The day after the news of the new LDS Church policies on gay families hit social media, I prayed. Yes, the news was devastating to me and to so, so many in the LGBT Mormon community. In the weeks following,…
Why Pride?
Author: John Gustav-Wrathall
Mormon Allies
I’d like to share my perspective on what it means to be an ally. My thoughts on this are not necessarily extremely sophisticated, but they come from the heart. My thoughts are very specific to the LGBT Mormon context, and…
Complicating Factors in the LGBT Mormon Spiritual Path
I am contacted fairly frequently by parents or other family members of gay or lesbian Latter-day Saints. They are anxious for their gay or lesbian loved ones to somehow find a way to stay active in the LDS church. Even…
Changing the Conversation
About three years ago or so, I was approached by a friend who wanted to solicit my participation in a documentary project about gay Mormons. The friend was Jon Hastings, someone I’d come to know through the gay Mormon blogging…
Is Increasing Acceptance of Same-Sex Marriage Really Linked to Moral Decline?
I remember quite a few years ago having a conversation with a gay man about marriage. I believe this must have been shortly after same-sex marriage became legal for the first time in Massachusetts. I spoke about Göran’s and my…
Identity or Attraction?
The central theme of the Circling the Wagons Conference held in Salt Lake in February of this year was relationship building. The focus of the conference was on developing a set of guiding principles or norms for people of differing…
Gospel Doctrine Lesson 10: Birthright Blessings; Marriage in the Covenant
This lesson has a worthy purpose: encouraging individuals to live “worthy of their birthright blessings and of eternal marriage.” I understand all efforts to be worthy as fundamentally an expression of gratitude. We desire to live in a certain way,…
Strengthening and Preserving the Family
Note: This is the first in a series of articles that will directly address upcoming 2014 Church curriculum lesson material that could unnecessarily lead to editorializing on homosexuality and same-sex marriage and be hurtful to members of our community. We…
Letting
Recently, I reconnected with an old friend from the ward I grew up in. He was a year ahead of me in the youth program. We are both gay. We began our conversation via Facebook messaging. But I sensed a…
Seeking God With All My Heart and Soul
In recent months, my daily personal scripture study has been from the Old Testament, specifically the Pentateuch. It’s a challenging read, if only because so much of it is a chronicle of God engaging in or commanding his followers to…