Majority of Utah Mormons Want to Change Your Sexual Orientation

by Brandon Miller · 2010-11-11 14:36:00 UTC
Topics:

The majority of Utah Mormons think that gay and lesbian people can "change," and we're not talking about a fabulous costume change or two throughout the night. We are talking about changing from being a homosexual to a heterosexual. Talk about transformations!

I don't think there are enough bibles in the world to "cure" my boy-crazy self. But in case this isn't all about me (and I can't see why it would not be!), a recent Salt Lake Tribune survey looked at Mormon views within the state of Utah. The newspaper found that 55 percent of people belonging to the Church of Latter Day Saints held the belief that homosexuals could change their same-sex attractions. Twenty-five percent of Utah Mormons are "unsure" and 15 percent think that sexual orientation is unchangeable.

For comparison, 66 percent of non-Mormon Utah residents think that sexual orientation is innate and cannot be changed. Perhaps it's not really a shock that there is a discrepancy here, given that the leadership within the Mormon Church hasn't shied away from suggesting that homosexuality can be fixed. Just earlier this Fall, the Human Rights Campaign took the head of the Mormon Church to task for spouting some fire and brimstone homophobia.

I know two gay Mormons personally. They are wonderful guys and I can't imagine the pressure that comes with coming out as a gay Mormon. But these falsified beliefs only lead to the world losing more and more gay and lesbian men and women. Take this suicide of a man who felt no way out in his battle against the Mormon church (and his family), who could not accepted him for being gay. Here's a similar suicide from earlier this year.

Wake up, people. Your faith's beliefs are killing your children.

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Brandon Miller is a freelance writer and editor from Toronto, Ontario.
PREVIOUS STORY:
Belmont University Says No Gay Groups on Campus
NEXT STORY:
Bullied high schooler convinces MPAA to change ‘Bully’ rating to “PG-13”

COMMENTS (18)

    Comment Policy

    · All fields are required to comment.

    [X]

    Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the campaign on Change.org. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments which, as determined solely in our discretion: (1) are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; (2) include content solely intended to personally attack the campaign creator, (3) are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them; and/or (4) violate our terms of service and/or privacy policy. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion. Please also be advised that: (A) we do not actively curate and/or monitor in any manner whatsoever the comments made on the Change.org platform, and (B) the creator of each campaign on Change.org may remove any comment at her/his/its discretion.