Timeline of LGBT Mormon history in the 1950s

Last updated

This is a timeline of LGBT Mormon history in the 1950s, part of a series of timelines consisting of events, publications, and speeches about LGBTQ+ individuals, topics around sexual orientation and gender minorities, and the community of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Although the historical record is often scarce, evidence points to queer individuals having existed in the Mormon community since its beginnings. However, top LDS leaders only started regularly addressing queer topics in public in the late 1950s. [1] : 375, 377  [2] : v, 3  [3] : 170  Since 1970, the LDS Church has had at least one official publication or speech from a high-ranking leader referencing LGBT topics every year, and a greater number of LGBT Mormon and former Mormon individuals have received media coverage.

Contents

Timeline

1952

In the 1950s Apostle J. Reuben Clark gave several of the first public speeches by a high-ranking LDS leader to use the term "homosexual." J. Reuben Clark3.jpg
In the 1950s Apostle J. Reuben Clark gave several of the first public speeches by a high-ranking LDS leader to use the term "homosexual."

1954

1955

1957

1958

This highly influential publication was the first publicly available book by a general authority to explicitly outline church stances on homosexuality. MormonDoctrineCover2ndEdition1966.jpg
This highly influential publication was the first publicly available book by a general authority to explicitly outline church stances on homosexuality.

1959

See also

Related Research Articles

The law of chastity is a moral code defined by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. According to the church, chastity means that "sexual relations are proper only between a man and a woman who are legally and lawfully wedded as husband and wife." Therefore, abstinence from sexual relations outside of marriage, and complete fidelity to one's spouse during marriage, are required. As part of the law of chastity, the church teaches its members to abstain from adultery and fornication.

Sexuality has a prominent role within the theology of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which teaches that gender is defined in the premortal existence, and that part of the purpose of mortal life is for men and women to be sealed together, forming bonds that allow them to progress eternally together in the afterlife. It also teaches that sexual relations within the framework of opposite-sex marriage are healthy, necessary, and ordained of God.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Homosexuality and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints</span> Gay and lesbian sexuality and the Church of Jesus Christ and Latter-Day Saints

All homosexual sexual activity is condemned as sinful by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in its law of chastity, and the church teaches that God does not approve of same-sex marriage. 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 any homosexual sexual activity or sexual relationships outside an opposite-sex marriage. However, all people, including those in same-sex relationships and marriages, are permitted to attend the weekly Sunday meetings.

Students identifying as LGBTQIA+ have a long, documented history at Brigham Young University (BYU), and have experienced a range of treatment by other students and school administrators over the decades. 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. BYU is the largest religious university in North America and is the flagship institution of the educational system of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints —Mormonism's largest denomination.

In society at large, LGBT individuals, especially youth, are at a higher risk of depression, anxiety, and suicide. Though causes of mental health risk are complex, one oft cited reason for these higher risks is minority stress stemming from societal anti-LGBT biases and stigma, rejection, and internalized homophobia. A 2016 empirical study found a correlation between the percentage of members of Mormonism's largest denomination, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in a U.S. state and the suicide rates of that state, stating the reason was due to the church's stance on same-sex sexual relations. However, the study could not examine what percentages of the deaths were LGBT persons or the percentage that were Latter-day Saints. A 2002 research report found a negative correlation in suicide between LDS Church youth members and nonmember youth in Utah, finding higher levels of religiosity appear to be inversely associated with suicide, though the study does not take into account sexual orientation or gender identity and expression.

Although the historical record is often scarce, evidence points to LGBT individuals having existed in the Mormon community since its beginnings, and estimates of the number of LGBT former and current Mormons range from 4 to 10% of the total membership of the LDS Church. However, it wasn't until the late 1950s that top LDS leaders began regularly discussing LGBT people in public addresses. Since the 1970s a greater number of LGBT individuals with Mormon connections have received media coverage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gender minorities and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints</span>

Transgender people and other gender minorities currently face membership restrictions in access to priesthood and temple rites in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints —Mormonism's largest denomination. Church leaders have taught gender roles as an important part of their doctrine since its founding. Only recently have they begun directly addressing gender diversity and the experiences of transgender, non-binary, intersex, and other gender minorities whose gender identity and expression differ from the cisgender norm.

This is a timeline of LGBT Mormon history in the 19th century, part of a series of timelines consisting of events, publications, and speeches about LGBTQ+ individuals, topics around sexual orientation and gender minorities, and the community of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Although the historical record is often scarce, evidence points to queer individuals having existed in the Mormon community since its beginnings. However, top LDS leaders only started regularly addressing queer topics in public in the late 1950s. Since 1970, the LDS Church has had at least one official publication or speech from a high-ranking leader referencing LGBT topics every year, and a greater number of LGBT Mormon and former Mormon individuals have received media coverage.

This is a timeline of LGBT Mormon history in the first half of the 20th century, part of a series of timelines consisting of events, publications, and speeches about LGBTQ+ individuals, topics around sexual orientation and gender minorities, and the community of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Although the historical record is often scarce, evidence points to queer individuals having existed in the Mormon community since its beginnings. However, top LDS leaders only started regularly addressing queer topics in public in the late 1950s. Since 1970, the LDS Church has had at least one official publication or speech from a high-ranking leader referencing LGBT topics every year, and a greater number of LGBT Mormon and former Mormon individuals have received media coverage.

This is a timeline of LGBT Mormon history in the 2020s, part of a series of timelines consisting of events, publications, and speeches about LGBTQ+ individuals, topics around sexual orientation and gender minorities, and the community of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sexual orientation change efforts and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints</span> LDS Church stances on attempting changes to homosexuality

Because of its ban against same-sex sexual activity and same-sex marriage the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 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. Reparative therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of attempting to change an individual's sexual orientation from homosexual or bisexual to heterosexual, or their gender identity from transgender to cisgender using psychological, physical, or spiritual interventions. There is no reliable evidence that such practices can alter sexual orientation or gender identity, and many medical institutions warn that conversion therapy is ineffective and potentially harmful.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT rights and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints</span>

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been involved with many pieces of legislation relating to LGBT people and their rights. These include playing an important role in defeating same-sex marriage legalization in Hawaii, Alaska, Nebraska, Nevada, California, and Utah. The topic of same-sex marriage has been one of the church's foremost public concerns since 1993. 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. Over a dozen members of the US congress had membership in the church in the early 2000s. About 80% of Utah state lawmakers identied as Mormon at that time as well. The church's political involvement around LGBT rights has long been a source of controversy both within and outside the church. It's also been a significant cause of disagreement and disaffection by members.

This is a timeline of LGBT Mormon history in the 1960s, part of a series of timelines consisting of events, publications, and speeches about LGBTQ+ individuals, topics around sexual orientation and gender minorities, and the community of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Although the historical record is often scarce, evidence points to queer individuals having existed in the Mormon community since its beginnings. However, top LDS leaders only started regularly addressing queer topics in public in the late 1950s. Since 1970, the LDS Church has had at least one official publication or speech from a high-ranking leader referencing LGBT topics every year, and a greater number of LGBT Mormon and former Mormon individuals have received media coverage.

This is a timeline of LGBT Mormon history in the 1970s, part of a series of timelines consisting of events, publications, and speeches about LGBTQ+ individuals, topics around sexual orientation and gender minorities, and the community of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Although the historical record is often scarce, evidence points to queer individuals having existed in the Mormon community since its beginnings. However, top LDS leaders only started regularly addressing queer topics in public in the late 1950s. Since 1970, the LDS Church has had at least one official publication or speech from a high-ranking leader referencing LGBT topics every year, and a greater number of LGBT Mormon and former Mormon individuals have received media coverage.

This is a timeline of LGBT Mormon history in the 1980s, part of a series of timelines consisting of events, publications, and speeches about LGBTQ+ individuals, topics around sexual orientation and gender minorities, and the community of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Although the historical record is often scarce, evidence points to queer individuals having existed in the Mormon community since its beginnings. However, top LDS leaders only started regularly addressing queer topics in public in the late 1950s. Since 1970, the LDS Church has had at least one official publication or speech from a high-ranking leader referencing LGBT topics every year, and a greater number of LGBT Mormon and former Mormon individuals have received media coverage.

This is a timeline of LGBT Mormon history in the 1990s, part of a series of timelines consisting of events, publications, and speeches about LGBTQ+ individuals, topics around sexual orientation and gender minorities, and the community of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Although the historical record is often scarce, evidence points to queer individuals having existed in the Mormon community since its beginnings. However, top LDS leaders only started regularly addressing queer topics in public in the late 1950s. Since 1970, the LDS Church has had at least one official publication or speech from a high-ranking leader referencing LGBT topics every year, and a greater number of LGBT Mormon and former Mormon individuals have received media coverage.

This is a timeline of LGBT Mormon history in the first decade of the 2000s, part of a series of timelines consisting of events, publications, and speeches about LGBTQ+ individuals, topics around sexual orientation and gender minorities, and the community of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

This is a timeline of LGBT Mormon history in the 2010s, part of a series of timelines consisting of events, publications, and speeches about LGBTQ+ individuals, topics around sexual orientation and gender minorities, and the community of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Below is a timeline of major events, media, and people at the intersection of LGBT topics and BYU. Before 1959 there was little explicit mention of homosexuality by BYU administration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of teachings on homosexuality in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints</span> Mormon teachings on homosexuality

Homosexuality has been publicly discussed by top leaders in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints —Mormonism's largest denomination—since the late 1800s. The frequency of teachings on same-sex sexual activity increased starting in the late 1950s. Most discussion focuses on male homosexuality and rarely mentions lesbianism or bisexuality. Below is a timeline of notable speeches, publications, and policies in the LDS church on the topic of homosexuality.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Quinn, D. Michael (1996). Same-Sex Dynamics among Nineteenth-Century Americans: A Mormon Example. University of Illinois Press. ISBN   978-0252022050.
  2. 1 2 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. ISBN   9780549493075.
  3. ↑ Young, Neil J. (1 July 2016). Out of Obscurity: Mormonism Since 1945. Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0199358229 . Retrieved 26 May 2017.
  4. ↑ Clark, J. Reuben (2 October 1952). "Home and the Building of Home Life". Relief Society Magazine: 793–794. Retrieved 3 November 2016. ... [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.
  5. 1 2 O'Donovan, Rocky Connell (1994). "'The Abominable and Detestable Crime against Nature': A Brief History of Homosexuality and Mormonism, 1840-1980". Multiply and Replenish: Mormon Essays on Sex and Family. Salt Lake City: Signature Books. ISBN   1-56085-050-7 . Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  6. ↑ Williams, Clarence D. (3 Oct 1952). "Save Chastity of Youth, Clark Warns". The Salt Lake Tribune. p. 10A.
  7. ↑ Kimball, Spencer (1970). "Be Ye Clean: Steps to Repentance and Forgiveness". Deseret Book. pp. 11–13. Retrieved April 3, 2023– via LDS Church History Catalog.
  8. ↑ Kimball, Spencer (1977). Faith Precedes the Miracle (PDF). Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book. pp. 174–175. ISBN   978-0877474906 . Retrieved April 3, 2023– via Archive.org.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  9. ↑ McDannell, Colleen (2018-10-02). Sister Saints: Mormon Women since the End of Polygamy . Oxford University Press. p. 82. ISBN   978-0-19-022133-1 – via Google Books.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. ↑ Williams, Clyde J. (1996). The Teachings of Harold B. Lee. Salt Lake City, Utah: Bookcraft Inc. ISBN   1570084831.
  11. ↑ Lee, Harold (1 July 1954). The Flood (Speech). BYU Summer School Lecture. Provo, Utah: LDS Church.
  12. ↑ Clark, J. Reuben (2 October 1954). 125th Semi-Annual General Conference (PDF). LDS Church. p. 79. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  13. ↑ "Timeline of Mormon Thinking About Homosexuality". RationalFaiths.com. Rational Faiths. 3 November 2013. Archived from the original on 4 November 2016. Retrieved 15 November 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  14. ↑ Marcus, Eric. "Morris Foote". makinggayhistory.com. Pineapple Street Media. According to the late journalist John Gersassi—whose 1966 book, 'The Boys of Boise: Furor, Vice and Folly in an American City,' chronicles the scandal—the police questioned nearly fifteen hundred Boise citizens and gathered the names of hundreds of suspected homosexuals by the time the investigation ran its course the following year. All told, sixteen men were arrested on charges ranging from 'lewd and lascivious conduct with minor children under the age of sixteen' to 'infamous crimes against nature.' Of the sixteen, ten went to jail, including several whose only crime had been to engage in sex with another consenting adult male.
  15. ↑ Barclay, Donald (22 April 1981). "Coming Out in Boise". University News. Boise State University. p. 9.
  16. ↑ Gerassi, John G. (1 November 2001). "The Boys". The Boys of Boise: Furor, Vice and Folly in an American City (Reprint ed.). Seattle: University of Washington Press. pp. 30, 31. ISBN   0295981679. 'Of course, in Boise there's the extra element of the power of the Mormons ... The atmosphere is stifling, and the pressure to conform enormous. The city fathers or bigwigs take it upon themselves to impose standards for everyone else.' ... 'Of the sixty-five kids, thirty-five were Mormons ....' Butler did interview thirty-two of the sixty-five kids who were thought to have been involved in some way with the homosexuals. ... 'Most of the kids who had participated had done for a combination of kicks and rebellion against parental authority.'
  17. ↑ Clark, J. Reuben (April 1957). Sexual Sin (PDF). Scriptures.BYU.EDU: LDS Church. p. 87. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-07-01. Retrieved 2022-03-09.
  18. ↑ "3rd District Judge Marcellus K. Snow Dies". The Salt Lake Tribune. 14 Aug 1978. p. C1 – via Newspapers.com. [Marcellus Snow] was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was the grandson of Erastus Snow, Mormon pioneer leader.
  19. 1 2 "Stiffer Sentences in Prospect for S.L. Morals Offenders". The Salt Lake Tribune. 14 Oct 1957. p. 20 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ↑ McConkie, Bruce R. (1958). Mormon Doctrine. Deseret Book.
  21. 1 2 3 Prince, Gregory A. (2019). Gay Rights and the Mormon Church: Intended Actions, Unintended Consequences. Salt Lake City: The University of Utah Press. ISBN   9781607816638.
  22. ↑ "T. Southworth Succumbs, 73". The Salt Lake Tribune. 1 Oct 1977. p. A14 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. 1 2 "Police Nab 23 in 27-Day Morals Drive". The Salt Lake Tribune. 29 May 1958. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ↑ "May Reveals Policy in Morals Cases". The Salt Lake Tribune. 27 Sep 1958. p. 16 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ↑ "A Wise Court Policy". The Salt Lake Tribune. 30 Sep 1958. p. 12 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. ↑ Zaitchik, Alexander (16 Sep 2009). "Meet the man who changed Glenn Beck's life". Salon.
  27. 1 2 "Vice in Prison Described by Former Inmate". Deseret News. 20 Oct 1958. p. 1B – via Newspapers.com.
  28. ↑ "Death: Jay E. Banks". Deseret News. 30 Aug 1998.
  29. ↑ "Graham Quits as Warden; Prison Tightens Operation: Laxity Curb Sought by Officers". Deseret News. 24 Sep 1958. p. 1B. Archived from the original on 1 Mar 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  30. ↑ 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   0884943305. Also available at archive.org
  31. ↑ Quinn, D. Michael (15 January 1997). The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power (1 ed.). Salt Lake City, Utah: Signature Books. ISBN   1560850604 . Retrieved 15 June 2017.
  32. ↑ Phillips, Rick (2005). Conservative Christian Identity & Same-Sex Orientation: The Case of Gay Mormons (PDF). Frankfurt, Germany: Peter Lang Publishing. ISBN   0820474800. Archived from the original on 18 April 2017. Retrieved 31 May 2017.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  33. ↑ Tapper, Jake (6 October 2006). "A Brief History Of Gays In Government". ABC News. 1959 – Political thriller 'Advise and Consent' features fictional Utah Sen. Brigham Anderson driven to suicide when political enemies threaten to expose a gay affair from his youth.
  34. ↑ Simon, Scott (2 September 2009). "At 50, a D.C. Novel With Legs". The Wall Street Journal. The man who turns out to almost unwillingly stand in the way of confirmation is an unflinchingly honest young senator from Utah who has concealed a wartime homosexual tryst. ... Drury's most appealing character is Brigham Anderson, the young senator from Utah. When Otto Preminger brought 'Advise and Consent' to the screen in 1962, the senator's homosexuality is called a "tired old sin.' But in Drury's book, Brigham Anderson is candid and unapologetic to those closest to him. 'It didn't seem horrible at the time,' he says, 'and I am not going to say now that it did, even to you.'
  35. ↑ Rich, Frank (15 May 2005). "Just How Gay Is the Right?". The New York Times. In 'Advise and Consent,' the handsome young senator with a gay secret (Don Murray) is from Utah—a striking antecedent of the closeted conservative Mormon lawyer in Tony Kushner's 'Angels in America.' For a public official to be identified as gay in the Washington of the 1950s and 1960s meant not only career suicide but also potentially actual suicide. Yet Drury, a staunchly anti-Communist conservative of his time, regarded the character as sympathetic, not a villain. The senator's gay affair, he wrote, was 'purely personal and harmed no one else.'
  36. ↑ Sears, Brad; Hunter, Nan D.; Mallory, Christy (September 2009). Documenting Discrimination on the Basis of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in State Employment (PDF). Los Angeles: The Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Law and Public Policy at UCLA School of Law. pp. 5–3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-02-06. Retrieved 2022-03-09. From 1947 to 1961, more than 5,000 allegedly homosexual federal civil servants lost their jobs in the purges for no reason other than sexual orientation, and thousands of applicants were also rejected for federal employment for the same reason. During this period, more than 1,000 men and women were fired for suspected homosexuality from the State Department alone—a far greater number than were dismissed for their membership in the Communist party. The Cold War and anti-communist efforts provided the setting in which a sustained attack upon gay men and lesbians took place. The history of this 'Lavender Scare' by the federal government has been extensively documented by historian David Johnson. Johnson has demonstrated that during this era government officials intentionally engaged in campaigns to associate homosexuality with Communism: 'homosexual' and 'pervert' became synonyms for 'Communist' and 'traitor.' LGBT people were treated as a national security threat, demanding the attention of Congress, the courts, statehouses, and the media.
  37. ↑ "An interview with David K. Johnson author of The Lavender Scare: The Cold War Persecution of Gays and Lesbians in the Federal Government". press.uchicago.edu. The University of Chicago. 2004. The Lavender Scare helped fan the flames of the Red Scare. In popular discourse, communists and homosexuals were often conflated. Both groups were perceived as hidden subcultures with their own meeting places, literature, cultural codes, and bonds of loyalty. Both groups were thought to recruit to their ranks the psychologically weak or disturbed. And both groups were considered immoral and godless. Many people believed that the two groups were working together to undermine the government.
  38. ↑ Roberts, Paul (Aug 1983). A History of the Development and Objectives of the LDS Church News Section of the Deseret News (Masters of Arts). BYU. Archived from the original on 8 Nov 2019. Elder Petersen wrote the first editorial [in 1943] and nearly every one into the 1980s.
  39. ↑ "Devoted Publishers, Editors Have Upheld Vision of News". Deseret News. 15 Jun 1990.
  40. ↑ Petersen, Mark (3 Jan 1959). "Mankind–Men or Beasts?". Deseret News. p. 8A. Archived from the original on 2 Mar 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  41. ↑ Landward, John (19 Jan 1959). "Punishment Not Best Answer". Deseret News. p. 14A – via Newspapers.com.
  42. ↑ "Obituary: Grace Kirkham Burbidge". Deseret News. 27 Sep 2001.
  43. ↑ "'Misquoted' on Perversion, Burbidge Says". The Ogden Standard-Examiner. 19 Jan 1959. p. 16 – via Newspapers.com.
  44. ↑ "Claud Harmon Pratt". The Salt Lake Tribune. 24 Nov 2001. p. D10 – via Newspapers.com.
  45. ↑ "Perversion Charge 'Ill Advised,' Pratt Claims". The Ogden Standard-Examiner. 18 Jan 1959. p. 16A – via Newspapers.com.
  46. ↑ "Dr Jay Standring Broadbent Obituary". Daily Herald. A4. 8 Feb 2010.
  47. ↑ "Anti-Pornography Forces Ask New City Ordinance". Daily Herald. 20 Nov 1959. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.