Mormon and gay: Church says you n be both | CNN

Contents:

• RISG NUMBERS OF YOUNG ADULT MORMONS THE US ARE GAY, LBIAN OR BISEXUAL
• MATTHEW GONG, GAY MORMON, REFLECTS ON HIS JOURNEY OM NER WAR TO NER PEACE
• GAY MORMONS
• PHOTOS OF GAY MORMON MISSNARI STIR NTROVERSY
• MORMON AND GAY: CHURCH SAYS YOU N BE BOTH

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

So, 23% of Gen Zers who intify as LDS say they are lbian, gay, bisexual or other [see update above]. It’s notable this fdg is nearly double the 10% that Benjam Knoll and I found among lennials the 2016 Next Mormons Survey (which broke down to 7% bisexual, 2% gay or lbian and 1% “other”).

Gay/lbian. A gay doctor wh the body of a Greek god relled the moment he stripped off his special Mormon unrwear and walked away om the church a movg Instagram post.

Gee, Utah, to raise money for the ncer treatment of the mother of a gay man the muny, and the Fire Hoe is one of the few venu town that hosts LGBT events. She's a "mama dragon, " a term the Mormon muny to scribe mothers who fiercely advote for gay rights. "I thk every gay Mormon child wish for a mom like that, " Garett says wistfully.

MATTHEW GONG, GAY MORMON, REFLECTS ON HIS JOURNEY OM NER WAR TO NER PEACE

"There's no pri center or gay club or place that un , " Kyle says as he walks out to the night. It had always been challengg to be gay and Mormon.

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. The Church had been takg small but signifint steps forward, acknowledgg that beg gay isn't a choice and that fai should accept their LGBT loved on.

)When the cisn me down, legalizg same-sex marriage all across the natn, Garett felt an emotn he didn't often feel as a gay Mormon man: vditn. ) Statistilly, that means that the Church has hundreds of thoands of gay followers. 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.

GAY MORMONS

Neher of them associated wh or even knew any Church's official policy toward homosexualy is that "actg" on one's sire is a s and that same-sex marriage is agast God's will. "I felt a strong obligatn to be out there for other gay Mormons to see. That night, they met another gay Mormon uple at Olive Garn for a celebratn over pasta and a bottle of whe for Kyle's brother and sister--law, they did not tell their fai.

He is also openly gay, but unlike Garett, he is celibate. His relign and his homosexualy are equal parts of him, and he says he don't want to put "eher inty the closet. Garett uld only assume that his parents believed they had one gay son who stayed celibate orr to bt serve his fah, and another who abandoned relign to have a meangful has never wished to be seen as the good gay son.

PHOTOS OF GAY MORMON MISSNARI STIR NTROVERSY

They ed to thk of Garett as gay and Logan as havg "same-genr attractn, " as if one is a more ser form of the same medil ndn.

But now "I've learned that beg gay is not somethg that they choose, " says Shawn. After the policy was released, Shawn, unable to sleep, sent his thoughts to his wife and two gay children: "How do I rencile wh my fah or Church when is distancg self om my sons and me? "Logan has never wished to be seen as the good gay, like Shawn, was vastated by the policy, seeg as yet another door beg shut her sons' fac.

Over time, they've renciled their fay wh their fah by viewg the policy as a clarifitn of a posn on homosexualy the Church already says sometim people ask her how she n be part of a Church that don't accept her sons. "Ey BerlSteve, seventy-one, and Lrel, sixty-eight, are matter-of-fact when speakg about the Church and homosexualy, which they nsir to be sometim at odds wh each other whout terferg wh the profound love they have for their son. To many gay Mormons, this was spirually cshg: Polici are guil, but revelatns are Church Elr Rsell NelsonGee Frey/GettyMormons believe fai are eternal, and when someone leav the Church by personal rignatn or through Church disciple, the future of their relatnships is lled to qutn, here on earth and otherwise.

MORMON AND GAY: CHURCH SAYS YOU N BE BOTH

"The Church has given LGBT youth a very bleak choice, " says Mch Mayne, an openly gay Mormon and former lear a California ngregatn, rponse to the recent revelatn. "It's the ultimate way of sayg that God hat gay people. Kyle's parents will vis om Colombia, and he thks all of his siblgs will e, but 's unclear if they will brg their are worried about ra, but not for the reason you would expect—Kyle says he don't want anyone thkg means God's cryg on their weddg day, a sign of dive thg is fe: "It's gog to be a lot of people's first gay weddg, " says BerlKyle and Garett now both intify as agnostic and are uncerta whether an afterlife exists, but they say they will work the Mormon ncept of "for time and eterny" to their marriage vows.

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. 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.