Book excerpt: LDS and Homosexuality
Note: this was written before Prop 8 and will be greatly modified in the final copy, but there are some important details I feel are important to talk about.
CHAPTER *: HOMOSEXUALS, SUICIDE, AND THE LDS CHURCH
We’ve talked about the pre-existence and how that was when you chose all of your deformities and infirmities, your family (which could be the same thing, I don't want to judge,) and possibly created your "hit on these chicks in the next life" bullet-point list. But this is also where, in your amorphous, cloudy, spiritual self without a body and, one assumes, no genitalia, what with you being ghost-like and all, you have your sexuality set in stone. If you are a woman in the pre-existence, then by gum, you are a woman that is only turned-on sexually by a red-blooded, square-jawed, ape-armed man in this life. And the same goes for men, minus the ape arms bit. By which I mean you are only attracted to women with child-bearing hips and a sweet (read: controllable) spirit. You're a sinner if she has ape arms, by the way.
If you find yourself looking at the same sex and hearing bells chime, then clearly you are going against what God made you to be, and you are choosing to disobey his laws for your own selfish, depraved, sweaty, pillow-biting, guttural, grunting and delicious needs. Shame on you. But the members will still love you. As long as you live the rest of your life alone. That is actual counsel from the Mormon church: live alone, and God will match you up with the appropriate beard, er, spouse, in the next life.
Here's the official stance, taken from the Church's online family support materials, "God Loveth His Children."
"You are a precious son or daughter of God. He not only knows your name; He knows you. His love for you is individual. You lived in His presence before you were born on this earth. You cannot remember your pre-mortal relationship with Him, but He does. Although His children may sometimes do things that disappoint Him, He will always love them.
In some circumstances a person defers marriage because he or she is not presently attracted to a member of the opposite gender. While many Latter-day Saints, through individual effort, the exercise of faith, and reliance upon the enabling power of the Atonement, overcome same-gender attraction in mortality, others may not be free of this challenge in this life.
Many people with same-gender attraction respect the sacredness of their bodies and the standards God has set - that sexuality be expressed 'only between man and woman, lawfully wedded as husband and wife.' The lives of these individuals are pleasing to our Father in Heaven.
Eternity is long, and mortality is short."
Or rather, this life is merely a cosmic blink, so you can totally suck it up, be miserable here, keep busy with service to other church members (we can always use help at the cannery and in the nursery!) and when you die, then you can have love. But it will be with the opposite sex. But we assure you, you'll like it! So quit disappointing God, would ya?
And when you sit alone in your house, staring at a blank wall and singing happy hymns every time that hot neighbor walks past your window because They Are The Enemy, you can rest assured that God is in His Heaven, fingers steepled under His chin, watching your every move and thought, and is well pleased that you are doing nothing. He loves you more when you are like that. And don't forget your night-time prayers to thank Him for your wonderful life!
If you're a gay man or woman that is Mormon, your genitalia is a lot like your tonsils: there, but not really with any function that's necessary. All will be taken care of after you live 80 or so years of loneliness and are dead. Truly, God is Great.
While the Church has written many articles about homosexuality most likely spurred from “Latter Days,” a mediocre film about a gay missionary--trust me, it's not as hot as it sounds like it would be. There was an important message in that film: Utah, ranked sixth in the nation for overall suicides as of 2003 Census data, also leads the nation in suicides among men from the ages of 15-34. They've moved up from tenth place in most suicides from 2000. In fact, suicide is the second leading cause of death in males aged 15--24, and the leading cause of death in men 25--44.
And because it doesn’t get talked about much, females in Utah attempt suicide three times as often as their male counterparts. They’re not as successful, as they tend to go for non-messy options like pills, but they’re going for broke far more often. And just putting this out there, the phone number for the National Suicide Prevention Hot-line is 1-800-273-TALK.
So much for being the "Happy Valley."
To put this in perspective, according to the Center for Disease Control, the leading cause of death in the nation is heart disease. Suicide ranks 11th. Utah's rate of suicide for women is four times the national average, as well. More people die from suicide than from HIV, incidentally.
Utah is 70% Mormon. Shocking, huh? Didn't you think it would be more like 99%? Of course, the Church's official stance is that there is no connection whatsoever between the state's higher suicide rates and being Mormon. No connection at all with the expectations and pressures to be the example of perfection and godliness to the world and to each other. None at all. Nothing to do with being barred from heaven if you're not absolutely perfect. Right.
In 2000, a young man named Stuart Matis committed suicide in the face of a state-wide vote, Proposition 22, an anti-gay measure. He said in a letter before his death that hearing that the church supported this proposition and that they were encouraging their members to give money in support to help it pass sent him into a downward spiral, ultimately ending with him taking his own life.
"Last July, I read online that the Church had instructed the Bishops to read a letter imploring the members to give of their time and money to support this initiative. I almost went into a panic attack. I cried for hours in my room, and I could do very little to console the grief of hearing this news." [His suicide note sent to his closest friend.]
Immediately, his former Bishop sent a public statement saying that comparing this young man's suicide to the upcoming vote was ridiculous and fruitless, because "No one can know the private deep inner workings of anyone's soul." Except for, perhaps, his best friend, Jeanie Mortensen--Besamo, who was the recipient of the letter indicating that he was committing suicide over the potential passing of Proposition 22.
The Mormon news sites are quick to point out that this friend of Matis' was excommunicated for having sex before marriage. She married the man with whom she was cohabiting, incidentally, but it's important that you know she had sex before marriage because that means she can't be trusted. In fact, on Mormonstoday.com, it's mentioned in two paragraphs of an article from March 3, 2000 that Mortensen-Besamo was basically a slut, and in one sentence, her past was described as her having been "thrown out of the church for living with the man who became her husband."
We have a whore and a potentially closeted queer. Yeah, like anything they say can be believed, right? Even though the Bishop who stated on some unknown, self-bestowed authority that no one should believe Matis committed suicide because of the upcoming vote just because some ridiculous thing he wrote stated that very fact, he said at the young man's funeral that Matis was "one of the most outstanding men that I've met in my life. He was a person of unusual personal integrity and strength of character."
He had unusual personal integrity and a strong character, but clearly couldn't be trusted to write down the truth.
[...]
As a result of their pushing the homosexual members back into the closet, they’ve increased the number of suicides, the number of unhappy marriages, and have created a philosophy that God loves you if you’re miserable, but come on, now, He will totally hook you up when you’re dead, so just be patient.
So you have that to look forward to: sweet, sweet death. Faaaaaaabulous!
For further interest, the LDS-owned BYU was home to the infamous "aversion therapy" center to cure homosexuals through the use of Clockwork Orange-style methods. To say that the methods used are archaic is an understatement. And if you are Mormon and Homosexual, you are not alone.