Laurie Lee Hall spoke at the 40th anniversary of the Affirmation International Conference for LGBT Mormons, Families and Friends on Sunday in Provo, Utah. Hall was a top architect for the church, designing more than 40 temples and other church buildings, and served 15 years in various callings within the church including bishop and stake president. In June of 2017 she was excommunicated joining the likes of other ex-Mormons who are speaking out on unification between Latter-Day Saints and LGBTQ members, such as Tyler Glenn the lead singer of Neon Trees and a former missionary for the church.
As of 2017, not a lot has been said on the issue of transgender church members despite a constant conversation against those who define themselves as gay or lesbian. Hall is one of the few to stand up and ask how her earthly body changes her relationship with the Lord and would like to be rebaptized as a woman in the church. For almost two years I have lived the life of an ex-Mormon, leaving shortly after the decision to refuse baptism to children of the LGBTQ community. I have followed both Hall’s and Glenn’s stories as they each have been excommunicated and the toll it has taken on them and their families. I am including this information early on in today’s blog post so that readers may know of my own biases and affiliations with the Affirmation and the LDS church, of which I have ties to neither. For today’s discussion, all context and scriptures will come directly from the LDS church due to my own familiarity and their involvement being a point of interest. So, what does the LDS church say about transgender people and gender dysphoria? Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke on the subject during an interview in 2015. He said, “I think we need to acknowledge that while we have been acquainted with lesbians and homosexuals for some time, being acquainted with the unique problems of a transgender situation is something we have not had so much experience with, and we have some unfinished business in teaching on that.” In other words, he dodged a bullet by saying that the teachings have yet to come. Despite no official teachings being released by the LDS church it hasn’t been silent on the issue. When the Boy Scouts of America announced that they would be allowing transgender individuals to both participate and be leaders in their program, the LDS church released a statement that was less abrupt than the announcement of gay leaders in 2015. It announced that religious affiliated troops could organize how they please, and that was it. LDS leaders didn’t threaten to disband the program from their curriculum as they did in 2015 but they also weren’t accepting of the changes. The LDS church basically has a religious version of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. It also joined other religions in a fight against the transgender restroom directive in 2017. As of today, the LDS churches own LGBTQ website, mormonandgay.lds.org, still does not directly reference transgender individuals or gender dysphoria in any way. So, where are the teachings? As we await the Semi-Annual LDS General Conference in two short weeks we may expect the teachings to come up there, however if they have been like the last two years since Oak’s statement, nothing will likely be said. Whether that is a good or bad thing is despite the point because an abstract view on the subject already exists. As stated by the Huffington Post: Mormons consider gender to be a fixed identity that existed before people are born, during their time on earth, and into eternity. One’s gender determines the activities a member is allowed to participate in. All eligible adult men are ordained to the priesthood and attend meetings together, while women have their own organization called the Relief Society. Men can give blessings for healing, while women are not allowed to perform that ritual. These beliefs about the roles of men and women in the church have a direct impact on the church’s policies towards LGBT Mormons. The article then goes on to say that while LGBTQ Mormons can faithfully serve in the church, if they break the law of chastity they may become apostates excommunicated from its ranks. It also mentions that while this may be the case, church leaders have spoken out about the treatment of these individuals and that they should be shown respect and kindness. The entire situation is a severe case of “love the sinner, hate the sin” and is blasphemous, which is a topic for an entirely different blog post. You see, there isn’t any direct teachings on gender and members all have their different views. The overarching idea is that men get the Priesthood (not blacks though until later in history) and women wear a dress and have babies. While teaching to be kind is an admirable trait that sets the LDS church apart from many other religions, it doesn’t help the fact that by not speaking out on the subject, members are pursuing their own understandings. This leads to factions like the Affirmation that believes they may again be in good standing one day and it leads to members with hate in their hearts. While we await any official word from LDS church leaders, I do have a few beliefs of my own that I would like to share. First, changing your gender is not a sin and in no way ever has been classified as a sin. Now, while I understand the Bible cannot understand 21st century terms such as transgender people it is hard to prove that the bible doesn’t mention what it does not understand. However, it is easy to prove when it doesn’t list them when it lists others. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 says, “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.” While it is easy for members to say that changing your gender is a sin, God doesn’t say that. The LDS church did add the word “effeminate” to their bible but it isn’t in line with trans issues because many trans people don’t transition or have characteristics of one gender over the other. Many are androgynous and the simple characteristics the verse speaks of no longer hold up in a time where women are wearing pants and men shave. Similarly to homosexuality, the law of chastity may remain intact, if the individual chooses to do so, leaving very little reason for excommunication other than one’s own prejudices. Divorce and adultery are much higher up on the list of sins that the LDS church sweeps over all the time. Secondly, transgender issues are not new. While some may listen to Rush Limbaugh and think that trans people were created by homosexuals and Obama to turn the military into a playground, (source: https://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2017/07/26/trump-bans-transgenders-in-military/) that isn’t the case. Early Native Americans settlements, Greeks, Asia, and more all have ancient documents talking about third genders or non-gender conformity. The reason gender identity is such a big concern is because it is a trial given to us by God. In Mathew 16:24 Jesus says to his disciples “if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” I truly believe that God doesn’t make mistakes. I believe that humans do. I am convinced that through the generations, Lucifer has spent a large amount of his plays just setting up the pieces. I believe that in this game between love and anger, Lucifer uses religion to create divisions amongst God’s children. Feeling as if your gender does not reflect your outside appearance is not a sin. God has given us many things that he knows we can overcome. God created cancer and disease. God created same-sex attraction. God has even created drugs that cure multiple things yet they are disputed amongst his children. These are the trials we agreed to be subject to when we came to Earth. We chose this life knowing that we may be ridiculed by others for something that God wants to test us personally with. God knows us. It is not that one’s body doesn’t match their spirit, it’s that we were all genderless beings in Heaven that had roles such as mother and father that are not associated with sex like they are on Earth. It’s a different structure in heaven than it is on Earth. It’s more advanced. Feeling as though one’s body isn’t reflective of themselves is a trial. It’s not only a trial for the individual having those feelings, it’s a trial for the rest of the world to see if they really can keep God’s greatest commandment, to love one another. Many fail this test but a true follower of Christ shouldn’t.
1 Comment
Teresa Gallegos
9/24/2017 07:38:28 pm
I appreciate your viewpoint and your research gave me a lot to ponder. I would say that I believe the LDS church HAS spoken on transgender issues. In The Family, A Proclamation to the World gender beliefs are very clearly defined. I'd be I interested in how you interpret that within this discussion.
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Erick L. Graham Wood
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