| LGBT Mormon topics |
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 Latter Day Saint movementportal |
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 (LDS Church).
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.
Affirmation: LGBTQ Mormons, Families, & Friends is an international organization for individuals who identify as gay, lesbian, transgender, bisexual, queer, intersex, or same-sex attracted, and their family members, friends, and church leaders who are members or former members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Evergreen International, Inc. was a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization located in Salt Lake City, Utah, the whose stated mission was to assist "people who want to diminish same-sex attractions and overcome homosexual behavior". It adhered to Christian and particularly LDS teaching and supported the doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The organization stated this task could be accomplished with the help of the Lord and, in some cases, psychological counseling. Evergreen was founded in 1989 as a grassroots organization by men who were seeking to deal with their homosexual feelings in ways congruent to the teachings of the LDS Church.
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.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints adheres to the Law of Chastity meaning all homosexual sexual activity is condemned by the church. The church teaches that God does not approve of same-sex marriage but affirms the dignity, divine potential, and right to kind treatment of all people. Members engaged in premarital sexual activity or same-sex marriage cannot participate in some religious ceremonies. 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. There are many devout gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender members including those who do and do not follow the Law of Chastity.
North Star Saints is an organization for LGBT people in the Latter-day Saint community. North Star is described as a faith-affirming resource for Latter-day Saint people addressing sexual orientation and gender identity who desire to live in line with teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. North Star supports the teaching of the LDS Church including the law of chastity and teachings on homosexuality, which prohibits sexual relationships outside of a legal marriage between one man and one woman, as well as teachings on gender identity and expression. The organization takes "no official position on the origin or mutability of homosexual attractions or gender identity incongruence", and does not "endorse political causes or join political coalitions, including those officially sanctioned by the [LDS] Church."
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.
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 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.
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.
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 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 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 Brigham Young University (BYU). BYU is the largest university of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Before 1959 there was little explicit mention of homosexuality by BYU administration.
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.
The Foundation for Attraction Research (FAR) was a Utah-based research and publishing institute with the goal of providing literature and conducting research supportive of religious teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on homosexuality, including asserting that sexual orientation change efforts were effective. One of the founders, A. Dean Byrd, was also in leadership of the National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH). FAR published a guidebook for therapists in 2009, and the LDS Church's counseling organization LDS Family Services held a conference based on the book in 2011. The book advised homosexual readers to seek reparative therapy through Evergreen International and LDS Family Services.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)In the year 2000 LDS Family Services surveyed 381 clients desiring change from homosexual thoughts, feelings and behavior. 72% reported 'significant progress' in therapy.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)By October 25, ERN had collected just $35,077, while the CPM [Coalition for the Protection of Marriage] had raised another $865,931.41, most of which had come from Nevada Mormons, which it used to saturate the media with its message and to raise billboards across the state
But it was the Mormon Church that fueled the Question 2 campaign. The most effective way the church accomplished this was through direct solicitation, on church letterhead, of its members. One such letter from the Reno Stake Presidency read, "Prayerfully consider supporting this cause in one or more of the following ways: Campaign Worker/Volunteer, Yard Sign, Walk Neighborhoods, Contribution ..." The church also told its members to pick up yard signs as they left services, signs stockpiled outside the church or in nearby parking lots.
In fact, the members of the board—who include James O. Mason, Joe J. Christensen, Ardeth Kapp, and other prominent Latter-day Saints ....
Through the Hidden Treasures Foundation [Richard D.] Hawks said the church is opening some of its own resources that 'have been developed over the years but never used.' That information includes volumes of material produced for LDS Social Services and stored in a large library that has heretofore been accessible only to professionals dealing with mental illness ... Those and other materials are now being assembled for distribution via a Web site set up by the foundation—www.mentalhealthlibrary.info.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)Foundation for Attraction Research was founded by Dennis V. Dahle, JD; A. Dean Byrd, PhD, MBA, MPH; and Shirley E. Cox, DSW, LCSW in 2005 for the purpose of developing resources and conducting research supportive of traditional Judeo-Christian standards of morality. ... The members of the Foundation's board of directors, all of whom served as editors of Understanding Same-Sex Attraction, follow: A. Dean Byrd, PhD, MBA, MPH; Shirley E. Cox, DSW, LCSW; Dennis V. Dahle, JD; Doris R. Dant, MS, MA; William C. Duncan, JD; John P. Livingstone, EdD; M. Gawain Wells, PhD
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)Instead, the authors of this book assert the unpopular opinion, backed by scientific research, that same-sex attraction can be lessened or eradicated in those who desire change and are willing to try. Readers who empathize with the Church's position on homosexuality will likely find hope and useful ideas in this five-hundred-page compilation ... Here essayists recount how they emerged from homosexual lifestyles to find satisfaction in rejoining the Church mainstream, some even finding success in heterosexual marriages ... As some professional and state organizations frown on therapists who believe in reorientation therapy—seeking to ban their practice, in some cases—this book fills a void.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)If same-sex marriage is legalized on the principle of personal choice, there is no principled basis to deny those who want to call incestuous relationships 'marriages,' or polygamous relationships marriages, or polyamorous unions 'marriages.' ... In Massachusetts since same-sex marriage has been legalized there already have been numerous controversies about ... parents' rights to protect their children from exposure to gay propaganda. ... Although Elie Wiesel was one of the Jews who refused to believe the warnings [about the Nazis], yet he remembered gratefully Moishe's attempt to warn the people. ... We too must speak up and get involved. ... Unless we persuade them now of the dangers of legalizing same-sex marriage, then they will naively adopt laws and policies that will cause tragic consequences.
While many Latter-day Saints, through individual effort, the exercise of faith, and reliance upon the enabling power of the Atonement, overcome same-gender attraction in mortality, others may not be free of this challenge in this life. ... As we follow Heavenly Father's plan, 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 consisting of a husband, a wife, and children.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)Another instance of Mormon missionaries as emblems of opposition to same-sex marriage is a controversial television ad produced during the Proposition 8 debates by the Courage Campaign, an organization lobbying against the proposed ban on same-sex marriage. The ad depicts two young men in white shirts and ties knocking on the door of a suburban lesbian couple. ... The missionaries then muscle their way into the couple's home, confiscate their wedding rings, and rip up their marriage license.
{{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help)Scott Trotter, a spokesman with the LDS Church, responded to the advertisement: 'The Church has joined a broad-based coalition in defense of traditional marriage. While we feel this is important to all of society, we have always emphasized that respect be given to those who feel differently on this issue. It is unfortunate that some who oppose this proposition have not given the Church this same courtesy.'
Rick Jacobs, founder of the Courage Campaign, presents the almost 17,000 signatures he gathered requesting that the Mormon Church stop funding and advocating passage of Proposition 8.
The Mormon church (just like most churches) is a cesspool of filth. It is a breeding ground for oppression of all sorts and needs to be confronted, attacked, subverted and destroyed.
Controversial Sen. Chris Buttars was stripped of his Senate committee posts not because he went on an anti-gay tirade in an interview with a documentary filmmaker but because the West Jordan Republican broke a deal with Senate leaders not to talk about gay issues.
Smugly, while comparing gay people to 'radical Muslims' who engage in 'pig-sex,' Senator Buttars told me that day on camera that gay marriage would never come to Utah because of his power and influence. With the Book of Mormon sitting atop his desk, Buttars bragged about his consulting with other states seeking to use Utah as a model for blocking so-called 'protection for the gays.' Next, we interviewed Utah's Eagle Forum leader, Gayle Ruzicka who was credited for keeping Buttars in office, with a steady flow of cash from anti-gay supporters she organized and activated. Ruzicka was equally prideful and confident that Utah was the model for the nation in the fight to keep gays in their place and assured us gay marriage would never come to 'Utah's Zion.'
Cowan is showing his documentary, "8: The Mormon Proposition," about the LDS Church's role in banning gay marriage in California, at the Sundance Film Festival. In it, Buttars rips the gay community as "probably the greatest threat to America." ... Regardless of what anyone was wearing, Cowan noted, it doesn't change what Buttars said. (He also called gays "the meanest buggers" and gay families "combinations of abominations.")
Chris Buttars, a proudly homophobic Utah state senator, compared male coupling to bestiality. The movie shows the depth of religion-based loathing of homosexuality, like that of abortion, to be primal.
"Most of what Senator Buttars said, I agree with," Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, said in a weekly Red Meat Radio program he hosts on K-TALK. 'We as a Senate caucus had an agreement that because Sen. Buttars had become such a lightning rod on this issue, he would not be the spokesman on this issue, and basically he violated that agreement.' Buttars was under fire for statements he made to a documentary filmmaker in which he compared homosexuals to radical Muslims, called them the greatest internal threat to America and said they had no morals.
Elder Nelson said that any attempt to expand the definition of marriage outside the traditional family 'weakens the institution of marriage as God defined it.'[ permanent dead link ]
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