On the day in May that Savannah stood up to speak in front of her Mormon congregation, she did not get through everything she had wanted to say. As Savannah, now 13, was nearing the end of her comments, after she had come out to her fellow worshipers, her microphone was switched off. She tapped it and then looked to a church leader to see what had happened. It has highlighted an issue that gay Mormons have been struggling with for years: how to balance their sexuality with the teachings of a church that prohibits gay relationships. Her story is super inspirational and super necessary at this time. Kester said that her daughter had been asking for months to identify herself as a lesbian at one of these gatherings.
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In this era of leaks and hacks, secrets have been stolen from organizations as varied as the Democratic Party, the Vatican, Sony Pictures and Yahoo. Fifteen videos were posted online this week showing senior leaders of the Mormon Church in private meetings discussing issues including same-sex marriage, marijuana, Somali pirates and even whether the church could be vulnerable to WikiLeaks. The church has acknowledged that the videotapes are authentic. Unlike other hacks in which WikiLeaks was the culprit, this leak of videos from church headquarters in Salt Lake City is the work of disaffected Mormons who found one another online, in a Reddit forum for ex-Mormons. It comes not long after another leak of internal church documents. In a presentation that has provoked some criticism , former Senator Gordon H. Smith, a Republican of Oregon, shared with the apostles that he voted in favor of the Iraq War partly because he believed it could open the region for Mormon missionaries. Smith, who at the time had recently lost a re-election campaign after two terms in the Senate.
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Today this letter from Elder Paul V. It is confirmed. Gay dating is okay, kissing and hand holding from the mouth of an HCO counselor. I've been trying to wrap my head around the honor code saying gays can date now. I feel like I'm in a dream, it can't be real. I'm crying real tears. I'm so happy for the future and so sad for the past. Chat with us in Facebook Messenger. Find out what's happening in the world as it unfolds. More Videos
The Mormon church said on Tuesday that members of the faith can be gay and acknowledged the existence of transgender people, but LGBT advocates said the statement showed that there was still a long way to go to end discrimination. We want you to know we love you. You are welcome. We want you to be part of our congregations. The mormonandgay. The site was unveiled a year after LDS leaders passed an explicitly anti-gay policy barring children of married LGBT couples from being baptized, prompting widespread outrage and reports of a mass exodus from the Mormon church. The web page offers stories from Mormons who identify as gay and acknowledge that having same-sex attractions is not a choice. Mormons who are transgender, meaning their gender identities do not match the ones assigned to them at birth, have increasingly spoken out over the past year.
