SL10313: Church, Priesthood, and the Gay/Lesbian Journey Toward Spiritual Maturity

The gay Mormon population is bifurcated between a majority who have left the Church via inactivity, excommunication, or suicide, and a minority who have subordinated their need for satisfying relational intimacy to Church law. This bifurcation persists because of the intensity of the tension gay and lesbian Mormons experience between Church authority and personal experience seemingly at odds with that authority. Though difficult, the path to spiritual maturity lies in learning to embrace this and related tensions.

JOHN. D GUSTAV-WRATHALL