I was born and raised in the Mormon faith. I went to church every week, I went to youth group every week, and I read my scriptures and prayed every day. I knew I was going to serve a mission, get married in the temple, and raise a family in the church. Nothing was going [...]
Posts under ‘Chapters’
Pioneer Day at the Hotel Utah Saloon
On a Sunday evening in July, a couple dozen former Mormons and guests packed the upstairs alcove in San Francisco’s Hotel Utah Saloon. Some had driven more than two hours for the yearly Pioneer Day gathering, a chance to regain some of the community for which the Church is known. The draw endures for decades: [...]
Waiting Outside the Gate
It’s a cold December day on Temple Square in Salt Lake City. My family and I approach the Salt Lake LDS Temple for my brother’s wedding. I love to see the temple, I’m going there someday, the words I sang as a young eager primary boy echo in my mind. From the beginning of my [...]
President Uchtdorf on “same-gender attractions”
Dieter Uchtdorf, Second Counselor in the First Presidency, offers a softer, more open view than that expressed recently by President Packer. As quoted in the Salt Lake Tribune: “Many questions in life, however, including some related to same-gender attractions, must await a future answer, even in the next life. Until then, the truth is, God [...]
Candlelight Vigil to Honor Todd Ransom
Todd Ransom A candlelight vigil will be held today, July 20, from 9:00 PM to 10:00 PM, at the Utah state Capitol to honor the life of Todd Ransom, a young man of Mormon background who took his life yesterday. Todd was 28. Friends say Todd left behind a note reading “Sunrise – Accept This [...]
Huffington Post on “8: The Mormon Proposition”
From ’8: The Mormon Proposition’ – Exclusive Clip Reveals Church Coerced Members to Raise Millions For Prop. 8 Campaign (VIDEO): The film will interest those who’ve wondered why the fight against gay marriage in California began to flourish or why California became the first state to take same-sex marriage rights away by changing its constitution. [...]
Orrin Hatch: “Gays and lesbians don’t pay tithing, their religion is politics.”
Speaking at Dixie State College in St. George on Tuesday 1 June 2010, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) remarked during an anti-Democrat/liberal speech that the GOP needs to organize like LGBT/SOGI rights activists. Says the HRC Religion and Faith Program Director Harry Knox: “Senator Hatch’s statement that gay people’s religion is politics is insulting and demeaning [...]
Dustin Lance Black on “gay Salt Lake”
From “Dustin Lance Black: Pillars of Salt,” wherein the Oscar winner recounts his exploration of Salt Lake City while visiting for the premier of 8: The Mormon Proposition at Sundance: “By the time the plane touched down in Salt Lake, I’d scrapped my plans to spend the weekend in a posh cabin up in Park [...]