Transgender people and other gender minorities currently face membership restrictions in access to priesthood and temple rites in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church)—Mormonism's largest denomination. Church leaders have taught gender roles as an important part of their doctrine since its founding. Only recently have they begun directly addressing gender diversity and the experiences of transgender, non-binary, intersex, and other gender minorities whose gender identity and expression differ from the cisgender (i.e. non-transgender) norm.

The transgender flag

Background

Gender identity and roles play an important part in Mormon theology which teaches a strict binary of spiritual gender as literal offspring of divine parents.[1][2] Part of Sunday church meetings are currently divided by biological sex,[3] and for most of the 1800s church presidents Joseph Smith and Brigham Young had men, women, and children sit separately for all Sunday meetings.[4]: 410, 413–414  Studies that shape current psychological understanding of expressions and identities for sexuality and gender show strong evidence that gender and sexuality are "separate, but related" aspects of a person[5] and stem from similar biological origins.[6]

Current teachings

Current teachings on gender identity include an official church website on homosexuality which states that "same-sex attraction and gender dysphoria are very different ... those who experience gender dysphoria may or may not also experience same-sex attraction, and the majority of those who experience same-sex attraction do not desire to change their gender. From a psychological and ministerial perspective, the two are different."[7] Other notable teachings on gender have included an official statement made in 1995 by the LDS Church's First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles which states that "gender is an essential characteristic of individual pre-mortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose".[1] However, in the past, church president Joseph Fielding Smith, stated that he believed that those who did not reach the celestial kingdom in the afterlife would be "neither man nor woman, merely immortal beings".[8]

LDS Church leaders have stated that they have unfinished business[9] in teaching on the difficult and sensitive topic of transgender individuals.[10] Church spokesman Eric Hawkins stated in March 2016 that LDS bishops recognize that "each case is different" and "difficult and sensitive" and that they recognize the "emotional pain" many gender minorities feel. He also reaffirmed the church's views that "gender is part of our eternal God-given identity and purpose" and stated that the Church does not baptize "those who are planning trans-sexual [sic] operations" and that undergoing a "trans-sexual [sic] operation" may imperil the membership of a church member,[11][10] which seems to include gender-affirming surgery like chest surgery (i.e. top surgery).[12]

Baptismal candidates considering gender-affirming surgery are not allowed to be baptized, and those who have already had one need special clearance from the First Presidency through the local full-time mission president before baptism.[13][14]: 145  Subsequent ordinances such as receiving the priesthood and temple endowments, however, are only done according to birth sex.[15] Members that gender express through clothing or a pronoun change differing from their sex assigned at birth will receive membership restrictions and a notation on their membership records.[15]

Many conservative groups within Mormonism have disagreed with the Church's more accepting stance on transgender people, viewing it (and LGBTQ rights in general) as a threat to the traditional family unit. The Mormon-affiliated Deseret Nation (#DezNat) community on Twitter, while praised by conservative members of the Church, has been criticised as inciting violence against transgender individuals and the broader LGBTQ community, ex-Mormon apostates (blood atonement), and pornographic film actors.[16]

Gender diverse Mormons and former Mormons

While the exact portion of LDS Church-goers who identify as something other than cisgender is unknown, a large 2017 survey of mostly LDS-identifying BYU students found that .2% noted their gender identity as transgender or something other than cisgender male or female.[17] For nationwide comparison, a 2017 meta-analysis of 20 separate large surveys (with sample sizes ranging from over 30,000 US adults to over 165,000 each) found a conservative estimate of .39% for the portion of US adults who self-identify as transgender.[18]

Several transgender and other gender diverse individuals with Mormon background have received media attention. These include Misty Snow,[19] Eri Hayward,[20] Grayson Moore,[21][22] Emmett Claren,[23][24][25] Sara Jade Woodhouse,[26] Ann Pack,[27] Alison Kluzek,[28] and Annabel Jensen.[29] Others who have shared some of their experiences include London Flynn, Augustus Crosby, Alex Autry, and Kimberly Anderson,[30] as well as former and current BYU students Cammie Vanderveur, Jami Claire, Andy Winder, and Kris Irvin.[31]

Former stake president and church architect Laurie Lee Hall was excommunicated by her Utah local leaders in June 2017 for socially transitioning to express her gender identity as a transgender woman. She had experienced years of suicidal ideation and gender dysphoria before being released as a stake president in 2012 due to her identity and had come out to her entire congregation a year prior to her excommunication in July 2016.[32][33]

Organizations that support Mormon gender diverse individuals include Affirmation[34] and USGA.

Teachings on intersex individuals

Intersex flag

In February 2020 the LDS Church issued a new General Handbook of policies, which included a section on individuals born intersex.[15] The new policies and guidelines noted that for persons born intersex, the decision to determine a child's sex is left to the parents, with the guidance of medical professionals, and that such decisions can be made at birth or can be delayed until medically necessary.[35][36]

Prior to the February 19 changes in church policy and guidelines, the LDS Church had no publicly available policy or statements on intersex persons.[37] The only publicly available policies were around binary transgender persons who were accepted in the church and could be baptized, but could not receive the priesthood or enter the temple if they were considering or had undergone elective sex reassignment surgery with no mention of those who were born with physically ambiguous or biosex-non-conforming physical traits and features, or for non-binary, agender, or genderqueer individuals who did not undergo surgery.[38]

Further teachings

Church leaders and scholars have made a number of statements regarding gender. For instance, the apostle David A. Bednar has stated that gender defines much of who we are, why we're on earth, and what we do and become since god made male and female spirits different as part of a divine plan.[2] Another apostle, Russell Ballard taught that the mortal natures of men and women were specified by God.[39] Additionally, apostle Harold B. Lee taught that the "so-called 'transsexuality' doctrine" was hellish and false since God didn't place female spirits in male bodies and vice versa.[40]: 232 [41] Church president Spencer W. Kimball addressed the BYU student body in 1974 and stated that sex reassignment surgeries were an appalling travesty.[42]

Members outside of top leaders have also discussed gender. Scholars at the church-owned BYU created a book on the Family Proclamation discussing Mormon views on eternal gender distinctions.[43] In contribution to a work on the Family Proclamation, Robert Millet wrote going against church-taught gender roles would cause unhappiness and a lack of fulfillment before and after death.[44]

Past teachings on relationship to homosexuality

Current church stances on gender identity and expression and sexual orientation are that they are different and that there is "unfinished business in teaching on [transgender situations]".[45][9] The official website on homosexuality states that "same-sex attraction and gender dysphoria are very different ... those who experience gender dysphoria may or may not also experience same-sex attraction, and the majority of those who experience same-sex attraction do not desire to [socially or surgically transition ]. From a psychological and ministerial perspective, the two are different."[7] However, in the past the church taught that homosexuality was caused by gender non-conformity or confusion about gender roles, and the vast majority of allusions to gender minorities were made from the perspective of discussing the etiology and mutability of minority sexual orientations rather than non-cisgender gender identities and expression per se. On several occasions while discussing homosexuality, church leaders have alluded to their belief that the homosexual individual may be confused about their gender identity or gender roles.[46] Examples of this include the following:

  • 1973 – A guide for bishops and stake presidents titled "Homosexuality: Welfare Services Packet 1" stated that homosexuality was related to gender confusion and that the man or woman must learn proper behavior for their respective sex.[47]
  • 1976 – A general conference address by apostle Boyd K. Packer stated that gay attractions are not inborn or permanent since "there is no mismatching of bodies and spirits" and boys are meant to be "masculine, manly men".[48] The speech was later printed in a widely distributed pamphlet from 1980 to 2016.[49]
  • 1978 – The apostle Packer further stated that same-sex sexual behavior is often rooted in the desires of an insecure woman or man to try and become more feminine or masculine respectively.[50]
  • 1981 – In the April general conference, church seventy Hartman Rector Jr. stated that homosexual people were not born that way because "[t]here are no female spirits trapped in male bodies and vice versa."[51][52][53]
  • 1981 – A church guide for LDS Social Services employees instructed that "the homosexually oriented man ... does not fully understand how a masculine man is supposed to think and act."[54]
  • 1993 – Packer gave his May 18 "Talk to the All-Church Coordinating Council" (composed of the First Presidency, the Quorum of the Twelve, and the Presiding Bishopric)[55] in which he stated that a man who self-identifies as a homosexual has "gender disorientation".[56]
  • 1995 – The church's Family Services manual advised practitioners that "in the homosexual male this core gender identity has become confused".[57]
  • 2006 – The apostle Jeffrey R. Holland was interviewed by PBS in March during which he used the phrase "struggling with gender identity" and "gender confusion" as synonyms for homosexuality.[58]
  • 2006 – In an interview, Lance B. Wickman of the Seventy used the term "gender orientation" five times as a synonym for "sexual orientation".[59]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 The Family: A Proclamation to the World, LDS Church, 1995
  2. 1 2 Bednar, David A. (June 2006), "Marriage Is Essential to His Eternal Plan", Ensign: 83
  3. ↑ "18. Meetings in the Church". Handbook 2: Administering the Church. Salt Lake City, Utah: LDS Church. 2010.
  4. ↑ Quinn, D. Michael (1996). Same-Sex Dynamics among Nineteenth-Century Americans. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0252022050.
  5. ↑ "Resolution on Gender and Sexual Orientation Diversity in Children and Adolescents in Schools". American Psychological Association. APA. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
  6. ↑ Bao, Ai-Min; Swaab, Dick F. (April 2011). "Sexual differentiation of the human brain: Relation to gender identity, sexual orientation and neuropsychiatric disorders". Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology. 32 (2): 214–226. doi:10.1016/j.yfrne.2011.02.007. PMID 21334362. S2CID 8735185.
  7. 1 2 "Frequently Asked Questions". Mormon and Gay. LDS Church. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  8. ↑ Smith, Joseph Fielding (1954–56), McConkie, Bruce R. (ed.), Doctrines of Salvation: Sermons and Writings of Joseph Fielding Smith, vol. 2, Bookcraft, p. 396, I take it that men and women will, in [the terrestrial and telestial] kingdoms, be just what the so-called Christian world expects us all to be—neither man nor woman, merely immortal beings having received the resurrection.
  9. 1 2 Petrey, Taylor G. (February 13, 2015). "A Mormon Leader Signals New Openness on Transgender Issues. This Could Be Huge". Slate (magazine). Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  10. 1 2 Levin, Sam (March 28, 2016). "Transgender and Mormon: keeping the faith while asking the church to change". The Guardian. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
  11. ↑ Allen, Samantha (March 15, 2016). "Mormon Man Risks Excommunication By Sharing His Transition". The Daily Beast. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
  12. ↑ "The Trans Mormon Who Won't Let His Church Excommunicate Him". Vice Media. December 7, 2017. Broadly follows Claren as he risks complete excommunication from the Mormon Church for undergoing breast removal surgery ....
  13. ↑ Gedicks, Frederick Mark (July 31, 2008). "Church Discipline and the Regulation of Membership in the Mormon Church". Ecclesiastical Law Journal. Cambridge University Press. Ecclesiastical Law Society. 7 (32): 43. doi:10.1017/S0956618X00004920. S2CID 143228475.
  14. ↑ Handbook 1: Stake Presidents and Bishops. Salt Lake City, Utah: LDS Church. 2010. Archived from the original on November 15, 2017. The mission president must conduct an interview and receive authorization from the First Presidency before a prospective convert may be baptized and confirmed if the person ... Has undergone an elective transsexual operation. ... A person who is considering an elective transsexual operation may not be baptized or confirmed. ... However, [persons who have already undergone an elective transsexual operation] may not receive the priesthood or a temple recommend.
  15. 1 2 3 Fletcher Stack, Peggy; Noyce, David (February 19, 2020). "LDS Church publishes new handbook with changes to discipline, transgender policy". Salt Lake Tribune.
  16. ↑ Hitt, Tarpley (January 24, 2019). "The Cult of #DezNat: Alt-Right Mormons Targeting Porn and the LGBTQ Community". The Daily Beast. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  17. ↑ "Report on the Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Assault" (PDF). news.byu.edu. BYU. November 2017. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 1, 2017. Retrieved November 23, 2017. The online survey was conducted in spring 2017. Email invitations were sent to 29,471 BYU students; 13,784 (48%) started the survey and 12,602 completed the survey, for a response rate of 43%. Demographic data revealed the survey participants to be very similar to the broader BYU population in terms of gender, ethnicity, year in school, and other measures. Key demographics include the following: ... Gender: 52% male, 48% female, and 0.2% transgender or other
  18. ↑ Meerwijk, Esther L.; Sevelius, Jae M. (February 2017). "Transgender Population Size in the United States: a Meta-Regression of Population-Based Probability Samples". American Journal of Public Health. 107 (2): e1–e8. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2016.303578. PMC 5227946. PMID 28075632. [O]ur final analysis included 20 samples. Table 1 describes each of these samples in more detail. Among them, 6 samples (30%) were drawn from the general population and 14 (70%) from college and university students and adult inmates. ... The estimated proportion of transgender individuals based on surveys that categorized transgender as gender identity was 0.39% (95% confidence interval [between 0.16% and 0.62%]). ... A conservative estimate extrapolating our meta-regression results ... suggests that the proportion of transgender adults in the United States is 0.39% ... and almost 1 million adults nationally. Our estimate of 0.39% is not quite as high as the 1% that was posited on the basis of a qualitative review.
  19. ↑ Greene, David. "Misty Snow Aims To Be The Nation's First Transgender Senator". npr.org. KUER 90.1. Snow: You know, I was raised LDS myself so I kind of know that culture. Most of my family's LDS. A lot of my friends are LDS. ... I didn't, like, have a lot of support to transition when I was younger, so I ended up doing it kind of more, like, a more - like, over the last few years. ... Yeah. When I was, like (unintelligible) I didn't have support from my mother to transition and, you know, so I put that off for a long time.
  20. ↑ Link, Rachel (August 26, 2015). "Short Film Showcase: Growing Up Transgender and Mormon". voices.nationalgeographic.org. National Geographic.
  21. ↑ Golden, Hallie (April 7, 2017). "The Mormon Mom Fighting for Her Transgender Son, and Other LGBT Kids". The Daily Beast.
  22. ↑ Fischer, Kim. "Transgender Utahn can relate to Bruce Jenner". Good4Utah. Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc. Retrieved November 12, 2017.
  23. ↑ Kuruvilla, Carol (March 24, 2016). "Why This Transgender Mormon Is Holding On To His Faith". Huffington Post.
  24. ↑ "We Meet a Transgender Mormon Activist". VICE. VICE Media LLC.
  25. ↑ Levin, Sam (March 28, 2016). "Transgender and Mormon: keeping the faith while asking the church to change". The Guardian.
  26. ↑ Stack, Peggy Fletcher (April 7, 2015). "Transgender Mormons struggle to feel at home in their bodies and their religion". The Salt Lake Tribune.
  27. ↑ Levin, Sam (October 25, 2016). "Mormon and gay: church says you can be both, but activists say it isn't enough". The Guardian. Ann Pack, a transgender woman who has tried to stay active in the church, said the website 'is a step forward, albeit a very small step forward'. She said that although she supports the message that 'we need to love everyone', the church should not exclude people in same-sex relationships. 'They should be included and welcomed, not just the people who choose to be celibate,' she said.
  28. ↑ Brown, Jennifer (September 25, 2015). "Alison's Story". The Denver Post. It was a crisis of faith that left Alison open to feel and to discover her identity. Half a year before she considered that she was transgender, Alison began questioning her belief in the Mormon Church. ... Alison now says that 'being trans and being in the church is like being in an abusive relationship.'
  29. ↑ Napier-Pearce, Jennifer (April 6, 2015). "Trib Talk: Transgender and Mormon". The Salt Lake Tribune.
  30. ↑ "Transgender/Intersex Education". mormonstories.org. Open Stories Foundation.
  31. ↑ Dodson, Braley (October 22, 2017). "Transgender at BYU: Current and former students living lives despite unclear policies". Daily Herald.
  32. ↑ Stack, Peggy Fletcher (July 18, 2017). "After leading LDS congregations and designing Mormon temples, this Utah dad is building a new life — as a woman". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved July 19, 2017.
  33. ↑ Pugmire, Genelle (September 21, 2017). "Former LDS stake president, transgender woman to speak at Affirmation Conference". The Daily Herald.
  34. ↑ "Transgender". affirmation.org. Affirmation: LGBT Mormons, Families & Friends. Retrieved November 12, 2017.
  35. ↑ Fletcher Stack, Peggy (October 24, 2020). "How intersex Latter-day Saints struggle to stay in a 'two gender' faith". Salt Lake Tribune. Archived from the original on October 1, 2022. Retrieved April 22, 2023 – via Internet Archive.
  36. ↑ "Individuals Whose Sex at Birth Is Not Clear". ChurchofJesusChrist.org. LDS Church. Retrieved November 25, 2017.
  37. ↑ "Search". ChurchofJesusChrist.org. LDS Church. Retrieved November 25, 2017.
  38. ↑ Handbook 1: Bishops and Stake Presidents (Salt Lake City, Utah: LDS Church, 2010) §§ 3.3.4, 16.3.16.
  39. ↑ Ballard, M. Russell (April 2002), "Women of Righteousness", Ensign: 66–69, The premortal and mortal natures of men and women were specified by God Himself. ...[Sometimes women] ask: 'Is a woman's value dependent exclusively upon her role as a wife and mother?' The answer is simple and obvious: No. ...Every righteous man and woman has a significant role to play in the onward march of the kingdom of God.
  40. ↑ Williams, Clyde J. (1996). The Teachings of Harold B. Lee. Salt Lake City, Utah: Bookcraft Inc. ISBN 978-1570084836.
  41. ↑ Lee, Harold (August 7, 1970). Fifth Annual Genealogical Seminar Address (Speech). Fifth Annual Priesthood Genealogical Research Seminar. BYU: Brigham Young University Press.
  42. ↑ Be Ye Therefore Perfect. byu.edu. LDS Church. September 17, 1974. Event occurs at 24:24. [I]t is hard for me to understand why men wish to resemble women and why women desire to ape the men. ... Then we're appalled to find an ever-increasing number of women who want to be sexually men and many young men who wish to be sexually women. What a travesty! I tell you that, as surely as they live, such people will regret having made overtures toward the changing of their sex. Do they know better than God what is right and best for them? Alternative youtube.com and archive.org links.
  43. ↑ Dollahite, David C. (2000), Strengthening Our Families: An In-Depth Look at the Proclamation on the Family, compiled by the Brigham Young University School of Family Life, Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, p. 76, ISBN 978-1-57345-824-5, OCLC 43936969
  44. ↑ Millet, Robert L. (2005), "Standing in Holy Places—As Individuals and Families", in Dollahite, David C.; Newell, Lloyd D.; Hart, Craig H.; Walton, Elaine (eds.), Helping and Healing Our Families: Principles and Practices Inspired by The Family: A Proclamation to the World, pp. 8–9, ISBN 978-1-59038-485-5, OCLC 60596125, ...No person who revolts against the divinely established role and calling he or she was given before the foundations of this earth were laid can be happy or find real fulfillment, not here or in eternity.
  45. ↑ "Trib Talk: LDS leaders Oaks, Christofferson will appear on Trib Talk to discuss religious freedom". The Salt Lake Tribune. January 29, 2015. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  46. ↑ Waterman, Bryan; Kagel, Brian (1998). The Lord's University: Freedom and Authority at BYU. Signature books. p. 341. ISBN 978-1-56085-117-2. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  47. ↑ Brown Jr., Victor L.; Bergin, Allen E. (1973). Homosexuality: Welfare Services Packet 1. LDS Church. The guide stated that lesbians "needs to learn feminine behavior", and the gay men "must be introduced to and learn the heterosexual or 'straight' way of life ... and what a manly priesthood leader and father does".
  48. ↑ Packer, Boyd K. (1976), To Young Men Only (PDF), LDS Church, archived from the original (PDF) on March 11, 2016
  49. ↑ Peggy Fletcher Stack, "LDS Church 'retires' Mormon apostle's 'little factory' pamphlet", The Salt Lake Tribune, November 14, 2016.
  50. ↑ Packer, Boyd K. (1978). To The One. LDS Church. Packer stated that "one cannot increase masculinity or femininity by deviate physical contact with one of his own gender". He continued, "When one projects [him or herself] in some confused role-playing way with those of the same gender in an effort to become more masculine or more feminine, something flips over and precisely the opposite results ... a female can become, in her emotions, less feminine and more masculine and confused ... because the body cannot change, the emotional part may struggle to transform itself into the opposite gender" sending the individual "on a hopeless, futile quest for identity where it can never be achieved".
  51. ↑ Rector Jr., Hartman. "Turning the Hearts". Youtube.com. LDS Church. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
  52. ↑ Associated Press (April 6, 1981). "Mormon Elder Condemns Homosexuals". The Atlanta Constitution: 3B.
  53. ↑ Geisner, Joseph (December 2011). "Very Careless In His Utterances: Editing, Correcting, and Censoring Conference Addresses". Sunstone Magazine (165): 14–24. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
  54. ↑ Understanding and Changing Homosexual Orientation Problems. LDS Church. 1981.
  55. ↑ Benson, Ezra Taft. "Church Government through Councils". ChurchofJesusChrist.org. LDS Church. Retrieved November 9, 2016.
  56. ↑ Packer, Boyd K. "All-Church Coordinating Council Meeting". BYUI.edu. Brigham Young University - Idaho. Retrieved November 9, 2016.
  57. ↑ Understanding and Helping Individuals with Homosexual Problems. LDS Social Services. 1995.
  58. ↑ "The Mormons: Jeffrey Holland Interview". pbs.org. PBS. Retrieved November 14, 2016.
  59. ↑ Oaks, Dallin H.; Wickman, Lance B. (September 2006). "Same-Gender Attraction". Newsroom (Interview: Transcript). Interviewed by LDS Church Public Affairs staffers. Salt Lake City, Utah: LDS Church. See also the Salt Lake Tribune archived transcript here.
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