Chapter 8 - Big Gay Mormon Book

                                                     I got lost on The Road Less Traveled, 

or  Options for the SGAttracted, 

or  The Chapter where Julie lets Calvin tell the Helga story

This is chapter eight of the Big Gay Mormon Book that I am writing with a friend.  I am a gay Mormon and she is the parent of a gay Mormon.

“The Church is for all members…All of us, single or married, have individual identities and needs, among which is the desire to be seen as a worthwhile individual child of God. …The clarion call of the Church is for all to come unto Christ, regardless of their particular circumstances.    - Howard W Hunter

Calvin:  My younger brothers believed that their massive IQ’s were far over and above a regular board game so they combined several of them to create something that they felt resembled a challenge for their dazzling, sometimes dizzying intellect. The game was rather convoluted with many levels.  It featured exotic places, characters and tons of possible scenarios. I only ventured down into their lair once over the holiday and didn’t let go of the iron rod (the stair rail) just in case. All I really remember was marveling at how funny our teeth looked under a black light.

Does anyone think that their mortal existence is going to be any less complicated than my brother’s basement adventure?

In a chapter on SGA options, we need to acknowledge the thousands of choice combinations available. There are different categories, levels of commitment, personalities, social networks, spiritual beliefs. As if that weren’t enough, there are degrees of sexuality as per the Kinsey scale.

I am not in a position to judge any of them. Neither are you. Nor is it our job to. My point is that lifestyles, which I might not consider for my own life, are being lived out by others. What a blessing it is that we all have options and agency at every turn. All of us.

Julie: As a mom, I have certain expectations that I want my son to fulfill, expectations that for now may not be very realistic. Getting past that I need to realize that there are lots of places between perfection and damnation. If he’s not in a temple marriage, maybe a committed relationship is better than multiple sexual partners. It’s not exactly what I think is best, but maybe, for now, it’s better than it could be. And there are so many choices to go and decisions to make.

Calvin: In looking at this subject, we tried to consider as many different possibilities and options for the Mormon with SGAttraction as possible to show that there are as many styles of living as there are bodies and souls. Here are a few descriptions we came up with – many you may recognize.

SGA and Church Membership

Member in good standing - Active

Member in good standing - Not active

Dis-fellowshipped

Excommunicated

Voluntary name removal

SGA, and Church Activity; Faith

Believes and attends regularly

Believes and attends sometimes

Believes but doesn't attend

Does not believe and does not attend

Does not believe but attends anyway

SGA and Relationship Status

In SGA relationship

Single but seeking SGA relationship

Desiring to remain single, Celibate or not

Desiring to suppress homosexual feelings/behaviors and seek a straight relationship

In a straight relationship but unmarried

Straight Marriage with intentions of making it work

Straight Marriage without intentions of making it work

Public Knowledge (Closet Status)

No one knows.

Very private, out to very few.

Only best friends or internet strangers know
Out to non-members, but nobody at Church knows a thing
Out to some nonmembers, but in the Church they are only out to priesthood leaders -seeking their counsel
Out to everyone at Church, or “Out” in general

SGAttraction in the Mormon Church is not a cut and dry deal. Franklin Roosevelt expressed it by saying, “There are many ways of going forward, but only one way of standing still.”

Julie: We acknowledge that there is diversity in the homosexual Mormon world, and what works for one may not work for another - as many options in this world for homosexuals as there are for heterosexuals.  My friend from college has several children now grown up and living their own lives.  Chatting with him on facebook he expressed anguish that his homosexual son was not living the life he wanted him to. He asked me what I would do in the same circumstance. I reminded him that he had another son who was in the same circumstance and as a parent, he had dealt with similar behaviors with this older son. “But that misbehavior was with girls” he responded. Morality, not sexuality was the issue. 

Options become somewhat limited for both homosexuals and heterosexuals when they decide to follow the teachings of the prophets. It is not referred to as the straight and narrow without reason.  The desire to have a family is divine. The need to share one’s life with another person is inspired. How we go about accomplishing these is up to us.

And still, as a parent (still Julie talking) I would hope that my son would strive for a healthy homey, domestic situation regardless. Gay or straight, I would like him to be worthy of the priesthood.  If not that, then I would like him to pray and attend church. If that is not happening, then I would like him to have some stability and limited partners.   A moral core and limit of one pack a week?  I just want what’s best for him, and as a mom my standards are high.

The Choices For LDS SGA

Julie: Not many of the options mentioned are compatible for a LDS/SGAttracted individual to worthily hold a temple recommend. Would you be more specific about what options are realistic to meet both personal and spiritual needs of a SGA

Calvin: The word “agency” would seem to at least imply that those SGAttracted have options.  One of my favorite television commercials of all time was for a fast food chain known for its not-so-fast food.  It starts out at a fashion show held in lovely Yacksburg Siberia inside a drab but spacious warehouse.  A working-class woman, Helga is the model while the Master of Ceremonies, in a high Russian accent, announces “Is next… evening vear,” at which Helga poses in a simple cotton grey dress with matching babushka.  “Is next, swim vear.” Helga has traded babushka for a multicolored beach ball and tosses it around still wearing the same cotton work dress. 

“Is next, Sunday-go-to meeting.””  She is still in the very same dress only this time with a bible and a fly swatter.  The idea was that the people had the freedom to select what they liked – but that there was nothing to select from.

Those SGAttracted, like the citizens of Yacksburg seem to have limited options. Most of life, for all of us, is about a set of limited choices. But taking it one choice at a time opens up opportunities never dreamed of. 

Julie:  I’m sitting here writing at my computer and I suddenly feel thirsty. I have the option to get up, go to the kitchen and get a drink or to not get up, go to the kitchen and get a drink. Once I decide whether to get up or not, a whole new set of choices open up. If I do get up, what beverage will I choose to quench my thirst, and if I don’t get up, what child will I call to go get me that drink?

Options of Living – brought to you by Julie’s sudden thirst

Calvin:  I believe that gays who have had or wish to continue some sort of a relationship with the LDS Church tend to fall into one of the following categories.

I can do as I have been taught in the church to do.

I have never been able to justify dropping or ignoring my testimony of the church in order to indulge my SGAttraction – even when I was in the middle of indulging. I discovered first hand about cognitive dissonance, feeling uneasy because I was trying to hold on to conflicting thoughts simultaneously.

 In order to completely accept one of the ideas (am I gay or I Mormon – as if they were mutually exclusive), I had to ignore the other; either I really wasn’t gay, or the church was not true. Some in my position have reduced or eliminated such conflict by denying or their past experience and testimony. I could not. And though I became adept at justifying my sexual behavior I got even better at simply creating my own world where both were possible and I didn’t have to choose. 

I couldn’t throw the blame on church leaders or on my parents – though I would have loved to throw it on my parents. There seems to be a logical statute of limitations for blaming my life choices on others.

Once I realized that what I was was not sinful and that the SGAttraction behaviors could -- in theory -- be overcome or maintained, I no longer had the need to blame others for my personal mess. I didn’t need to justify, as did Aesop’s fabled fox, that the high hanging, seemingly unattainable grapes were probably sour or otherwise distasteful. I had received a spiritual witness of both the churches veracity and my SGAttraction. For me, the choices from then on were clear, or clearer than they ever had been.

The second option is to choose to deny or to discredit, minimize or ignore the importance of the church and/or its teachings.  

At one point I tried to pretend that I had been brainwashed, that I was too young to be responsible when my religious opinions formed or were formed for me. I thought that I had obtained real, practical experience that overrode my upbringing. 

Another technique I employed that I have since seen in others was to begin selecting the principals taught in the church that I chose to continue to invest in/believe in: Going to church, yes, tithing, no, being kind to others, yes, chastity, no. 

And then there is everything in between. There are so many other options that I just call them, “and the rest,” including…

●One can live with the dissidence. I do it, but I know it’s wrong; I do it, I’d rather not think about it;     

●He can live in a non-monogamous or multi-partnered gay life.

●He can live something in-between outside of the LDS church - visiting at will.

●He can enjoy a relationship with a SGAttracted partner while maintaining a belief in and keeping relationships with the LDS church open however limited it may be (no callings, temple attendance, or priesthood use). Blogger land if full of these men who love the church and their SGA partners both.

Now we throw a stick into it.

●He can enter into heterosexual marriage, being committed, with full disclosure. 

(While there are many options after this, I will not include them as we, in this book, are not promoting marital infidelity or dishonesty in any way.)  All of these can be done with various degrees of honesty and integrity. And all of these can be done with various levels of church activity.

A Quick Experiment For The Bold Of Heart Concerning Choice For the LDS SGA

This isn’t playing fair, but I am going to ask you to do something. If you had to pick the three top options for your child or brother, for your dad or best friend, which would you choose?  And, no, you can’t pick just one.  Consider this an experiment in unconditional love.  Go back and look at the list and pick the top three in their order for someone you love. 

Do you see the problem?  Try to fit them into the church or into your life if they use their agency and select any option but the first, or the one you agree with.  Does your loved one still fit into your LDS life?      

Julie: As members of the LDS church and as a couple sealed in the temple, my husband and I have been taught over and over again the importance and responsibility that comes with the gift of one of Father’s children. We know that we must raise them with care, teach them the gospel and do everything within our power to get them back home; we aim for that goal and define our success by that objective.

The problem with this perspective is that, like the straight and narrow road we are trying to follow, there isn’t much wiggle room for our children. If they don’t choose a temple endowment, church activity, obedience or a heterosexual relationship, then it doesn’t matter what else they choose, because it won’t be enough for us, and we will lose them.

But what if the choice isn’t between going to church and not, what if the choice is between doing drugs or smoking? Getting drunk on Friday nights or an occasional glass of wine with dinner? Or how about anonymous SGA sex at the club or a committed monogamous relationship with someone of the same sex?

Not so simple is it? We certainly don’t want our kids strung out on cocaine or trying to drive drunk, but could we live with the alternatives? Could we view progress for what it is, even if it isn’t as complete as we wish it would be? And could we sit back and be happy for a responsible son, holding down a full-time job with a like-minded life partner? What if they chose to adopt a child? Are they still in the family picture?

These aren’t easy questions for me to answer, and they may not be for you either. Seeing our children settle for less than their potential, even if that less is better than they were before feels like a cop-out, and accepting the situation, for us, feels like giving up. Sometimes in our efforts to help our children be obedient, we become their worst enemy. We push and prod and nag our children right out of the church and worse yet, right out of our lives.

Calvin: Latter-day Saints often think in terms of black and white, good or bad, wrong or right.  Most of our loved ones don’t live that kind of life.  If we are honest, most of us, though we try, do not live that kind of life either. Often the more personally involved we get with our fellow mortals the more we are aware of combinations and degrees--not “shades of gray” necessary, but different points of view and unique perspectives with each choice, each bout of agency having its own set of consequences both here and in the world to come. We widen our view to include all those we love.