual attraction or behavior He compared homosexuality to a physical handicap 408 2016 Church spokesman Eric Hawkins stated on March 15 that the church denounces any therapy that subjects an individual to abusive practices and hopes LGBT Mormons find compassion and understanding from family members professional counselors and church members 409 The statement was in response to media inquiries around the experiences of a lesbian Mormon teen subjected to physically abusive therapy attempting to change her attractions which lead to a suicide attempt 410 137 The 2016 website update contained the first church disavowal of all therapy focusing on changing sexual orientation 2016 In June the Mexican area authority presidency had a letter read in congregations around the country urging members to oppose the national legalization of same sex marriage and pointed them to the political organization Conciencia Nacional por la Libertad Religiosa 411 412 2016 In October the official Mormons and Gays website was revised and moved to mormonandgay lds org 413 The update supported members in identifying as gay 414 100 137 and noted that therapy focusing on changing sexual orientation is unethical 26 415 2017 The Pacific area presidency sent a letter to be read in September in all Australian congregations which reemphasized the church s position against same sex marriage and parenting and urged members to vote their conscience in the upcoming national referendum on the issue 416 2017 The apostle Oaks stated that the Family Proclamation s teachings on same sex marriage were not changeable policies but statements of eternal truth the will of God and the basis for church teachings and practice over the last two decades He lamented the increase in public acceptance of same sex marriage and acknowledged the conflicts with friends and family that opposing this acceptance could cause He further stated that despite the conflict church members should choose God and the LDS Church s plan and way 417 418 2021 In an address to faculty and staff at BYU Apostle Holland called for a little more musket fire from this temple of learning in defending marriage as the union of a man and a woman 419 The same years a tentative 250 million payout agreement was reached in lawsuits regarding allegations of the church covering up incidents of sex abuse in its former Boy Scout of America chapters 420 421 See also Edit LDS Church portal LGBT portalCommunity of Christ LGBTQ Participation DezNat Deseret Nation anti LGBT alt right affiliated Mormon Twitter community Timeline of LGBT Mormon history LGBT Mormon people and organizations Gender minorities and the LDS church Brigham Young University LGBT history Sexuality and Mormonism Law of adoption Mormonism LGBT rights in Utah Civil rights and Mormonism List of Christian denominational positions on homosexuality All Dead Mormons Are Now GayReferences Edit a b Same Sex Marriage LDS Church a b c d Frequently Asked Questions Mormon and Gay LDS Church October 2016 If you experience same sex attraction you may choose to use a sexual orientation label to describe yourself If you decide to openly identify as gay you should be supported a b c d e f g h i j k l Oaks Dallin H Wickman Lance B September 2006 Same Gender Attraction Newsroom Interview Transcript Interviewed by LDS Church Public Affairs staffers Salt Lake City Utah LDS Church See also the Salt Lake Tribune archived transcript here a b Hinckley Gordon B November 1998 What Are People Asking about Us Ensign LDS Church a b Worship with Us What to Expect mormon org LDS Church Archived from the original on February 15 2019 Retrieved July 2 2014 a b Gospel Topics Temples churchofjesuschrist org LDS Church retrieved July 2 2014 a b Gospel Topics Church Disciplinary Councils churchofjesuschrist org LDS Church retrieved July 2 2014 a b c Beaver Michelle March 11 2011 Mormon church has a fractured history with gays The Mercury News San Jose CA MediaNews Group Inc Bay Area News Group There are three levels to the heaven in which Mormons believe and to make it to the highest level one must be married Perhaps the most sacred church ordinance is the temple marriage a sealing between a man and a woman that is believed to be eternal according to Richley Crapo a Utah State University professor There is no place for homosexuality in Mormon marriages and no place for noncelibate homosexuals in the top level of Mormon heaven unless that person has repented accordingly in the afterlife a b c Petrey Taylor G February 4 2015 My Husband s Not Gay Homosexuality and the LDS Church Religion amp Politics Washington University in St Louis John C Danforth Center on Religion and Politics In the Mormon cosmos as presently understood there is simply no room for same sex relationships For Mormons the afterlife consists of heterosexual pairs of divinized men and women Often church leaders have counseled Mormons who experience same sex attraction that their unwelcome feelings will disappear in the afterlife T he very structure of heaven can only accommodate opposite sex marriages Browning Bill December 21 2021 Utah billionaire leaves Mormon church with blistering accusation it is actively harming the world LGBTQ Nation San Francisco Archived from the original on December 21 2021 Retrieved December 25 2021 a b c d Winters Rosemary October 19 2010 Mormon apostle s words about gays spark protest The Salt Lake Tribune Retrieved November 16 2016 a b c Bailey Sarah Pulliam November 11 2016 Mormon Church to exclude children of same sex couples from getting blessed and baptized until they are 18 The Washington Post Retrieved November 12 2016 Murphy Caryle Most U S Christian groups grow more accepting of homosexuality pewresearch org Pew Research Center Retrieved March 12 2017 a b c d Levin Sam August 15 2016 I m not a Mormon fresh mass resignation over anti LGBT beliefs The Guardian Retrieved December 11 2016 Hatch Heidi April 13 2016 Millennial Mormons leaving faith at higher rate than previous generations CBS Television Sinclair Broadcast Group KUTV a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah Prince Gregory A 2019 Gay Rights and the Mormon Church Intended Actions Unintended Consequences Salt Lake City The University of Utah Press ISBN 9781607816638 a b Kimball Spencer W 1969 The Miracle of Forgiveness Bookcraft ISBN 978 0 88494 192 7 Homosexuality is curable and forgivable Certainly it can be overcome T o those who say that this practice is incurable I respond How can you say the door cannot be opened until your knuckles are bloody It can be done Quoted on page 31 of Conservative Christian Identity amp Same Sex Orientation The Case of Gay Mormons a b c Kimball Spencer W July 10 1964 A Counselling Problem in the Church Provo Utah Brigham Young University pp 13 14 We know such a disease homosexuality is curable a b Understanding and Helping Those Who Have Homosexual Problems LDS Church 1992 pp 3 4 Retrieved November 3 2016 S uch thoughts and feelings regardless of their causes can and should be overcome and sinful behavior should be eliminated Change is possible a b c d e f Prince Gregory A September 27 2017 Science vs Dogma Biology Challenges the LDS Paradigm of Homosexuality PDF thc utah edu University of Utah Tanner Humanities Center Archived from the original PDF on March 28 2019 Retrieved October 21 2017 Video of the presentation a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Quinn D Michael 1996 Same Sex Dynamics among Nineteenth Century Americans A Mormon Example University of Illinois Press ISBN 978 0252022050 a b c d e Schow Ron Fall 2005 Homosexual Attractions and LDS Marriage Decisions PDF Dialogue A Journal of Mormon Thought 38 3 doi 10 2307 45227379 JSTOR 45227379 S2CID 254393745 Retrieved June 18 2017 a b Love One Another A Discussion on Same Sex Attraction mormonsandgays org LDS Church December 6 2012 Archived from the original on December 6 2012 a b c Jones Morgan February 7 2018 The Weeds story is one of many stories of LGBT Latter day Saints that continue to be written Deseret News LDS Church Today LDS Family Services says it offers the following We assist individuals and families as they respond to same sex attraction Our therapists do not provide what is commonly referred to as reparative therapy or sexual orientation change efforts a b Interview With Elder Dallin H Oaks and Elder Lance B Wickman Same Gender Attraction Mormon Newsroom LDS Church September 2006 The Church does not have a position on the causes of any of same gender attraction Those are scientific questions a b Seeking Professional Help mormonandgay lds org LDS Church October 2016 a b Fish Jessica N Russell Stephen T August 2020 Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Change Efforts are Unethical and Harmful American Journal of Public Health 110 8 1113 1114 doi 10 2105 AJPH 2020 305765 PMC 7349462 PMID 32639919 With substantial evidence of serious harms associated with exposure to sexual orientation and gender identity change efforts SOGICE particularly for minors 21 states and multiple cities and counties have passed bipartisan laws or regulations prohibiting SOGICE Furthermore compared with LGBTQ youths with no exposure those exposed to SOGICE showed 1 76 times greater odds of seriously considering suicide 2 23 times greater odds of having attempted suicide and 2 54 times greater odds of multiple suicide attempts in the previous year a b c d Phillips Rick 2005 Conservative Christian Identity amp Same Sex Orientation The Case of Gay Mormons PDF Frankfurt Germany Peter Lang Publishing ISBN 978 0820474809 Archived from the original PDF on April 18 2017 Retrieved May 31 2017 a b Cook Bryce Summer 2017 What Do We Know of God s Will for His LGBT Children An Examination of the LDS Church s Current Position on Homosexuality Dialogue A Journal of Mormon Thought 50 2 doi 10 5406 dialjmormthou 50 2 0001 S2CID 190443414 Archived from the original on February 5 2022 Retrieved November 12 2017 a b c d First Presidency Statement on Same Gender Marriage LDS Church October 20 2004 Retrieved January 23 2015 McKinley Jesse Johnson Kirk November 14 2008 Mormons Tipped Scale in Ban on Gay Marriage The New York Times Retrieved August 26 2011 Taylor Scott November 10 2009 Mormon Church backs protection of gay rights in Salt Lake City Deseret News Archived from the original on November 14 2009 Retrieved December 25 2011 Mormon Church to exclude children of same sex couples from getting blessed and baptized until they are 18 The Washington Post November 6 2015 Retrieved June 9 2016 a b Mormons Reinforce Stand on Same Sex Marriage New York Times November 6 2015 a b LDS Church dumps its controversial LGBTQ policy cites continuing revelation from God The Salt Lake Tribune Retrieved April 4 2019 a b First Presidency Shares Messages From General Conference Leadership Session Mormon Newsroom April 4 2019 Retrieved April 4 2019 Phillips Richard January 1 1993 Prophets and Preference Constructing and Maintaining a Homosexual Identity in the Mormon Church All Graduate Theses and Dissertations Utah State University Paper 2513 Retrieved June 12 2017 Alma 39 5 2 Nephi 13 9 a b Galliher Renee Bradshaw William Hyde Daniel Dehlin John Crowell Katherine April 2015 Sexual orientation change efforts among current or former LDS church members Journal of Counseling Psychology 62 2 96 doi 10 1037 cou0000011 PMID 24635593 The LDS church claims the Holy Bible as scripture and through traditional Biblical interpretations has historically both condemned same sex sexuality as sinful and explicitly encouraged its lesbian gay bisexual transgender and queer LGBTQ members to attempt sexual orientation change While the LDS church has somewhat softened its stance toward LGBTQ individuals in recent years it continues to communicate to its LGBTQ members that sexual orientation change is possible through various means including prayer personal righteousness faith in Jesus Christ psychotherapy group therapy and group retreats In these respects the LDS church s approach to SSA has closely paralleled other religious traditions including Orthodox Judaism evangelical Christianity and Roman Catholicism Williams Clyde J 1996 The Teachings of Harold B Lee Salt Lake City Utah Bookcraft Inc ISBN 978 1570084836 Faulconer James E 1999 Verses 24 32 Romans 1 Notes and Reflections Provo Utah FARMS Brigham Young University ISBN 978 0 934893 44 2 OCLC 42580110 archived from the original on October 11 2012 retrieved April 25 2012 a b c d Hinckley Gordon B May 1987 Reverence and Morality Ensign 45 a b Clark J Reuben October 2 1952 Home and the Building of Home Life Relief Society Magazine 793 794 T he crimes for which Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed we have coined a softer name for them than came from old we now speak of homosexuality which it is tragic to say is found among both sexes Not without foundation is the contention of some that the homosexuals are today exercising great influence in shaping our art literature music and drama Mohrman K May 2015 Queering the LDS Archive Radical History Review 2015 122 154 doi 10 1215 01636545 2849585 Retrieved February 5 2017 a b c d e Kimball Edward L Kimball Andrew E 1977 Spencer W Kimball Twelfth President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints Salt Lake City Bookcraft ISBN 978 0884943303 Also available at archive org a b c d Quinn D Michael January 15 1997 The Mormon Hierarchy Extensions of Power 1 ed Salt Lake City Utah Signature Books ISBN 978 1560850601 Retrieved June 15 2017 a b Williams Ben September 1 2011 Lamba Lore The birth of Mormon homophobia Q Salt Lake Magazine Retrieved February 23 2017 a b c d e f g h i j k Corcoran Brent O Donovan Rocky 1994 Multiply and Replenish Mormon Essays on Sex and Family Salt Lake City Utah Signature Books ISBN 978 1560850502 Retrieved November 29 2016 a b c d e Vance Laura March 13 2015 Women in New Religions New York City NY New York University Press ISBN 978 1479816026 Retrieved June 19 2017 Harrison Mette Ivie March 18 2016 Mormons and Gays Where Are We Now Huffington Post Oath Inc Retrieved June 23 2017 Schow Ron Schow Wayne Raynes Marybeth June 1991 Peculiar People Mormons and Same Sex Orientation Signature Books pp xxiv xxvii ISBN 978 1 56085 046 5 Retrieved May 26 2017 a b c d e f Young Neil J July 1 2016 Out of Obscurity Mormonism Since 1945 Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0199358229 Retrieved May 26 2017 Mormon stance on gays softening Richmond Times Dispatch October 9 2013 Retrieved May 26 2017 Fletcher Stack Peggy January 30 2015 We all can be more civil on LGBT issues Mormon leader says The Salt Lake Tribune Retrieved July 31 2017 Packer Boyd K 1976 To Young Men Only PDF LDS Church Archived from the original PDF on March 11 2016 There is a falsehood that some are born with an attraction to their own kind That is a malicious and destructive lie Faust James E Serving the Lord and Resisting the Devil ChurchofJesusChrist org LDS Church Retrieved November 16 2016 The false belief of inborn homosexual orientation denies to repentant souls the opportunity to change and will ultimately lead to discouragement disappointment and despair Understanding and Changing Homosexual Orientation Problems LDS Church 1981 p 4 Because man does have moral free agency it is inconsistent to believe that a person s homosexual orientation is inborn or locked in and there is no real hope of change Homosexuality Salt Lake City UT LDS Church 1981 p 2 It is inconceivable that as some involved in homosexual behavior claim the Lord would permit his children to be born with desires and inclinations which would require behavior contrary to his plan Also quoted in this Newsweek article Oaks Dallin October 1995 Same Gender Attraction ChurchofJesusChrist org LDS Church Perhaps such susceptibilities are inborn or acquired without personal choice and may have some relationship to inheritance Rector Hartman Jr April 1981 Turning the Hearts Salt Lake City Utah LDS Church Event occurs at 6 47 T o be homosexual I am sure is an acquired addiction just as drugs alcohol and pornography are Video also available at churchofjesuschrist org Kimball Spencer W 1980 President Kimball Speaks Out on Morality Sometimes masturbation is the introduction to the more serious sin of homosexuality Brown Victor L April 1970 Wanted Parents With Courage Salt Lake City Utah LDS Church pp 31 33 Archived from the original on October 21 2017 A normal 12 or 13 year old boy or girl exposed to pornographic literature could develop into a homosexual Benson Ezra Fundamentals of Enduring Family Relationships ChurchofJesusChrist org LDS Church S exual promiscuity homosexuality drug abuse alcoholism vandalism pornography and violence These grave problems are symptoms of failure in the home Kimball Spencer Listen to the Prophets ChurchofJesusChrist org LDS Church Retrieved May 25 2017 Once the carnal in man is no longer checked by the restraints of family life and by real religion there comes an avalanche of appetites whether it is an increase in homosexuality corruption drugs or abortion Brown Victor Two Views of Sexuality ChurchofJesusChrist org LDS Church Parents need to know that lack of proper affection in the home can result in unnatural behavior in their children such as homosexuality a b Understanding and Changing Homosexual Orientation Problems LDS Church 1981 pp 6 7 If the father is rejecting or uninvolved or if the mother becomes smothering in an attempt to fill the void left by a weak father the child can become a prime candidate for homosexual homoerotic thoughts feelings and behaviors Clarke J Richard Ministering to Needs through LDS Social Services ChurchofJesusChrist org LDS Church Homosexuality would not occur where there is a normal loving father and son relationship a b Brown Jr Victor L Bergin Allen E 1973 Homosexuality Welfare Services Packet 1 LDS Church pp 4 5 Homosexual behavior begins in various ways Some young children are molested by strangers acquaintances or even relatives However not all who are molested become homosexual Byrd A Dean September 1999 When a Loved One Struggles with Same Sex Attraction ChurchofJesusChrist org LDS Church Homosexuality results from an interaction of social biological and psychological factors These factors may include sexual abuse Packer Boyd K 1978 To The One LDS Church pp 36 38 Archived from the original on February 26 2020 Have you explored the possibility that the cause of homosexual temptation will turn out to be a very typical form of selfishness selfishness in a very subtle form It is very possible to cure it by treating selfishness Packer Boyd K 1978 To The One LDS Church pp 34 39 There is a reason why we in the Church do not talk more openly about homosexual temptation W e can very foolishly cause things we are trying to prevent by talking too much about them Brown Victor The Meaning of Morality ChurchofJesusChrist org LDS Church The Lord did not intend either of the sexes to adopt the other s traits men should look and act like men and that women should look and act like women When these differences are ignored it can lead to homosexuality Bergin Allen October 1988 Questions and Answers ChurchofJesusChrist org LDS Church For example though a person may suffer from homosexual inclinations that are caused by some combination of biology and environment Interview With Elder Dallin H Oaks and Elder Lance B Wickman Same Gender Attraction Mormon Newsroom LDS Church September 2006 Whether nature or nurture those are things the Church doesn t have a position on Same Sex Attraction ChurchofJesusChrist org LDS Church We may not know precisely why some people feel attracted to others of the same sex but for some it is a complex reality and part of the human experience Oaks Dallin October 1995 Same Gender Attraction ChurchofJesusChrist org LDS Church We should refrain from using gay and lesbian as nouns to identify specific persons Our religious doctrine dictates this usage Understanding and Helping Those Who Have Homosexual Problems LDS Church 1992 p 3 Retrieved November 3 2016 Be careful not to label the person as homosexual or gay Such labels can undermine the person s believe that change is possible Henderson Emma March 2 2016 Mormon leader claims church has no homosexual members Independent ESI Media First I want to change the question there are no homosexual members of the church We are not defined by sexual attraction We are not defined by sexual behavior We are sons and daughters of god and all of us have different challenges in the flesh Same Sex Attraction ChurchofJesusChrist org LDS Church Identifying as gay lesbian or bisexual or experiencing same sex attraction is not a sin and does not prohibit one from participating in the Church holding callings or attending the temple a b c Quinn D Michael 1996 Same Sex Dynamics among Nineteenth Century Americans A Mormon Example University of Illinois Press p 379 ISBN 978 0252022050 Shortly after that 21 May 1959 meeting of the Church Board of Education BYU began aversion therapy to cure repair or reorient the same sex desires of Mormon males These young men were referred to this program by BYU s mental health counselors by LDS bishops and stake presidents by BYU s office to enforce student standards or by referrals from outside BYU such as mission presidents and general authorities Blattner Robert L October 1 1975 Counseling the Homosexual In A Church Setting Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy 1 1 3 Retrieved November 14 2016 What is the church s feeling about electric shock and other forms of behavior modification Our experience so far has been that most people coming to us can be helped with it Bingham Ronald D Potts Richard W April 1 1993 Homosexuality An LDS Perspective Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy Brigham Young University 19 1 14 Archived from the original on December 1 2017 Retrieved December 1 2017 Most Church leaders seem to agree that professional counselors can play an important role in helping individuals experiencing problems with homosexuality The Church has supported efforts of the LDS Social Services and other consulting professionals to research the issues and to offer a reparative therapy approach which assumes that homosexual behavior can be changed Interview With Elder Dallin H Oaks and Elder Lance B Wickman Same Gender Attraction Mormon Newsroom LDS Church September 2006 If a young man says Look I really want these homosexual feelings to go away I would do anything for these feelings to go away is it legitimate to look at clinical therapy of some sort that would address those issues Well it may be appropriate for that person to seek therapy Certainly the Church doesn t counsel against that kind of therapy Woodruff Daniel March 15 2016 New book details LDS teen s humiliating gay conversion therapy in Utah CBS Television Sinclair Broadcast Group KUTV Retrieved December 3 2016 The Church denounces any therapy that subjects an individual to abusive practices Seeking Professional Help mormonandgay lds org LDS Church October 2016 I t is unethical to focus professional treatment on an assumption that a change in sexual orientation will or must occur Kimball Spencer W 1969 The Miracle of Forgiveness Bookcraft ISBN 978 0 88494 192 7 Some have convinced themselves that they have no desire toward the opposite sex L et this individual repent of his perversion force himself to return to normal pursuits and interests with the opposite sex and this normal pattern heterosexual dating can become natural again Quoted on page 31 of Conservative Christian Identity amp Same Sex Orientation The Case of Gay Mormons a b c Kimball Spencer Petersen Mark 1970 Hope for Transgressors LDS Church pp 5 6 The entrenched homosexual has moved all of his interests and affections to those of his own sex and herein is another step When you feel he is ready he should be encouraged to date and gradually move his life toward the normal G radually they can move their romantic interests where they belong Marriage and normal life can follow Understanding and Changing Homosexual Orientation Problems LDS Church 1981 pp 20 25 Homosexual orientation problems are often a reflection of poor interpersonal relationships with peers Discuss dating and dating practices Give female interaction assignments S peaking to a girl may be considered a task as may inviting her to a movie However to actually meet her escort her to the movie escort her home and say goodnight is an experience cycle designed to meet a predetermined goal Homosexuality Salt Lake City UT LDS Church 1981 p 6 Retrieved November 22 2016 Encourage the member to be in appropriate situations with members of the opposite sex even if he has to force himself Encourage him if single to begin dating and gradually increase its frequency a b Oaks Dallin H Wickman Lance B September 2006 Same Gender Attraction Newsroom Interview Transcript Interviewed by LDS Church Public Affairs staffers Salt Lake City Utah LDS Church President Hinckley faced with the fact that apparently some had believed marriage to be a remedy and perhaps that some Church leaders had even counseled marriage as the remedy for homosexual feelings made this statement Marriage should not be viewed as a therapeutic step to solve problems such as homosexual inclinations or practices See also the Salt Lake Tribune archived transcript here a b c Oaks Dallin January 29 2015 Trib Talk LDS leaders Oaks Christofferson will appear on Trib Talk to discuss religious freedom Salt Lake City Utah The Salt Lake Tribune Event occurs at 17 32 We definitely do not recommend marriage as a solution for same gender feelings No it s not a therapy In times past decades ago there were some practices to that effect We have eradicated them in the Church now a b Kimball Spencer W January 5 1965 BYU Speeches of the Year Love vs Lust Transcript reprint with permission by the Mental Health Resource Foundation at mentalhealthlibrary info Note References to homosexuality were removed in the reprinted version of the speech in the 1972 book compilation of Kimball s speeches Faith Precedes the Miracle a b c Kimball Spencer Petersen Mark 1970 Hope for Transgressors LDS Church Haldeman Douglas C April 1994 The practice and ethics of sexual orientation conversion therapy Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 62 2 221 227 doi 10 1037 0022 006X 62 2 221 PMID 8201058 Cochran Susan D 2014 Proposed declassification of disease categories related to sexual orientation in the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems ICD 11 Bulletin of the World Health Organization World Health Organization 92 9 672 9 doi 10 2471 BLT 14 135541 PMC 4208576 PMID 25378758 Archived from the original on September 5 2014 Retrieved February 4 2017 Chhiber Ashley July 3 2014 World Health Organization told to declassify sexual orientation as basis of mental disorders Pink News Retrieved February 4 2017 a b c d e f Understanding and Helping Those Who Have Homosexual Problems LDS Church 1992 Retrieved November 3 2016 a b c Waterman Bryan Kagel Brian 1998 The Lord s University Freedom and Authority at BYU Signature books ISBN 978 1 56085 117 2 a b c Frequently Asked Questions Mormon and Gay LDS Church October 2016 a b Trib Talk LDS leaders Oaks Christofferson will appear on Trib Talk to discuss religious freedom The Salt Lake Tribune January 29 2015 Archived from the original on December 15 2021 Retrieved November 21 2016 a b c Petrey Taylor G February 13 2015 A Mormon Leader Signals New Openness on Transgender Issues This Could Be Huge Slate Retrieved November 21 2016 a b Faust James E September 1995 Serving the Lord and Resisting the Devil ChurchofJesusChrist org LDS Church a b Oaks Dallin October 1995 Same Gender Attraction ChurchofJesusChrist org LDS Church a b Stewart Chuck December 16 2014 Proud Heritage People Issues and Documents of the LGBT Experience 3rd ed ABC CLIO ISBN 978 1610693981 McHugh Kathleen A Johnson Grau Brenda Sher Ben Raphael 2014 Making Invisible Histories Visible PDF Los Angeles University of California Los Angeles Center for the Study of Women p 68 ISBN 9780615990842 Archived from the original on November 7 2017 Also hosted online at escholarship org Wood Stacy Cube Caroline Mildred Berryman papers 1918 1990 oac cdlib org University of California Los Angeles Oakes Amy October 3 2012 Diversionary War Domestic Unrest and International Conflict 1st ed Stanford University Press p 125 ISBN 978 0804782463 Young created a Mormon theocracy in the Utah territory his word was law in matters both religious and secular He established a separate legal system and oversaw the selection of representatives to the territorial legislature Avery Valeen Tippetts 1998 Chapter 12 David and Charley From Mission to Madness Last Son of the Mormon Prophet University of Illinois Press pp 232 243 ISBN 978 0 252 02399 6 Patriarch to the Church Released from Duties The Improvement Era 49 11 685 708 November 1946 Archived from the original on April 15 2018 O Donovan Connell Quinn D Michael Chronology of Events on Patriarch Joseph Fielding Smith s Homosexuality affirmation org Affirmation Archived from the original on January 22 2010 Retrieved February 23 2017 Bates Irene M 1996 Lost legacy The Mormon Office of Presiding Patriarch 1 ed Champaign IL University of Illinois Press pp 195 196 200 ISBN 978 0252021633 Quinn D Michael Winter 1995 Male Male Intimacy among Nineteenth century Mormons a Case Study PDF Dialogue A Journal of Mormon Thought 28 4 105 28 doi 10 2307 45226148 JSTOR 45226148 S2CID 254394319 Anonymous October 1919 May Anderson Primary Association eds Evan Bach A True Story for Little Folk by a Pioneer The Children s Friend The Deseret News vol 18 p 386 James Rhett S Mitton George L 1998 A Response to D Michael Quinn s Homosexual Distortion of Latter day Saint History FARMS Review of Books Vol 10 no 1 pp 141 263 Archived from the original on July 19 2011 Retrieved February 18 2011 Williams Ben August 18 2004 Same Sex Temple Sealings Did the Early LDS Church Embrace Homosexual Relationships Salt Lake Metro 1 9 21 Archived from the original on September 28 2011 Fletcher Peggy Utah Local News Salt Lake City News Sports Archive The Salt Lake Tribune Sltrib com Retrieved November 7 2015 a b c Packer Boyd K 1976 To Young Men Only PDF LDS Church archived from the original PDF on March 11 2016 Gospel Topics Chastity lds org LDS Church retrieved July 2 2014 Doctrine and Covenants 121 45 Hinckley Gordon B November 1999 Why We Do Some of the Things We Do Ensign Our hearts reach out to those who refer to themselves as gays and lesbians We love and honor them as sons and daughters of God They are welcome in the Church a b Lattin Don April 13 1997 Musings of the Main Mormon Gordon B Hinckley president prophet seer and revelator of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints sits at the top of one of the world s fastest growing religions San Francisco Chronicle archived from the original on May 17 2012 a b c d e f Oaks Dallin October 1995 Same Gender Attraction ChurchofJesusChrist org LDS Church Church Responds to HRC Petition Statement on Same Sex Attraction LDS Church October 12 2010 Retrieved January 23 2015 Sexual activity should only occur between a man and a woman who are married However that should never be used as justification for unkindness Oaks Dallin H D Todd D Todd Christofferson December 6 2012 Love One Another A Discussion on Same Sex Attraction mormonsandgays org LDS Church Archived from the original on December 6 2012 Neugebauer Cimaron November 5 2015 LDS Church adds same sex marriage to definition of apostasy KUTV Walch Tad November 6 2015 Elder Christofferson explains updated LDS Church policies on same sex marriage and children Deseret News Retrieved April 8 2016 Tad Walch November 13 2015 LDS Church provides additional information on handbook policies about same sex couples and their children Deseret News Retrieved April 13 2016 a b c d e Packer Boyd K 1978 To The One LDS Church Church Educational System 2011 Church Educational System Honor Code Provo Utah Brigham Young University archived from the original on August 22 2011 Same Sex Attraction lds org topics LDS Church Retrieved June 11 2017 Compare to the archived page from the previous month About Sexual Orientation mormonandgay lds org LDS Church October 2016 Compare to an archive of the original version of this website from a few days before here Nelson Russell M Wickman Lance B May 16 2007 In Focus Mormonism in Modern America Pew Forum on Religion amp Public Life Interview Transcript Interviewed by Robert Ruby Some have challenges with same sex attraction some have problems with opposite gender attraction that have to be controlled a b Elder Bruce C Hafen Speaks on Same Sex Attraction Mormon Newsroom September 19 2009 Archived from the original on June 11 2019 Retrieved July 18 2019 a b The Mormons Jeffrey Holland Interview pbs org PBS March 4 2006 a b c God Loveth His Children ChurchofJesusChrist org LDS Church 2007 Retrieved November 16 2016 a b c d e f g h i j k l m Olsen Jessica January 20 2017 Timeline BYU The Daily Universe Retrieved February 9 2017 Saletan William December 10 2012 Queer Today Gone Tomorrow The Mormon case for gay marriage Slate Magazine The Slate Group LLC Peterson Kristen December 19 2012 Struggling to Find Common Ground with the Mormon Church s New Compassion for Gays Las Vegas Weekly Greenspun Media Group Packer Boyd K November 2000 Ye Are the Temple of God Ensign LDS Church Bardsley J Roy October 9 1977 Area Residents Oppose Equal Rights for Gays The Salt Lake Tribune A1 via Newspaper Archive a b c Winkler Douglas A May 2008 Lavender Sons of Zion A History of Gay Men in Salt Lake City 1950 1979 Salt Lake City Utah University of Utah Department of History Retrieved November 16 2016 a b Bracken Seth April 14 2011 Living gay in the Mormon Church Q Salt Lake Feliz Antonio A April 11 2011 Out of the Bishop s Closet A Call to Heal Ourselves Each Other and Our World 2 ed Alamo Square Press p 24 ISBN 9780962475177 Bouldrey Brian May 1 1996 Wrestling with the Angel Faith and Religion in the Lives of Gay Men Reprint ed Riverhead Trade p 298 ISBN 978 1573225458 a b Fletcher Stack Peggy November 9 1997 42 Percent At BYU Want Gays Kept Out Gays Unwelcome Say Many at BYU The Salt Lake Tribune pp B1 B5 ProQuest 288817289 via Newspapers com In the first study BYU student Samuel Clayton with the help of several faculty members gave questionnaires anonymously to 420 students in randomly selected classes Some of Clayton s findings include 69 percent know someone who is same sex oriented 12 percent have a family member who is same sex oriented 24 percent would avoid befriending a same sex oriented student 56 percent believe same sex oriented students should be allowed to attend BYU if they obey the honor code Clayton said there was a significant gender gap Only 16 percent of women would avoid befriending a same sex oriented person compared to 33 percent of men Smart Michael March 22 1997 BYU Student Poll Ban Gay Students The Salt Lake Tribune The Salt Lake Tribune p D2 ProQuest 288698514 via Newspapers com As part of a project for their English class Sam Clayton Dale Franklin and Melanie Dinger conducted the school approved survey to 420 students in randomly selected classes on campus Clayton feels the results show a substantial amount of intolerance and prejudice among students towards same sex oriented people Clayton who says he is gay points to the 42 percent of students who are ignorant of or opposed to the school s policy He also said that while 91 percent of those surveyed said they were familiar with the church s stance only a third actually were Fruhwirth Jesse March 22 2011 Man Fired from LDS Church For Refusing to Give Up Gay Friends Salt Lake City Weekly Shire Emily May 13 2014 Mormon U Forces Gays to Be Celibate The Daily Beast Retrieved June 20 2017 Stack Peggy Fletcher November 19 2011 Openly gay BYU producer filmmaker fired The Salt Lake Tribune Retrieved August 10 2017 Haddock Sharon M October 10 1995 Homosexual Professor Planning to Leave BYU Deseret News LDS Church Gay Professor Leaves University PDF Sunstone Magazine 74 December 1996 Archived from the original PDF on February 2 2018 Retrieved December 21 2017 Hollingshead Todd June 14 2006 BYU fires teacher over op ed stance The Salt Lake Tribune Retrieved August 11 2017 Schmidt Samantha July 19 2017 Mormon university instructor fired after Facebook post supporting LGBT rights she says The Washington Post Retrieved July 19 2017 U S Religious Landscape Survey Religious Beliefs and Practices Diverse and Politically Relevant PDF Pew Forum on Religion amp Public Life June 2008 p 92 Three quarters of Jehovah s Witnesses 76 about six in ten Muslims 61 and roughly two thirds of Mormons 68 and members of evangelical churches 64 say homosexuality ought to be discouraged Views about homosexuality pewforum org Pew Research Center 2014 Data also shown here a b c d e Fisch Friedman Molly Vandermaas Peeler Alex Griffin Rob Cox Daniel Jones Robert P 2018 Emerging Consensus on LGBT Issues Findings From the 2017 American Values Atlas PDF prri org Public Religion Research Institute Resolution on Gender and Sexual Orientation Diversity in Children and Adolescents in Schools American Psychological Association APA Retrieved December 9 2016 Bao Ai Min Swaab Dick F April 2011 Sexual differentiation of the human brain Relation to gender identity sexual orientation and neuropsychiatric disorders Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology 32 2 214 226 doi 10 1016 j yfrne 2011 02 007 PMID 21334362 S2CID 8735185 a b Levin Sam March 28 2016 Transgender and Mormon keeping the faith while asking the church to change The Guardian Retrieved December 9 2016 a b The Family A Proclamation to the World LDS Church 1995 Bednar David A June 2006 Marriage Is Essential to His Eternal Plan Ensign 83 Allen Samantha March 15 2016 Mormon Man Risks Excommunication By Sharing His Transition The Daily Beast Retrieved December 9 2016 a b A Survey of LGBT Americans Pew Social Trends Pew Research Center June 13 2013 Retrieved November 19 2016 Riess Jana April 14 2016 Are Mormons in their 20s and 30s leaving the LDS Church Religion News Foundation Religion News Service a b c Moyer Justin November 16 2015 1 500 Mormons quit church over new anti gay marriage policy organizer says The Washington Post Retrieved November 19 2016 Understanding Mormon Disbelief PDF whymormonsquestion org Open Stories Foundation Jensen Jeffrey R 1996 Homosexuality A Psychiatrist s Response to LDS Social Services Speech Sunstone Symposium Sunstone Education Foundation Inc F ar too many of our lesbian and gay youths kill themselves because of what you say about them those who believe your false promises and remain celibate in the hopes of eventual cure are consigned to a misery Transcript at affirmation org Jensen Jeffrey R 1997 We See What We Believe The Heterosexualization of Gay Men and Lesbians in the LDS Church Speech Sunstone Symposium Washington D C Sunstone Education Foundation Inc Transcript available here Judge Rules Georgia Tech Gay Rights Manual Biased WCTV Associated Press May 1 2008 archived from the original on July 2 2014 retrieved July 2 2014 Court Georgia Tech Safe Space program not safe from Constitution Alliance Defense Fund May 1 2008 Judge Rules Bias in University s Manual on Gay Tolerance Liability Alerts United Educators archived from the original on March 3 2016 a b Groutage Smith Hilary August 6 2000 Mormon Pamphlets on Gays Criticized The Salt Lake Tribune p B2 ProQuest 281191122 a b Hardy David E April 15 2001 BYU s Dismissal of Gay Students Continues Confusion for Gays Parents The Salt Lake Tribune p AA3 ProQuest 281141066 Reprinted here http www lds mormon com hardy1 shtml Message to Young Men To Young Men Only ChurchofJesusChrist org LDS Church October 2 1976 Event occurs at 10 30 Alternative youtube com link a b Quinn D Michael Fall 2000 Prelude to the National Defense of Marriage Campaign Civil Discrimination Against Feared or Despised Minorities PDF Dialogue 33 3 Retrieved November 22 2016 a b Peggy Fletcher Stack LDS Church retires Mormon apostle s little factory pamphlet The Salt Lake Tribune November 14 2016 Rally against Prop 8 held in Salt Lake KSL LDS Church November 2 2008 LDS Moms Hold Anti Prop 8 Vigil QSaltLake November 3 2008 Gay marriage supporters take to California streets CNN November 8 2008 Thousands of Prop 8 opponents protest LDS Church at Temple Square KSL November 7 2008 Bates Karen Grigsby November 7 2008 Gay Marriage Ban Protesters Target Mormon Church NPR Eskridge Jr William N September 2016 Latter Day Constitutionalism Sexuality Gender and Mormons PDF Illinois Law Review 4 1269 Blankenfeld Budy November 2 2008 LDS moms hold vigil against Prop 8 ABC4 Archived from the original on June 17 2011 Retrieved December 24 2008 a b Taylor Scott 2 000 3 000 protest for gay rights outside Mormon church offices in Salt Lake City Deseret News Archived from the original on November 17 2016 Retrieved November 16 2016 a b Healy Jack November 15 2016 Mormon Resignations Put Support for Gays Over Fealty to Faith The New York Times The New York Times Retrieved November 19 2016 Vazquez Aldo November 14 2015 Thousands file resignation letters from the LDS Church ABC 4 Utah KTVX Archived from the original on December 4 2016 Retrieved December 11 2016 a b Shill Aaron November 5 2015 LDS Church reaffirms doctrine of marriage updates policies on families in same sex marriages Deseret News Retrieved November 12 2016 Riess Jana November 1 2016 Commentary Most U S Mormons approve of church s policy on gay couples study shows The Salt Lake Tribune Retrieved November 19 2016 a b Dehlin John P 2015 Sexual Orientation Change Efforts Identity Conflict and Psychosocial Health Amongst Same Sex Attracted Mormons Utah State University All Graduate Theses and Dissertations a b Galliher Renee Bradshaw William Dehlin John Crowelle Katherine April 25 2014 Psychosocial Correlates of Religious Approaches to Same Sex Attraction A Mormon Perspective Journal of Gay amp Lesbian Mental Health 18 3 284 311 doi 10 1080 19359705 2014 912970 S2CID 144153586 Schow Ron Fall 2005 Homosexual Attraction and LDS Marriage Decision PDF Dialogue A Journal of Mormon Thought 38 3 133 doi 10 2307 45227379 JSTOR 45227379 S2CID 254393745 The extent of the problem is seen in the fact that Evergreen receives over 150 requests for help each month from those with homosexual attractions 40 percent of these requests come from men who are married Only 10 percent of the calls come from women The remaining 50 percent are from single men This pattern indicates a great deal of social pressure on LDS men with homosexual attractions to marry heterosexually with unfortunate outcomes for many of them and their spouses and children Schow Ron Fall 2005 Homosexual Attraction and LDS Marriage Decision PDF Dialogue A Journal of Mormon Thought 38 3 135 doi 10 2307 45227379 JSTOR 45227379 S2CID 254393745 An LDS Family Services therapist who spoke to us about his clinical experience likely has had the most extensive experience in working with single and married homosexual Latter day Saint men approximately eight hundred men in more than thirty years Approximately half of these clients left counseling after one or two sessions the other half who were in therapy for one to three years include roughly two hundred single men and two hundred married men Among the two hundred single men only 10 percent were able to marry Almost all of them nineteen of twenty identified themselves as bisexual Of the two hundred married males a large portion of whom it is probably safe to speculate were likely bisexual only half were able to stay in their marriages although there is no information as to what kinds of accommodations they had to make to do so nor how many of these marriages will ultimately endure A copy of The Persistence of Same Sex Attraction in Latter day Saints Who Undergo Counseling or Change Therapy 2004 can be found here Lindsey Robert October 30 1986 Utah Now Facing Problem of AIDS Disease Is Occurring Despite Strict Mormon Teachings About Sexual Conduct The New York Times p A19 ProQuest 111005850 A lot of men are forced to marry and they play around on the side said Davyd Daniels a former Mormon William Blevins 40 a former librarian at the Mormon Church s genealogical center said the church put pressure on him to marry at 24 in belief it would cure me of homosexual leanings It did not he said adding that I still had my feelings and that after he fathered four children the church discharged him then excommunicated him and forced him to disclose the identities of several other employees at the church s headquarters with whom he had had sexual relations He said his wife left him and remarried and he no longer has custody of the children Snow Lorenzo August 31 1899 none Millennial Star p 547 Oaks Dallin H 1988 Pure in Heart Salt Lake City Bookcraft pp 61 62 ISBN 978 0 88494 650 2 Elizabeth s Story Ricardo s Wife mormonandgay lds org LDS church October 2016 Moore Carrie A March 30 2007 Gay LDS men detail challenges Deseret Morning News Fletcher Stack Peggy November 9 1997 42 Percent At BYU Want Gays Kept Out Gays Unwelcome Say Many at BYU The Salt Lake Tribune p B5 ProQuest 288817289 via Newspapers com Respondents then were asked four questions 1 Would they gracefully decline or accept the request to work with him for one year 2 After one year he is romantic and sexually attracted to you but he still has same sex attraction He promises never to engage in any sex outside marriage Would you accept or decline 3 You continue your friendship and he works hard until you are convinced he has only a weak same sex attraction He is romantically and sexually attracted to you Would you accept or decline 4 Would your response change if he had never been sexually active Researchers found that 33 percent answered yes to question 1 11 percent to question 2 23 percent to question 3 and 33 percent to question 4 Fletcher Stack Peggy January 14 2015 Study Reveals What Really Happens When Gay Mormon Men Marry Straight Women The Huffington Post Fletcher Stack Peggy January 29 2015 If a gay Mormon man marries a woman divorce is likely study finds The Salt Lake Tribune The study found that Between 51 percent and 69 percent of mixed orientation Mormon marriages end in divorce well above the roughly 25 percent of LDS couples who split up Ring Trudy January 13 2015 Study Mixed Orientation Mormon Marriages Likely to Fail Advocate Galliher Renee Bradshaw William Dehlin John Crowelle Katherine April 25 2014 Psychosocial Correlates of Religious Approaches to Same Sex Attraction A Mormon Perspective Journal of Gay amp Lesbian Mental Health 18 3 301 304 doi 10 1080 19359705 2014 912970 S2CID 144153586 The major findings from the study are that non biologically based views regarding the etiology of SSA same sex attraction remaining active in the LDS church remaining single and engaging in mixed orientation marriages were all associated with higher reported levels of internalized homophobia sexual identity distress and depression and lower levels of self esteem and quality of life This study does affirm and extend the existing literature by suggesting that psychosocially based beliefs about SSA etiology active participation in non LGBT affirming churches being single and celibate and mixed orientation marriage all of which are common beliefs and or practices within modern active LDS culture are associated with poorer psychosocial health well being and quality of life for LGBT Mormons Conversely biological beliefs about SSA etiology complete disaffiliation from the LDS church legal same sex marriage and sexual activity are all associated with higher levels of psychosocial health well being and quality of life for LGBT Mormons Ayers Michael D October 15 2012 When Mormons Go to Washington Vanity Fair Barnes Jane February 1 2012 There Is a Dark Side to Mormonism The New York Times Grant Tobin April 27 2015 Five things you should know about Mormon politics Religion News Foundation Religion News Berkes Howard January 9 2009 New Mormon Temple Sacred Or Secret All Things Considered NPR Karger Fred October 15 2016 Mormon Church Bleeding Members Over Gay Marriage Huffington Post HuffPost MultiCultural News Retrieved June 11 2017 Johnson Kirk November 11 2009 Mormon Support of Gay Rights Statute Draws Praise The New York Times Statement Given to Salt Lake City Council on Nondiscrimination Ordinances News Story LDS Church January 1 2009 Walch Tad January 10 2014 LDS Church issues instructions to leaders on same sex marriage Deseret News Retrieved January 21 2014 a b Mims Bob May 1 2018 Most Mormons remain against gay marriage new poll shows but that opposition is fading fast younger LDS support it The Salt Lake Tribune a b Ranking Categories Demographics Princeton Review College Ranking The Princeton Review Retrieved April 9 2012 a b Knox Annie August 11 2015 BYU other Christian schools ranked among the least LGBT friendly campuses The Washington Post Retrieved November 16 2016 Report on the Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Assault PDF news byu edu BYU November 2017 p 2 Archived PDF from the original on January 11 2022 The online survey was conducted in spring 2017 Email invitations were sent to 29 471 BYU students 13 784 48 started the survey and 12 602 completed the survey for a response rate of 43 Demographic data revealed the survey participants to be very similar to the broader BYU population in terms of gender ethnicity year in school and other measures Key demographics include the following Gender 52 male 48 female and 0 2 transgender or other Klundt Jared S Erekson David M Lynn Austin M Brown Hannah E March 1 2021 Sexual minorities mental health and religiosity at a religiously conservative university Personality and Individual Differences 171 110475 doi 10 1016 j paid 2020 110475 ISSN 0191 8869 S2CID 228862206 Smith Wilford E Fall 1976 Mormon Sex Standards on College Campuses or Deal Us Out of the Sexual Revolution Dialogue 10 2 76 77 PMID 11614391 Archived from the original on November 22 2016 Retrieved November 22 2016 Brigham Young University The Equality Ride School Policies of Religious Schools Soulforce Archived from the original on February 4 2008 Gleeson Scott August 10 2016 Could BYU s LGBT policies really deter Big 12 move USA Today USA Today Retrieved January 12 2017 BYU Board Meeting Minutes BYU Library Special Collections BYU April 19 1973 pp 6 7 O Donovan Rocky Connell April 28 1997 Private pain public purges a history of homosexuality at Brigham Young University Speech University of California Santa Cruz Retrieved May 6 2021 Bergera James Priddis Ronald 1985 Brigham Young University A House of Faith Signature Books p 126 ISBN 978 0941214346 Retrieved November 21 2016 Oaks Supports Security s Police Powers BYU Daily Universe September 18 1979 Moes Garry J March 22 1975 Ex BYU Security Officer Tells of Intrigue Spying Salt Lake Tribune Quinn D Michael 1996 Same Sex Dynamics among Nineteenth Century Americans A Mormon Example University of Illinois Press p 442 ISBN 978 0252022050 1975 Jan BYU began an effort to expel all homosexual male students BYU security officers interrogated students majoring in fine arts or drama Security operatives also took down license plate numbers of cars parked outside Salt Lake City s gay bars and cross checked them with cars registered with BYU by current students BYU s president acknowledged these activities Brigham Young U Admits Stake outs on Homosexuals The New York Times New York Times September 27 1979 p A16 Brigham Young University says its security police staked out homosexual bars in Salt Lake City to investigate homosexual activity at the Latter day Saint owned school but stopped the practice once administrators learned of it Paul Richards director of public relations for the university confirmed yesterday allegations by the American Civil Liberties Union that security officers ventured off campus and wrote letters to a homosexual oriented newspaper soliciting responses as part of a crackdown on homosexuals Those things were done Mr Richards said Wilson John K August 1 2008 Patriotic Correctness Academic Freedom and Its Enemies Routledge p 146 ISBN 978 1594511943 Mormonism Do Ask Do Tell at BYU Newsweek April 29 2007 Retrieved February 5 2017 BYU clarifies code on homosexuality Homosexual orientation no longer a violation The Christian Century 124 11 15 May 29 2007 Retrieved February 5 2017 span, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,