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“These images are saying, ‘You should be ashamed to acknowledge your sexuality’” by Lisa Hansen July 2007 Why is it that LDS publications do not show us the face of any gay person? As why is it that the testimonials are always anonymous? Is it because gay Mormons are supposed to be ashamed of who they are? Is it because they will soon be “cured” and therefore they shouldn’t be outed to the person they’ll someday marry? Or is it because if they were to actually show us their full face we would realize that they are as normal and happy as any other person? An article published on the July 21 issue of the LDS Church News includes three photo illustrations of gay men, but none of them are facing the camera. A woman covers her face in an illustration for the August 2002 Ensign article “My Battle with Same-Sex Attraction.” And the cover of the book In Quiet Desperation depicts a young man with his eyes pasted over. “These illustrations endorse the closet as a way of life for gay and lesbian people,” says John-Charles Duffy, who is pursuing a doctorate in religious studies. “These images are saying, ‘You should be ashamed to acknowledge your sexuality.’”
The July 21 Church News article is a direct response to the recent press conference held by Barbara and Lester Leavitt at the headquarters of Evergreen, an LDS-sponsored organization for gay Mormons who want to remain celibate. In the article, LDS psychotherapist Jeffrey Robinson is quoted saying that the reason we don’t hear about gay Mormons “who stay with their wives and children” is because “they disappear.” “They go on with their lives,” he said. “They don’t hold meetings. They don’t hold press conferences.” During the July 12 press conference, the Leavitts, who do have faces and showed them to the media, accused the LDS Church and Evergreen of giving false hopes and having “huge failure rates” in their prescribed treatment for gays and lesbians. Although the article starts with the story of a gay man who is now “happily married,” LDS leaders now admit that same same-attraction “may” never go away. In fact the article ends with the story of another gay man who was told by his stake president to “get married and have sex and the [same-sex] feelings will go away.” The feelings never went away, and the man up ended being excommunicated. “The story of the excommunicated gay man is the perfect example why you should reflect very carefully before following the advice of a stake president or bishop,” says Hugo Salinas, from Affirmation: Gay & Lesbian Mormons. “Church leaders seem more interested in keeping gay Mormons from ever experiencing their natural sexuality than in helping them find the happiness that may come through living a full life and having a same-sex partner.” “According to the Church News articles, the life-paths of gay and lesbians Mormons are paved with sorrow,” Salinas added. “That statement might accomplish the desired effect of scaring many gay and lesbian Mormons into living a life of denial, but is it does not offer an explanation for why I have been so happy living with my same-sex partner.” See also: “In Quiet Desperation” Model Revealed |
www.affirmation.org