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California's State Assembly very recently passed Resolution 99, which condemns any efforts at 'conversion therapy' for LGBT folk. The tone and thrust of the resolution targets religious leaders, accusing them/us of bigotry. In essence government is passing resolutions condemning faith communities for the morals we practice within our church/ward/synagogue/mosque walls. In a similar vein, one of our two major political parties declared by formal resolution that religious liberty has been used to promote bigotry and homophobia. I'm not so bothered when pundits, commentators, liberals and progressives talk this way. However, when government formalizing hatred of particular Christian views, and when political parties believe they will win by opposing First Amendment freedoms...well, I hope I'm right about the Rapture. See the actual bill: http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov Enter ACR99 in the Bill Number search engine.

Folks, I could use some help. I had my name removed from church membership back in 2012. I was not under any kind of disciplinary action at that time, and have since never publicly opposed the church. However, I have flirted with returning to the Church a couple of times... Here is my conundrum. I am gay. I have been in a couple of relationships since I last attempted to return to the Church....I can be chaste. I've done it before. But the possibility of letting up would always be in the back of my mind, especially if progressing toward priesthood, the temple, etc. Could anyone offer any advice? I realize I have the agency to use in deciding whether or not to return. One friend who is still active even toldme it may be better to just stay away and let Heavenly Father make everything right in the next life...

What is the churches stance on the LGBTQIA+ community, and people within the church identifying within that label? Researching for a short film I am currently writing that will deal with themes of sexuality and identity inside the Mormon faith

I'm attracted to both Man and Woman...there I said it. Now flood my board with hatred. As you know, I am a member of the LDS church....I admit it, I am attracted to both Men and Women. I have had 1 past sexual relationship with a man. I want to change my ways, I've come back to church because I feel really bad! I just acted on my desire! Do I have a chance if I repent?!

Hello, my name is Rain and I was raised in the Mormon church, but I stopped going when I was about 12 because I realized I was gay. I know God exists and is real but it was too hard for me to stay in a church that says God made me perfectly in a certain way but then also says I can't love. I'm not going to stop dating men, I have a fiance and everything. I know if i went back to the church I would not be able to be married in the temple but would I able to still be a member of the church if I'm in a gay marriage? So this comes to the title, I'd choose my fiance over God every time. If I went to church and was not welcomed, I would stop going. That's how important he is to me. I am willing to elaborate on anything I've said if anyone has questions, but I'd like other people's perspectives.

LDS and Evangelical doctrinal statements often sound similar, but never quite line up. On the other hand, our morals, ethics, and social issue stances frequently align perfectly. A group of Evangelicals released a statement on sexuality, that more or less re-affirms biblical moral standards. The press has ignored such pronouncements in the past, but pounced this time. Here's the link: https://cbmw.org/nashville-statement Compare this with my fellowship's 2014 statement: https://ag.org/Beliefs/Topics-Index/Homosexuality-Marriage-and-Sexual-Identity I'm sure the Southern Baptists have put out something similar, and feel safe in opining that LDS have too.

We Have No Respect for the LGBT community: We believe that God loves ALL his children no matter what. We only dont agree with LGBTs because God created a man and a women for a reason: to create life! Without this, He could not grow His kingdom. Gays are to be respected, but Heavenly Father wants union between a man and a women, because family is one of the most important things to mormons. We dont drink alcohol: Ive seen a lot of people look at LDS members odd when they turn down a beer. But why dont we drink? Alcohol is not good for our bodies. It can be addictive and harmful. Our body is a temple, and our Heavenly Father wants us to take care of our bodies, and provide them with nurishing foods. Alcohol can damage our bodies and do bad things to our minds. So if you ever have a mormon turn down a drink, maybe you should consider doing the same. We are not trying to be rude, we just want whats best for our minds and bodies. We are too restricted: There are a lot of topics, conversations, and words you wouldnt want to use or bring up around a mormon. Some people find us as very restricted people, because we have so many rules. But if you really think about it, we dont have these rules to make life boring or to make us feel like we have no freedom, it is to protect us. Each and everyday as we try to be like Jesus, we must try to have a clean mind and body like Jesus. As we choose not to watch bad movies or listen to bad movies or to swear or to be dirty or vulgar, we are protecting ourselves and others. Think of it this way: we are all on a path leading back to our Heavenly Father. The Holy Ghost is our flashlight to help us see in the dark. The scriptures are the map. And so on. When we have a clean mind, the path is clearer and easier to follow. When we have dirty minds, the path is hard to see, and often rocky and challenging to walk. Whether you are LDS or not, it is always better to have a clean mind! Everyday I see stereotypes that people set for mormons. I think that in order to judge a mormon by their actions, you should better know why we do what we are doing. If you know why, things generally make a bit more sense. These are only a few of the typical LDS labels. Can you name a few? I am not saying everyone does this or anything. Just putting my thoughts out there. Heavenly Father loves everyone no matter what, and dont you ever forget that!

A California bill proposes to remove religious universities and colleges from exemptions on complying with bias-laws, unless their sole purpose is to train clergy. Nearly 50 schools would lose their religious exemptions, allowing them to prohibit extramarital sex, define gender based on birth physicality, require chapel attendance, require agreement with statements of faith, etc. Even more worrisome, what California does now, many states will do in the near future. The bill has passed the state's senate, and is now in its house. http://religiondispatches.org/will-sb-1146-end-lgbt-discrimination-in-californias-religious-schools/ There is little question in my mind that if this bill is enacted into law, and passes a court challenge, the BYU system will eventually face the same challenges. Thoughts?

Hi. I was baptised into the LDS Church last Saturday, and I have some questions about some of its teachings. Homosexuality I know that the LDS Church views s*x between two members of the same gender a sin, because it's wasting seed etc. But is it ok to be in a completely celibate homosexual relationship? Cross-dressing I haven't seen any scripture concerning this, and it's something I'm too afraid to ask the missionaries/the bishop about, but what is the Church's view on cross-dressing? By this, I mean that sometimes I wear jackets and shirts that are intended for women. I don't wear dresses and stuff but I wear jackets, as I'm pretty genderfluid. What is the Church's stance on this? Is it a sin or not? Is it a sin to wear nail-varnish/eyeliner? I'm going to a church movie night tomorrow and I really want to wear my favourite jacket to it, which is traditionally a woman's jacket. What's the likelihood of me being ridiculed/shunned for it? Baptism Number Also, wasn't I supposed to have gotten some type of church membership number after my baptism? I haven't gotten that...

I'm getting baptised soon. Unfortunately, I've developed something of a crush on one of the missionaries. We're both the same age - in our late teens - and he just happens to be particularly good-looking. I've tried to not let it distract me during our lessons together, and I generally try to talk to other missionaries and church members during church events like the weekly sports matches, I try to talk to other people instead of him so that my crush on him doesn't serve as a distraction. However, when we're talking - such as when he's trying to teach me stuff during the lessons - I find it very difficult to look at him or maintain eye contact. I know such crushes are unlawful but I can't get rid of it. Any advice on how to deal with it? One of the annoying things about it is that I am asexual - I feel absolutely no desire to have sex with anybody - but I still get crushes on people.

Hi. I'm a 20 year old investigator trying to find out about the LDS Church. I first wanted to learn about the church last month, when I saw a video about Joseph Smith which really resonated with me. I was raised Catholic (but grew disillusioned due to some of the ways that church operates) but I've always had a strong faith in God and was looking for a new Church. When I saw the movie about Joseph Smith and found out about how there was a modern-day prophet (something I've always wondered about) it really resonated with me so I wanted to learn more. I sent an email to one of the LDS websites, where I got in touch with someone who was able to find a missionary in my city to speak to me. My first meeting with the two missionaries (let's call them Elder C and Elder V) was last Thursday. It went well and I got a Book of Mormon. I was interested in the stuff they talked about and it made a lot of sense to me. The next day we had another lesson. Our lessons take place in the chapel instead of my house because I live with my landlady, so I don't want to bring guests over. They talked about the three degrees of Heaven - again, it all made a lot of sense to me. Directly after that lesson, we had a game of volleyball with other members of the Church. It was a lot of fun, even though I was terrible at it. Then the next day (Saturday) we had another lesson. However, it was scheduled to take place at 1:00 in the afternoon, but then just before it was time to meet-up, they texted me to say that they had to change the time to 3:00. Eventually this became 4:00, and when they finally did show up they didn't have the key so we had to talk in the street instead of the bus-stop. We talked for exactly ten minutes before they got the bus home. They had made me wait around for 4 hours, just so we'd have a 10 minute meeting. The next day was Sunday. I'm yet to gain testimony so I felt it best to not attend the seminary. I texted them saying that I'd only attend the final two hours of church (the gospel principles class and the priesthood, where I could learn more about the church). However when I got to the chapel (a few minutes before seminary ended) an older Brother saw me in the corridor and asked me to sit next to him through the end of the seminary. Afterwards we had Gospel Principles and the priesthood. One of the other Elders, Elder H, (the missionary I get on best with) talked to me throughout it all but the missionaries who're supposed to be teaching me didn't talk to me except for the very end when one of them told me that we'd have a lesson the next day (Monday). This lesson was postponed to Tuesday. Again, the lesson was delayed for an hour and when it eventually was on, one of the missionaries (the one who hadn't talked to me during church) was at another meeting instead. So Elder H took his place. The Elders talked about chastisy (I asked them if we could do this lesson when I txted them the day before). During it, I admitted that one of the things that was stopping me from fully-accepting this Church was how it views homosexuality, and how one of the Baptist Questions addresses homosexuality (I was afraid that I'd be asked the Baptism Questions in front of everyone, I hadn't realised that the baptism interview takes place on a seperate day to the actual baptism itself). I admitted that when I was young I had been homosexual. The Elders seemed okay with it. However today (yes, they had organised another lesson for today! I've had a lesson pretty much every day) the Elders didn't turn up. They said they were on their way but I waited around for half an hour and none of them turned up. I then txted them asking if they were coming and they never replied. So my question is: why do they keep (a) changing the time of our meetings and (b) why didn't they turn up today? Have I somehow annoyed them? Their constant "changing the time" is beginning to really inconvenience me because it means I have to wait around for three hours, even though I have other things I should be doing. How do I tell them that without coming across as being nasty? I know they've probably got a lot of people to be seeing but at this point it's getting ridiculous. Would it be okay to tell them that, if they continue to be late or if they continue to not show up, I'm just going to walk away. I really want to join this Church - I have a lot of faith in it - but unfortunately, to get baptised, I need to have the missionary lessons, and the missionaries' time-keeping is making that really difficult. Are missionaries usually like this? NOTE: This isn't meant to be an attack on the LDS church. I've enjoyed the time I've spent learning more about the church and everyone in there seems nice. It's just this one issue (time-keeping) that's really beginning to grate on my nerves.

Hello! Sorry this is a little long, but this seemed like a good place to ask for advice. Born and raised LDS, both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, I found security in the church growing up and was pretty happy. But when I started to question the church, this also pulverized everything I thought I knew and made me feel broken. Until that point, the LDS church felt much simpler to accept. Now I'm more aware that the LDS church is a complicated thing to accept and that no religion can be guaranteed true, which leaves me with conflicted feelings. For whatever reason, I still feel the spirit and feel that it's true, despite everything that points to the opposite conclusion. Without it, life seems really dark and meaningless--the promises of being with your family forever just hit too hard home and I don't want to lose that. At the same time, though, I have read too much anti-mormon stuff and been disillusioned with too many of the church's current standpoints (ie: that women can't have the priesthood when many Christian churches ordain women, the exclusion policy affecting LGBT families) to connect it with the church I trusted when I was younger. How can I reconcile all of the conflicting feelings? I want to stay in the church and on a spiritual level I feel like it is the right thing to do, but I just can't trust it and don't know how to anymore. Have any of you felt that way? How do you hold on?

Interesting. http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2015/1114/Mormon-mass-resignation-over-LGBT-rules-Big-deal-for-the-church Funny thing: findings showed that only 5% of such individuals actually attend church even once a month. This is nothing more than spitting at the wind. Persecutions may rage. Mobs may combine. Armies may assemble. And calumny may defame. But the truth of God will go forth...till the great Jehovah shall say "the work is done".

When I am asked what I would do if I discovered that I was predominantly attracted to the same sex my quick answer is, "I'd be celibate." What else is there? I wouldn't enter into a relationship that I could not give myself passionately towards. LIkewise, I wouldn't enter one that violated God's commands. And, at least for traditional Christians, there is a long history of those who chose to be celibate so they could fully dedicate themselves to God's work. Turns out that this course of action is more controversial than I thought. LBGT folk and some Christians are uncomfortable because celibacy denies the goal of those who want LBGT to be fully who they are and fully able to engage in church life on the one hand, and it suggests that desires cannot be corrected on the other. I still embrace this as the most likely course of successful action for a commited believer who is same-sex attracted. http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/gay-christians-choosing-celibacy-emerge-from-the-shadows/2014/12/13/51c73aea-6ab2-11e4-9fb4-a622dae742a2_story.html

I'm a 20yr female from Ohio and my story is really weird. I've been curious whether or not there is a forum for lds members where I can speak out anonymously and I found it today. I don't have time to proofread, so I'll apologize for my primitive writing. I've never been an active member in the church before, but I was baptized at 8. I don't feel comfortable around other members (I've never had a mormon friend) and I don't have the background and lifestyle that seems to fit perfectly with what the culture of mormons expect. I read The Book of Mormon for the first time 2 years ago, and right now I'm reading D&C. I love the gospel, but I hate how the culture of the church makes me feel so it is often difficult to withstand attending church. (especially relief society and in my earlier years, definitely young women's) I identify most with lower class or lgbt mormons. My parents are mormon, but my mom is addicted to pain medication, has severe mental problems and didn't take care of us (they had seven kids) or the house due to her severe bipolar/depressive tendencies. (She's also a little bit of a hoarder, collecting useless junk, and worst of all, stray cats. Always anti-social, in her room or crying/yelling etc etc) We have had 6 full grown cats in our house at one point, not counting kittens that we had to give away, so when I say that the house I grew up in was/is disgusting, I mean fecal matter, trash, rotting food, holes in the walls from sibling aggression, broken doorknobs, lots of trinkets and stuff and carpet that was vacuumed only a few times a year. She didn't cook either, so we ate cereal and macaroni all the time. I tried a chicken sandwich for the first time in High School. Our walls still have crayon and food stains from when we were younger. (They don't paint) It took me leaving for college for me to realize how unsanitary that house is and how I, and all of my siblings, were severely psychologically and physically neglected throughout our childhood. My dad knows a lot about the gospel and went on a mission when he was young, but he's had to work to support the family. It's been very stressful on him with a wife this unstable and having to pay the bills. (she's ruined her own credit and has stolen his cards, my siblings cards before) So he was just never around cause he was working or sleeping. He was shocked when I asked him in high school once what the Godhead was. He said, "Well, sure you know what that is!" None of his kids were active beside 2, and he honestly thought that we somehow knew the gospel, but none of us did. To this day, I still haven't even read the Bible. I don't really know much about what happened during Christ's life other than the sacrifice. Now, because of this neglect, my siblings have gone in every direction from having children at 16, becoming potheads, alcoholics, (it changes all the time) and even when one of my sisters got married in the temple and was the purest, happiest example... She started having delusions and now she's suffering from severe paranoid psychosis so she has a completely new, violent and less intelligible and full-of-life personality and I feel like my real sister is gone. (My dad is showing signs too) There is a lot of mental illness in my family. I have several nephews and nieces whom I love, but some of them are showing signs of neglect (and some mild abuse) too. (bad teeth, bruises, acting out etc) I've witnessed some horrible things that I am powerless of and have been investigating social services thoroughly, but have never felt it right to call due to the gamble of further abuse. Most of what is happening is neglect, not necessarily abuse. It's taken me a long to get through/learn from the shame of my life since I left for college. I have frequented suicidal thoughts since I was a teenager and I still struggle with it today. It's embarrassing to admit that I hadn't been taught proper hygiene.... and I did bad in school, so I'll also admit that I'm ashamed of the knowledge I don't have that everyone in a normal society does. (simple geography, times table, variety of foods etc) I feel like I'm experiencing life for the first time. I don't follow all the commandments, but I've tried as much as I can without being an active member and I still struggle, especially with pornography. It isn't frequent enough or an addiction that goes as far at interfering with my life, but the guilt and fear I feel afterward makes me super depressed and makes it hard to pray/read for a long time. I haven't tried any drugs or alcohol, I'm still a virgin, but I do purposely drink energy drinks for the caffeine to get through work and some schooling. I downgraded to coffee 6 months ago to help wean me off of it, and it has helped me a lot. (I am now drinking decaff) But the caffeine thing feels like nothing compared to the pornography thing, so I don't feel like it's a big deal. I've felt the spirit so much throughout my life and I can recognize it, and I have a testimony of some important basic things, but I feel so alienated to other members because my life is just so different. No member could possibly understand where I'm coming from and I become so angry at the culture of the church so often that I feel judged before I can even get to the building. I feel like I struggle most often with whether God loves me or not because of the life He's given me compared to other people, even non-members. I have a strong testimony that, no matter how awful I feel and run away from the gospel, I can't deny the truth of The Book of Mormon and that God is real. If anyone is into the enneagram, I am a six... Security is a big deal for me. I've tried skipping relief society, and then I've tried just going to Sacrament, but nothing keeps me active. Trying this at a singles ward has been much better than a family ward, but It's sometimes hard because then looks and appearance has some clear emphasis that gets my anxieties flared. I'm really just a genderqueer, super self-conscious art student who knows really... not much about the gospel, but enough to have a testimony. I honestly feel like a struggling convert, but because I'm already baptized or my family is mormon, they hold me to certain standards and sort of turn the other cheek. And when I don't meet those standards, I'm just a 'stray' or a 'bad mormon,' whose fallen off the 'straight and narrow' when in all actuality, I've never been taught the gospel before and I'm trying to learn all on my own. This might be my own anxieties attacking myself, but my sister has been to Utah and she's had some really scary stories about their cultural standards. Is there anyone else out there like me? Are there any members that were born into the church and feel like converts? Any converts that have been baptized, but still feel like converts? Are there any LGBT women/men in the church that have problems with dresscode or the gender roles within some of the culture? How can I become an active member given my circumstances? Could anyone provide insight on the harsh/closed off culture within some of the members of the church? How can I grow a testimony that God loves me? I don't have a strong family and I've never dated/am really scared and feel too fragile for dating. I feel hopeless and lonely a lot, but I read the scriptures and I just know that I should be going to church and meeting people. I'm pretty desperate for insight.

I was just wondering... How many of you want the church do allow gay marriage? How many of you think it will? And how many of you would stop going to church if they did?

I have been faced with what I would call the most difficult challenge, I would not wish on my worst enemy. I have asked the how's, when's and why me's, and find my heart breaks everyday. To cut a very long story short..... I am married and I'm gay..... I did not wake up on morning and decide I wanted to be like this, to be hated, to hate myself, to destroy my family, be depressed..... suicidal.... No, I definitely did not choose this. Now I have to live with myself. I have been excommunicated, but I love the church and all it's teachings. I love the gospel and the guidance it brings. I know the church to be true, I believe in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and I believe in eternal families..... I know right from wrong and not wish to be trashed, but would appreciate some insight on this. I want to love as well as be loved, and I want to live the gospel at the same time..... but I cannot have both..... how do I live with myself? Where does this leave me?