Religious Experiences of GBTQ Mormon Males

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between sexual orientation and religious experience of men from early adolescence to adulthood. Data have been obtained from an online survey of 1,042 males who were part of a larger sample of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) persons who are current or former members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS, Mormon). While early religious experience was essentially identical to that of heterosexuals, the gap between religious norms and experience widened as these men moved through early and mid-adulthood. Those who married did so at a later age, and experienced a high rate of divorce. Continued participation, integration, and conformity to LDS ideals was not attributable to faith in, or a departure from, fundamental doctrinal belief. Instead, the responsible variable was sexual orientation, measured by the Kinsey Scale scores across behavior, attraction, and identity. For those near the exclusively homosexual end of the spectrum, the failure to change sexual orientation after intense effort over many years resulted in loss of belonging, belief, and participation, along with increased negative emotions and a sense of mistreatment.

Affirming and nonaffirming religious beliefs predicting depression and suicide risk among Latter-Day Saint sexual minorities.

“…Quantitative studies of non-LDS SMs have found a connection between some global measures of religious processes (e.g., service attendance and religious belief salience) and suicidal thoughts (Dyer, 2022; Park & Hsieh, 2022). Furthermore, samples of LDS SM have found a connection between more specific religious/spiritual processes (e.g., religious/spiritual struggles or religious coping) and suicidal thoughts (Lefevor, McGraw, & Skidmore, 2022); something qualitative interviews of LDS SM have confirmed (Anderton, 2010; Benson, 2001; Beckstead & Morrow, 2004; Bradshaw et al, 2015). However, the results from the present study suggests that nonaffirming LDS beliefs may not lead to such experiences directly or indirectly through internalized stigma and religious/spiritual struggles.…”

Sexual Complexity: A Comparison between Men and Women in a Sexual Minority Sample of Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

“…The evidence is that mental health improves as a result. Although these same forces are in play among sexual minority LDS men, other variables, such as the effect of missionary service (Bradshaw et al 2015), further complicate their behaviors. These insights about differences between men and women should be helpful to therapists who are assisting sexual minority clients from conservative religious backgrounds.…”

“…The preceding is the context for the current study. Published papers from our data set (a survey of LGBQ+ members or former members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (CJCLDS)) have addressed issues including the failure of reorientation therapy (Bradshaw et al 2014;Dehlin et al 2014b), navigating sexual and religious identity conflict (Dehlin et al 2015), measures of psychosocial health (Dehlin et al 2014a), and comparative religious experience (Bradshaw et al 2015(Bradshaw et al , 2021. The current report contains a comparative analysis of measures of sexuality between the men and women respondents, and the resulting relationship to orientation change efforts, relationships, mental and sexual health, and activity status in the church.…”

A Experiência Religiosa/Espiritual de Lésbicas, Gays e Bissexuais: Uma Revisão Integrativa de Literatura

“…Apesar de não ter sido utilizado o descritor transgênero na busca nas bases de dados, sete estudos incluíram esta população ao lado de lésbicas e/ou gays e/ou bissexuais (e.g. Bradshaw et al, 2015;Gibbs & Goldbach, 2015;Mavhandu-Mudzusi & Sandy, 2015).…”

“…Em outro estudo sobre a terapia de conversão sexual foram analisados os esforços de mudança de orientação sexual por 1.612 indivíduos que são membros atuais ou antigos da Igreja de Jesus Cristo dos Santos dos Últimos Dias -mórmons (Bradshaw et al, 2015). Os fatores associados às tentativas de mudança de orientação sexual incluíram níveis mais elevados de contato com a religião ortodoxa desde a infância e baixo índice de aceitação pelas famílias, além de comunidades pouco inclusivas.…”