i just saw where one of the students in the video, Bridey Jensen, was quoted in a CNN story on the subject saying, “It is very different to be gay and Mormon because it feels like neither community accepts you completely.”

bingo.

but it doesn’t have to be that way.

I don’t think most people comprehend the all encompassing aspects it means to be a part of the Mormon community. Like someone else said, it’s tight.

Being a Mormon means almost every aspect of your life is someway connected to your religion’s dogma. It’s not a Church on just Sundays or on just major holidays. Worshiping each Sunday is mandatory but also there are family commitments on Mondays and a myriad of activities during the week (Temple ordinance work, for one). Then, once a month, you get a visit from two of your local parish members (neighbors) as a courtesy ‘checkup’ to see how you are doing.

When it comes to an emergency there is nothing better than the phone-tree system the local Mormons have in place. Really. Nothing. Can. Compare. I could give numerous first-hand examples of where a group can get activated and organized when a major crisis happens. It hardly got mentioned on the news but when we had a brush fire threaten a whole community in the south-west valley they had all their gear ready to evacuate and set up a emergency center the Red Cross would envy. Everyone did their assigned duties and since they have been told about preparedness since age 1 they had their most valuable items removed from the homes.

There is a sense of community but it comes with a whole lot of peer pressure too. Maybe that’s good or maybe not.

I think I know what Priya Lynn means when she says: “make the most of [your life] and live it for you.” I agree. I waited too long to grasp that concept. I think Mormons need to be more hedonistic and place a little more emphasis on self. Self needs should have a higher priority than community needs in some cases.

But the answers to Timothy’s question is not an easy one. There is no single answer when we are dealing with diversity of people and circumstances. The 15-year-old lesbian Mormon would need an answer far different than a 21-year-old college student struggling with coming to terms with reality and maybe emerging from a cloud of denial. The answer has to be suited to the individual and his/her circumstances.

I must say, palerobber, my jaw dropped when I saw this video talked about in the news. These ‘kids’ are really much more mature than what I first thought. I give them kudos for having the guts to do what they did. This change might have had the genesis back in 2008 when it was the Mormons on the firing line with Prop. 8. It took about four years but these kids finally saw their chance and just possibly made a monumental change in LDS history.

If we can see this kind of shift at BYU could California be far behind or for that matter is the general public shifting their attitudes too? (rhetorical question)

thank you, cowboy, for pointing out that not too many years ago these kids could have faced expulsion and/or excommunication merely for appearing in a video like this. thank you, Palmer, for reminding us that not too many years ago the BYU campus police actively tried to entrap gay students. the fact that these things are no longer the case is cause for hope.

it’s true that the church has only opened the door a crack. gay students still can’t date the people of their choosing while enrolled (as for being celibate, that’s required of straight students too). but they did open the door, and these students are sticking their foot in. good for them.

as i’ve posted already, the video was produced by a private indivdual named Kendall Wilcox. maybe you should learn a little bit about him before you baselessly accuse him of being a PR shill for the church.

These are times of upheaval we are living in. I’m more inclined to wait it out and see what happens. Each one of those young people control their own destiny. The have what previous generations didn’t have, the internet and information, literally at their fingertips.

I agree with those who find this self-serving–this is more about them and the church (and pink-washing their anti-equality real agenda) than about the poor kids out there looking for voices of hope.

Nice production values–wanna bet that the BYU Media office produced this?

As to whether its more important to me to encourage a kid to keep going or to condemn their church, this isn’t an either/or situation, one can do both.

In thinking about how I normally behave in the real world if I were to encounter your postualted 15 year old Mormon lesbian and she was self-accepting I’d be unlikely to challenge her religious beliefs. The only time I’ve challenged anyone’s religous beliefs away from the internet is when a person has claimed their religion justifies condemning LGBTs. In my real life I generally avoid the topic of religion.

This kid is in conflict between their faith and their sexuality. They want to have both but think they can’t. Your answer is to agree with their church that, indeed, they can’t have both.

I confronted Laurie Higgins a few years back about how her message encouraged suicide. She didn’t want kids to die, but her message was more important to her. She couldn’t put the kids first.

We cannot criticize Laurie Higgins for contributing to the culture of conflict that results in the death of children if we do the same.

Ask yourself, what is your priority? Is it more important that you encourage a kid to keep going, or is it more important that you condemn their church?

I’ve made my point. I’ll back out of the conversation and let you all respond however you like. The odds of any of those angry at me finding what I said to be influential is pretty much zero, but nevertheless I hope you consider it. It’s too important to let other agenda get in the way.

There is no evidence that any of this is true and very good reason to believe it isn’t. Don’t waste your life being a slave to myths, this is the only life you’ll ever have, don’t waste it mistakenly hoping there will be life after death, make the most of it and live your life for you.