Affirmation: Gay & Lesbian Mormons

LDS Church Threatens to Excommunicate Legally Married Man
Affirmation Member Buckley Jeppson to Face Church Court

Buckley Jeppson (left)
and husband Michael Kessler

by Hugo Salinas
March 16, 2006

Leaders of the LDS Church are preparing to take disciplinary actions against an Affirmation member who lives in a monogamous relationship with his legal husband. After marrying Michael Kessler in Toronto, Canada, Buckley Jeppson, of Washington, DC was asked by Stake President Nolan Archibald to quietly resign his membership. Because Jeppson refused to resign, Archibald is now preparing to convene a church court which could excommunicate or disfellowship him.

"Being a member of the Church is not like belonging to a club," says Jeppson. "It is my history, my family heritage, my testimony, and the faith to which I have devoted the last 57 years of my life. I just want to worship quietly and peacefully in a place that is safe. I don't ask the Church to change its doctrines or practices. I just want us to be left alone."

In the temple, Mormons covenant to have no sexual relations except with their "husband or wife" to whom they are "legally and lawfully wedded." This leads some observers to believe that Jeppson, who is legally married to his husband, is not excommunicable on the grounds of having broken the law of chastity.

LDS President Gordon B. Hinckley has repeatedly claimed that the Church disciplines gays and lesbians using the same standard that applies to heterosexuals. However, Affirmation: Gay and Lesbian Mormons, has documented many actions that contradict the claim of a single standard. Brigham Young University students have been expelled for merely holding hands, kissing, and receiving gifts from their same-sex dates, and the secretive LDS Church Handbook of Instructions establishes policies that clearly set gay and lesbian Mormons apart from their heterosexual counterparts.

A group of LDS members known as the Safe Space Coalition has organized a campaign to send letters and flowers to President Archibald. The flowers are meant to send a message that "many are ready for a more inclusive 'safe space' for all within the LDS Church," including its gay and lesbian members.

For more information on how to participate in the Safe Space Campaign, visit www.ldssafespace.org. For an overview of the LDS Church's long history of actions against its gay and lesbian members, visit www.affirmation/antigay.