LGBT News Longtime support group for gay Mormons shuts down

I would hate to be gay and grow up in a Mormon household. I'm sure some are accepting of their children, but for the most part I hear horror stories.

Anyone who wants a closer look can watch the documentary 8: The Mormon Proposition. It talks about LDS support for Prop 8 and also talks about ex-Mormon gays and, unfortunately, LGBT Mormons (mostly teens) who committed suicide. It's revealing, yet sad.

 

It seems almost more like a cult than a religion. I'm told that in smaller towns and places in Utah, if you're not Mormon, it's pretty much impossible to get a job and find housing. It seems kinda creepy and insular, to me, and those magic underwear they never take off, even during sex, freak me out.

It also seems like a very money-worshiping/pyramid scheme kinda 'religion'...I look at it as not as scary as true cults like Scientology, but it worries me.

 

To quote South Park on the matter: dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb

 

I'm gay and growing up in a Mormon household. I can't answer your question from experience- I'm still in the closet and plan to be until I move out- but I can say that most Mormon households would probably react with a mix of sadness and shock, which may express itself through anger. Official Mormon doctrine (from what I've heard, they don't exactly teach us about this) is that gayness is not a sin- rather, acting on gay feelings is. So they expect gay people to remain virgins until they die, unless they end up turning heterosexual somehow.

Luckily, I left Mormonism, so I don't have to worry about that. By the way, it really depends on how you define a cult to determine what Mormonism is. They do generally normal Christian things, y'know, communion and Sunday school. And a lot of what they teach is good morals and such. Which are generally good. But when you get in deeper, there is a lot of doctrine that they never talk about at all, and the history isn't represented very well either. Also, some of the doctrine is freaking crazy. I mean, Israelites coming to America, sure. I could let that slide. But that they rode tapirs and grew crops and build large walled cities and had battles with metal weapons that we can't find any trace of and knew metalworking as soon as they got to America? But I digress.

 

They encourage gays to marry the opposite sex instead of to seek happiness with the same sex and started off at least trying to 'cure' it. I don't think that qualifies as "support" so good riddance.

 

I agree with everything you say, except for the magic underwear. I've only heard of that recently and it sounds pretty crazy. The most disturbing thing you point out is about places in Utah. I've heard non-Mormons and Mormons sound off about what it's like living in Utah. In SLC, the population is about 50:50, but they still hold a lot of power, though the major university and other things being there make it less insular, so people of other religions and no religion can also live there without too many hassles. Still, it would almost be a hassle to have half of your coworkers be Mormon and think less of you, or have your boss be Mormon and not promote you. In the small towns in the rural part of the state, non-Mormons are just plain S.O.L. As for non-het kids, they will actually kick their kids out in some cases, more so than families of other religions.

So Evergreen is not for ever. Sounds like all the religious reparatory groups are being dismantled. It could have happened sooner. I'm no so sure this North Star thing is such a good thing. They are probably advocating celibacy and a major guilt trip if there is a breech.