UTAH – Nearly 1,000 gay Mormons are sharing their experiences with researchers at Utah State University, in an online study of LGBT attitudes.
Renee Galliher, a USU associate professor of psychology who is leading the study, said this research is believed to be the first of its kind, in that it specifically focuses on gay Mormons.
“The broad goal is to provide a better description of how LGBT people function within the Mormon Church,” said Galliher.
Galliher is working alongside Bill Bradshaw, a biology professor at Brigham Young University who is Mormon and the father of a gay son. Galliher is neither gay nor Mormon.
The study was prompted by a desire to separate truth from myth in the gay Mormon experience and also provide insights and understanding that could be useful to Mormon Church leaders.
The 149-question survey is being promoted through a network of support groups for gays with ties to Mormonism.
Historically the Mormon Church has invested millions of dollars into the campaign to ban same-sex marriage in California. Mormon teaching considers all sexual relationships outside heterosexual marriage to be sinful.
However, in Salt Lake City last year the Church showed support for equal rights legislation calling it fair and reasonable.
You article about financial contributions in support of California Proposition 8 needs correction. Some members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in total in both California and elsewhere did indeed, on their own volition, contribute in the millions. The Church itself, however, contributed in money and other resources less than $200,000. It decided to support Proposition 8 upon the invitation of the Roman Catholic Church in California. Please note this correction in your next issue. You might also remind your readers that monetary contributions against proposition 8 exceeded those for it.
Also note that we as Mormons believe that all individuals, including of course homosexuals, are children of God and deserve our love and compassion. They should not be mistreated in any way. Our church has come out in support of equal rights for homosexuals. We support ordinances that guarantee equal rights in housing, employment, etc. We have a number of homosexuals who are faithful members of the Church.
Our concern is really with homosexual behavior (and also of course extramarital heterosexual behavior) both of which are potentially unhealthy and very often exploitative. It is indeed sad how many homosexuals have died from STD’s. Wouldn’t it be better for you to encourage all homosexuals to abstain from sexual contact? If they do not want to do this, then they should be encouraged to make sure that they are disease free, select one partner who is also disease free and have sexual relations only and exclusively with that partner. Doesn’t this make sense?
I have two cousins who have homoerotic feelings. They do not deserve to be mistreated or intimidated in any way. I love them?
Phillip C. Smith
Phil I use to be just like you. Wake up
Mr. Smith’s response is a prime example of the piety and hypocrisy rampant in his religion. On the one hand he recommends, in order not to die from STD’s, gays “select one partner who is also disease free and have sexual relations only and exclusively with that partner”, which sounds like being married; but, on the other hand his church decries same sex marriage and various members of the church spent a fortune denying the California LGBT community the basic human right of having the option to marry.
That double standard is why Mormons who are LGBT either leave their church or waste their lives by living in the closet and allow themselves to be intimidated into silence.
As a major study recently showed, the most outspoken people against LGBT are, themselves, closeted LGBT. The outspoken leaders of the Mormon church will have to deal with their own self-loathing and come out before anything in their church changes, no matter how many studies are conducted.
I drop a comment each time I especially enjoy a post on a website or I have something to add to the conversation. It’s a result of the passion communicated in the post I browsed. And on this post First-ever research study on gay Mormons under way | LGBT Weekly. I was excited enough to create a thought 🙂 I do have a couple of questions for you if it’s okay. Is it only me or does it give the impression like some of the comments look like written by brain dead people? 😛 And, if you are writing at other sites, I would like to keep up with everything fresh you have to post. Could you make a list the complete urls of your social sites like your twitter feed, Facebook page or linkedin profile?