Preface — Gay Latter-day Sat Crossroads

Contents:

• GAY LATTER-DAY SAINT CROSSROADS: MY JOURNEY, YOUR JOURNEY, AND A SCRIPTURE-BASED PATH FORWARD PAPERBACK – JUNE 3, 2021
• WHAT THEY’RE SAYG ABOUT “GAY LDS CROSSROADS”
• “GAY LDS CROSSROADS”
• EE BOOK: GAY LDS CROSSROADS

GAY LATTER-DAY SAINT CROSSROADS: MY JOURNEY, YOUR JOURNEY, AND A SCRIPTURE-BASED PATH FORWARD PAPERBACK – JUNE 3, 2021

Essays and Books: Mormon LGBT Qutns – Essay by Bryce Cook – Fah, Hope, Chary and My Son’s Marriage — Essay by Jack Hadley — Queer Mormon Theology: An Introductn - Book by Blaire Ostler - Listen, Learn and Love – Embracg LGBTQ Latter-day Sats – Book by Richard Ostler – Goodbye I Love You – Book by Carol Lynn Pearson - No More Goodby: Circlg the Wagons around our Gay Loved On – Book by Carol Lynn Pearson - a Post-Heterosexual Mormon Theology – Essay by Taylor Petrey – of Clay – Sexualy and Genr Morn Mormonism – Book by Taylor Petrey - Gay Rights and the Mormon Church – Book by Gregory A. Prce –, Groups and Podsts: – Affirmatn - A non-prof anizatn workg to nnect, uplift, and empower lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, and queer Mormons and their alli around the world om all along the spectms of sexual orientatn, genr inty, fah, and volvement wh the church. And I have learned to regnize siar posive effects of gay sexual orientatn on society: gay dividuals and upl engenr feelgs of tolerance, support, and acceptance, and add diversy thought and opn, ways that bls all of society at large.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYG ABOUT “GAY LDS CROSSROADS”

Our olst son, Wton, is gay and has cid to step away om the church bee he feels that God’s path for him li seekg a hband – so he n have the bt chance possible for a long-term, stable marriage and fay of his own someday (see “How should I feel about my son leavg the church? I am sorry I didn’t do more to remove any sense of self-doubt and spair om the hearts of the gay and lbian dividuals wh whom I unseled as a bishop, many of whom were wonrg if they should someday leave the church so they uld have the opportuny to fd a spoe to whom they were naturally and thentilly attracted. And fally, the ma reason to e the word “crossroads” for this project is bee this book will explore the tersectn between Latter-day Sat doctre on gay sexual behavr, on the one hand, and the basic human digny of (and passn toward) LGBTQ people, on the other hand.

While the jtic our lbian, gay and bisexual sisters and brothers face the church are different om those faced by our transgenr siblgs, I believe that if the church’s doctre chang to perm same-sex upl to marry and still mata full church privileg, then chang our doctr that e harm to transgenr church members will likely occur at or around the same time as well.

“GAY LDS CROSSROADS”

So I wonr if, siarly, our kids or grandkids will someday see the church allow for an terpretatn of the scriptur that seem to discs gay sexual behavr ways that might perm monogamo marriage between same-genr partners (see Chapter 5). As I’ll discs further Chapter 3: (i) the current scientific nsens is that havg a gay sexual orientatn is not a choice; and (ii) the church no longer teach that havg such attractns has to be a choice, or that about bee of the acts or omissns of anyone else. While I regnize that straight sgl do have a tough road to walk, their road is not church-prcribed spair that almost always rults poor mental health, which is the road gay people the church are expected to walk (see Preface).

EE BOOK: GAY LDS CROSSROADS

While vlence and murr are also risks for LGBTQ people (thk about Harvey Milk [1978], Matthew Shepard [1998], Nazis killg gays along wh Jews the Holot [1941-45], and many other atroci agast LGBTQ people the past or even mted today, cludg many foreign untri that have anti-LGBTQ laws), suici appears to be a greater mortal risk than murr prently for LGBTQ church members the U. Rather, I said I was jt tryg to help my iend unrstand better why the church’s posn agast marriage equaly our doctre a dilemma for me as the father of a gay son – bee both the hypothetil suatn I drew for them and my real-life suatn, we, as parents, mt e to realize that the only way for our children to be mentally healthy is for them to disobey church teachgs of today. That’s bee if parents are expected to rema sad about their kid leavg the church (aga, leavg is often necsary for their kid’s mental health), then they end up lovg their gay kid a discrimatory way as pared to how they love their straight kids.

Other church teachgs and practic durg my childhood and youth that I wasn’t aware of at the time (but that I have sce learned about) clud enuragg mixed- sexual orientatn marriag as a cure for gay sexual orientatn, and abive nversn/aversn/reparative therapy meant to reprs gay sexual sir, cludg a program at BYU where gay men, as part of their repentance efforts, were shown same-genr erotic materials while havg their genals shocked to try to teach their bodi to not rpond wh aroal. Bee of what I perceived as unwanted sexual advanc that a gay church member ma toward me while I was on my missn, and a few nontatnal teractns I had wh gay and transgenr people as I was proselytizg on the street, I did not have kd feelgs toward LGBTQ people generally while I was on my missn. The church was heavily volved around the untry efforts to prevent the legalizatn of gay marriage, cludg havg lol church lears California formally stct their ngregatn members to oppose marriage equaly ballot iativ wh their dividual time and money.

Those beliefs were based on statements ma over prr s by past church lears – that God would never allow an dividual to be born gay bee would ntradict the plan of salvatn – or that bad parentg uld rult a child beg gay - both of which are ncepts the church no longer teach are te:. William Bradshaw, gave a fantastic lecture 2010 explag epigeics and the blogil origs and characteristics associated wh gay sexual orientatn: (the whole lecture is great, but, if you’re shed for time, skip to about the 30-mute mark and listen for 20 mut to learn about how epigeics fluenc sexual orientatn).