This Gay Mormon Love Story Will Break Your Heart: WATCH - Towleroad Gay News

Contents:

• NEW POLICY ON GAY COUPL AND THEIR CHILDREN ROILS MORMON CHURCH
• MORMONS SEEK GOLN MEAN BETWEEN GAY RIGHTS AND RELIG BELIEFS
• MORMON AND GAY: CHURCH SAYS YOU N BE BOTH
• CHURCH UPDAT OFFICIAL ‘MORMON AND GAY’ WEBSE
• RISG NUMBERS OF YOUNG ADULT MORMONS THE US ARE GAY, LBIAN OR BISEXUAL
• THIS GAY MORMON LOVE STORY WILL BREAK YOUR HEART: WATCH
• POLICY CHANG ANNOUNCED FOR MEMBERS GAY MARRIAG, CHILDREN OF LGBT PARENTS
• GAY MORMON

NEW POLICY ON GAY COUPL AND THEIR CHILDREN ROILS MORMON CHURCH

13, 2015The Church of J Christ of Latter-day Sats is facg a growg backlash om Mormons upset about a new policy that bars children livg wh same-sex upl om baby-namg ceremoni and baptisms and clar members gay marriag to be apostat subject to church, while standg by s new policy, issued a clarifitn on Friday, sayg that the l affected only children whose “primary rince” was wh a same-sex uple — not those who might have a gay parent livg elsewhere. Some Mormon ngregatns have quietly weled gay upl and their Bowmer/Associated PrsUntil the clarifitn on Friday, the only official explanatn the church had offered was a 10-mute viotaped terview wh D. There is an onle petn askg artists to ncel their performanc wh the Mormon Tabernacle Choir at s Christmas were immediate objectns on Friday to the church’s clarifitn, wh some Mormons sayg that puts unfair prsure on the children of divorced parents to choose to live wh heterosexual parents over gay on if they hope to rema the church.

MORMONS SEEK GOLN MEAN BETWEEN GAY RIGHTS AND RELIG BELIEFS

Her father, Donald Braegger, recently me out as gay and cid to rign this year before a disciplary hearg that uld have rulted Braegger, 55, said his story was the same as that of many gay Mormons whose children would be affected by the new policy: Even though he knew as a young man that he was attracted to men, he married a woman bee his church tght that homosexualy was sful, and he was a fahful believer. After 26 years, he and his wife divorced about a year and a half his children were younger than 18, they would be barred om church membership unr the new policy if they were ridg primarily wh him and a gay partner. He rigned before he faced a disciplary hearg, he was not we handle rrectnsA versn of this article appears prt on, Sectn A, Page 14 of the New York edn wh the headle: New Rul on Gay Coupl and Their Children Roil the Mormon Church.

The new polici are an effort by the church, which has long opposed same-sex marriage, to rerce and even harn s doctral boundari for s members at a time when small but creasg numbers of Mormons are g out as gay or supportive of same-sex marriage. Sce the Supreme Court tablished a right to same-sex marriage natnwi June, Mormon lears have parted pany wh the lears of evangelil and other nservative church by affirmg that spe their relig nvictns, even people of fah opposed to gay marriage mt follow the law.

”Mormons, while generally socially nservative, are creasgly acceptg of gay relatnships, reflectg broar trends Amerin life that affect even members of the most tradnal fahs.

MORMON AND GAY: CHURCH SAYS YOU N BE BOTH

A new study released this week by the Pew Rearch Center on Relign & Public Life found that 36 percent of Mormons agreed 2014 that homosexualy should be accepted by society, up om 24 percent 2007. But, the study not, Mormons ntue to be among the least acceptg of homosexualy when pared wh other relig church has lobbied agast laws legalizg same-sex unns, but has also recent years supported laws tend to protect gay people om discrimatn. In March, lears at the church’s headquarters Salt Lake Cy helped to pass a bill known as the “Utah promise, ” which bans discrimatn agast lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr people hog and employment but protects relig stutns that do not ndone gay top Mormon official recently livered a major addrs sayg that public officials like Kim Davis, the Rowan County, Ky., clerk who went to jail after refg to issue marriage licens, mt follow the law spe their relig opposn to gay marriage.

CHURCH UPDAT OFFICIAL ‘MORMON AND GAY’ WEBSE

The children may not be remend to serve as missnari, which is a re of passage for many Mormon the new l, a child of a same-sex uple may jo the church only after age 18 by meetg the ndns: ms “to live the teachgs and doctre of the church and specifilly disavows the practice of same-genr habatn and marriage”; not live wh a parent who is a same-sex relatnship; and receiv approval om lol church lears and the church’s First Princy — the uppermost learship of the Dehl, a gay rights advote who is straight and was exmunited earlier this year, said, “The cln of same-genr marriage as specific grounds for apostasy is surprisg only bee really pats the church to a rner, and leav them ls room to slowly fse a change over time.

RISG NUMBERS OF YOUNG ADULT MORMONS THE US ARE GAY, LBIAN OR BISEXUAL

27, 2015Mormon lears tried to stake out a middle ground the latg battle between gay rights and relig eedom on Tuday, mandg that both ias, together, be treated as a natnal a rare news nference at church headquarters Salt Lake Cy, lears of the Church of J Christ of Latter-day Sats forcefully nmned discrimatn agast gays and vowed to support nondiscrimatn laws — like one proposed Utah — to protect people om beg nied jobs or hog bee of their sexual they also lled for the same laws, or others, to protect the rights of people who say their beliefs pel them to oppose homosexualy or to refe service to gay upl. ”The church’s announcement, an attempt to plate all sis of a divisive issue, astonished some lawmakers the halls of Utah’s Capol, who lled a watershed moment that uld renfigure the bate over gay rights their socially nservative state. Wh the church now backg nondiscrimatn laws, a bill offerg such protectns to those who are lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr now appears more likely to pass after years of beg stalled the church had already supported such legislatn Salt Lake Cy and other lol Utah jurisdictns, but had held off endorsg statewi.

”The Mormon lears at the news nference, three of the church’s male apostl and one woman, ma clear that their church do not tend to change s doctre, which says that marriage n be only between a man and a woman, and that gay sexual relatnships are doctre “ om sacred Scripture, and we are not at liberty to change , ” said Sister Neill Marrtt, a lear church women’s church is now tryg to posn self as a champn of both gay rights and the nservative relig opposn to gay rights. Gay rights advot have long mataed that nyg service to gays on the basis of relig belief is no different om the discrimatn agast blacks that was outlawed durg the civil rights Human Rights Campaign, a leadg gay rights anizatn, said the Mormon lears’ endorsement of nondiscrimatn laws may be “eply meangful” to gay Mormons and their fai, but is “eply flawed” as a matter of public policy. Mormon lears have recent years joed Roman Catholic bishops, Southern Baptist pastors and other nservative evangelils what they have amed as a “relig liberty” mpaign to fend their eedom of Tuday’s announcement aga shows that the Mormon Church has been tryg to change s tone on homosexualy sce 2008, when faced wispread nmnatn for mobilizg members and raisg money to help pass Proposn 8 California, which outlawed same-sex 2009, the church threw s support behd a lol law Salt Lake Cy protectg gay and transgenr people om job and hog discrimatn.

Conveng a rare prs nference on Tuday at church headquarters Salt Lake Cy, Mormon lears pledged to support anti-discrimatn laws for gays, lbians, bisexuals and transgenr people, as long the laws also protect the rights of relig groups. At the same time, Mormon lears have taken an creasgly civil tone towards gays and lbians recent years, and gay rights groups cheered the church for endorsg the Boy Suts’ cisn to allow gay suts 2013. Jt two years ago, the church received much public praise for rcdg a 2015 policy, ntroversial among Mormons at the time, that clared the mor children of gay people uld not be baptized to or jo the church as members—at least not until they were 18 years old, and only then if they would nounce their parents’ marriage and nmn their sexualy.

THIS GAY MORMON LOVE STORY WILL BREAK YOUR HEART: WATCH

Given how ntent the qutn of gay rights has been among Mormons sce the church threw s whole weight behd California’s anti-gay-marriage Proposn 8 2008, the post-2019 perd has been one of wele relative quiet om the church.

C., Holland’s speech was the first time I tly worried that my future kids might attend public school wh peers who would be tght about the evils of beg gay, week and week out at church.

Mormonism is now facg a world which not only the majory of outsirs, but also a signifint portn of their own membership—cludg s own universy’s faculty—seem to regnize that doctre for what is: a list of proposns phrased as irrefutable tths, issued by a group of men who grew up wh homophobia suffg every stutn their liv. The same day Holland issued his revanchist addrs to the faculty, BYU’s admistratn was openg and publicizg s new Office of Belongg, a long-sought-for refuge not only for BYU’s growg number of openly gay stunts, but also s relig and racial mori, who are reported to face wispread bias and prejudice on mp, acrdg to a report issued by an ternal Commtee on Race, Equy, and Belongg. Still, today, the church funnels members who nfs to feelg “same-sex attractn” to support groups that enurage members to enter heterosexual marriag, wh promis that the gay feelgs will be overe after sufficient fahfulns, or at least, ath.

POLICY CHANG ANNOUNCED FOR MEMBERS GAY MARRIAG, CHILDREN OF LGBT PARENTS

Matt Easton has ced the wily publicized 2016 ath by suici of one of his classmat at BYU, Harry Fisher, as part of the reason for his cisn to e out as gay his valedictorian speech. Due to Mormon teachgs that there is no way to have romantic relatnships wh those of the same sex and be exalted the afterlife, gay Mormons face high rat of lonels, suicidaly, and prsn. In March, lears at the church’s headquarters Salt Lake Cy helped to pass a bill known as the “Utah promise, ” which protects LGBT people om discrimatn, as well as opponents of gay rights who ce relign as a basis for their church, which has exprsed fears that gay rights uld tmp relig rights, received natnal backlash after  fought gay marriage California through Proposn 8 month, Dall Oaks, a member of the LDS Church’s Twelve Apostl, said Kentucky unty clerk Kim Davis erred her cisn to cle to sign same-sex marriage licens, and he urged more balance, tolerance and civily protectg relig January 2015, Dall H.

GAY MORMON

Repeatedly actg agast the church and opposg s lears n make someone an apostate and would likely affect temple privileg and membership Lake Cy, where the LDS headquarters are based, jt elected Jackie Biskupski as the cy’s first openly gay mayor this relig groups, Jehovah’s Wns and Mormons are the most opposed to same-sex marriage.

About 57 percent of Mormons say homosexualy should be disuraged by society, down om 68 percent new policy puts same-sex marriage to the same tegory as polygamo marriage. Thacker, who is gay and would like to be married and have children some day, said that LGBT Mormons feel phed out of the a fifth generatn Mormon who plays piano servic, Thacker said his ward was welg to him and his partner when he began attendg servic four years ago after ne years away om the church.

" "[If] homosexual sex wh marriage is wrong and heterosexual sex wh marriage is great, we're not treatg 'immoral nduct heterosexual or homosexual the same way, ' " as one person noted on Twter. The PoX got majorly walked back — which is FANTASTIC — although I’ll pot out that if homosexual sex wh marriage is wrong and heterosexual sex wh marriage is great, we’re not treatg “immoral nduct heterosexual or homosexual the same way” — jaclyn (@j_n_foster) April 4, 2019. I believe & look forward to more wonrful surpris the futureI know there will e a pot my life when I will stand wh my fellow Sats & be able to say that I have not been nied any blsgs now or Eterny bee I am gay.

Now he and his wife Elizabeth are featured promently on “Mormon and Gay, ” discsg how they have grown together as the new materials gave them the tools for “a healthy dialogue. As public opn – and scientific unrstandg – on sexualy has shifted wh remarkable speed, many nomatns, cludg Mormon lears, have had to grapple wh a difficult qutn: How do they mata tradnal doctre that homosexual acts are sful, while acceptg and misterg to gay and lbian Mormons who scerely wish to rema part of their church?

Fulmer, who self-intifi as a gay Mormon and is featured on the new webse, said the new materials “give a steppg stone to have more open munitn about this and to te others on how to help and how to rpond to somebody who is gay.

Trevor Johnson, a gay man who was raised Mormon but rigned his membership after gettg engaged, said, “When I first me out, the most damagg thg was feelg like people didn’t believe me that I was attracted to men. Keetch both say they have bee more ted on homosexualy through their volvement producg the materials — a two-year procs which volved the church learship, LGBT advocy groups and mental health profsnals. In a church found on the ncept of ntual revelatn, many members qutn what those “future updat” uld be — cludg whether the church will revoke s ntroversial policy on the children of gay parents.

Prr to 1950Homosexualy regard by church as “s that dare not speak s name” 1952“Homosexualy” is ed publicly by a senr church lear for the first time, lled an “abomatn” parable to masturbatn and btialy1969Homosexualy regard as “curable” by a senr church lear; beg “forced” to heterosexual relatnships is enuraged 1976Church-sponsored Brigham Young Universy nducts electroshock therapy for 14 gay Mormons1978-81Church fac public backlash for opposg Equal Rights Amendment, argug uld extend legal protectn to “lbian and homosexual marriag” 1990sLears beg referrg to homosexualy as same-genr attractn, acknowledgg the realy of sexual attractn while nmng the s of actg on those feelgs 2008-09Church attempts to balance “relig liberty and nondiscrimatn” polil advocy, mpaigng agast legalizatn of gay marriage California and supportg a nondiscrimatn ordance Salt Lake Cy2012Church “gay” for the first time public munitns. In a seri of vios on “Mormons and Gays, ” lears ask members to “fd mon ground” while “beg te to relig beliefs”2015“Handbook of Instctn” for church lears is updated wh a new policy barrg children of same-sex upl om church baby blsgs and baptism. Same-sex marriage is regard as apostasy and grounds for exmunitn2016Church lnch new “Mormon and Gay” sectn on s official webse, which Mormon lears ll for creased dialogue about homosexualy, and gay Mormons share their experienc as active, celibate church members.

But none of the top church lears ordaed to the hight level of the prithood have mented on the new materials, somethg Mayne said is ditive of a wars towards a perceived “gay agenda” at the hight levels of the church. He hop the church’s top learship will speak wh homosexual married upl to unrstand that “a gay uple is really two Mormon people hopg to e as close as possible to everythg that we value and hold ar as a relign: fai, mted relatnships, lovg one another.

This exchange reveals the pable tensn faced by a church attemptg to both nmn same-sex marriage and clu gay members — all while navigatg a ti of creasgly antagonistic public opn. The Church had often fought agast the risg ti of marriage equaly; s members were major fancial backers of 2008's Prop 8 California, which briefly banned same-sex marriage the state before beg more progrsive Church members voiced strong disapproval, Garett, like many Mormons, believed the spirual lears were warmg to gay rights. Its official policy toward homosexualy is that "actg" on one's sire is a s and that same-sex marriage is agast God's, twenty-six, and Garett, twenty-four, have had a long, plited relatnship wh the relign to which they were born.