Diabolical, blasphemy, pervert, unnatural, abnormal, an affliction, immoral, impure, victim, under the control of Lucifer, weak, transgressor, evil, ridiculous, sinful, ugly, predator, sin of the ages, deceitful, abominable, detestable, crime against nature, malady, confused, degenerate, addict, unmanly, unseemly, desperate, diseased, helpless, promiscuous, enslaved, contaminate, carnal, selfish, aggressive, brutal, abusive, violent, hopeless, corrupt, filthy, dreadful, unhappy, counterfeit. These are descriptors used by church leaders to define homosexuality and the LGBTQ+ community —in and out of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This booklet contains a collected sample of comments, documents and historical messages concerning the topics of homosexuality and gender identity. Many of the positions and postures contained within this document are no longer used as doctrines or policies of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Some readers may find these statements to be painful and difficult to read. If we are to understand the progress that has been made to better understand sexuality and gender identity as a religious community, we must understand where we’ve been. This document is intended to establish a historical trail of the Church’s education, policy, disclosure, and messaging regarding homosexuals and homosexuality. 1 “Whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same” Doctrine and Covenants 1:38 This document has been designed to guide the reader through a chronological path along the course of Latter-day Saint and LGBTQ+ history. This resource highlights in a time-line the official policies and doctrines taught by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints regarding sexual orientation and gender identity. This file has been designed as an interactive PDF which allows the reader to examine the original source from which the story, quote, video, or periodical was obtained. An interactive PDF copy of this document is available under the resource tab at www.LatterGayStories.org/record The reader is encouraged to explore all the sources and links provided herein and familiarize themselves with the history and policies of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day. This is not an exclusive list of every quote or resource on this subject. As such, the document will be updated over time and new versions will be available by clicking the link above. Questions or comments about this document can be sent to: [email protected] IF YOU FIND THAT THE LINKS ARE NOT OPENING IN A NEW WINDOW, HOLD DOWN THE CTRL BUTTON WHILE CLICKING ON THE LINK. 2 Sodom And Gomorrah Destroyed for Rejecting the Prophets, Not Destroyed for Homosexuality "And where there is a priest of God—a minister who has the power and authority from God to administer in the ordinances of the gospel and officiate in the priesthood of God—there is the kingdom of God. “And, in consequence of rejecting the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Prophets who God hath sent, the judgements of God have rested upon people, cities, and nations, in various ages of the world, which was the case with the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, that were destroyed for rejecting the Prophets." Joseph Smith President, Church of Jesus Christ “Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith” Page: 271 [ SOURCE LINK ] “The plea of many this day is, that we have no right to receive revelations; but if we do not get revelations, we do not have the oracles of God; and if we do not have the oracles of God, they are not the people of God.” Joseph Smith, Jr. 3 First Recorded Discipline of Same-Sex Activity The first alleged account of discipline for sodomy (referred to as buggery) involved the May 1842 excommunications of John C. Bennett and Francis Higbee. John C. Bennett, was an influential friend of the prophet Joseph Smith. Professionally, Bennett was a trained physician and provided medical services to the city of Nauvoo. John Bennett also served as the Mayor of Nauvoo, Illinois and Major-General of the Nauvoo Legion. William Smith, the brother of the Prophet publicly accused Bennett of having sexual relations with men. Historians also record that Joseph Smith caught Bennett having sex with 21-year-old Francis Higbee on July 4, 1841. Bennett was also accused of seducing the “sisters” of Nauvoo, leading historians to believe he was not a homosexual in the modern sense but rather polyamorous or bisexual; open to a variety of sexual experiences. Church records confirm that Higbee and Bennett were excommunicated: guilty of “a crime not fit to be named.” Andrew F. Smith Author, The Saintly Scoundrel: The Life and Times of Dr. John Cook Bennett [ SOURCE LINK ] Declined to Exonerate Joseph Smith from Buggery Shortly after John C. Bennett was excommunicated for buggery, Bennett publicly accused Joseph Smith of also having sexual relationships with men. Bennett published his accusations in a church newspaper called The Wasp. In July of 1842 the citizens of Nauvoo met to “manifest to the world that so far as we are acquainted with Joseph Smith, we know him to be a good, moral, virtuous, peaceable and patriotic man, and a firm supporter of the law, justice, and equal rights; that he at all times upholds and keeps inviolate the constitution of this State and of the United States.” A vote among the citizens was called to affirm the statement dignifying Joseph Smith and exonerating him of the charges of buggery. Three people voted against affirming Joseph Smith. One of those three dissenters was Elder Orson Pratt, an apostle. “Pres. Joseph Smith spoke in reply [on July 22, 1842]—Question to Elder Pratt, "'Have you personally a knowledge of any immoral act in me toward the female sex, or in any other way?' Answer, by Elder Pratt, 'Personally, toward the female sex, I have not.'" Since The Wasp had already raised the topic of Bennett's 'buggery' and the prophet's alleged toleration and participation of it, Joseph Smith's 'in any other way?' was an implicit challenge for Pratt to charge him with 'buggery' as well. Pratt declined to answer whether Joseph Smith had committed 'any immoral act' with someone other than a woman, but also declined to exonerate the prophet form such a charge. The Joseph Smith Papers Times And Seasons, August 1, 1842, p. 869 [ SOURCE LINK ] 4 Sodomy Laws in the Utah Territory: Castrations Ordered by Brigham Young The first law to address sodomy in Utah was written in 1851. The criminal code specifically prohibited any “man or boy” from engaging in, or attempting to engage in, “any sexual intercourse with any of the male creation.” (Laws and Ordinances 1919) The 1851 law was found to be unenforceable and the new 1852 code removed the 1851 sodomy language. Because sodomy was no longer mentioned in the law, it was thereby legal in the Utah Territory. Early Utah records suggest a religious stigma attached to homosexuality (buggery/sodomy) throughout the Utah Territory—even though the government of the territory showed no further interest in outlawing it. Females (lesbians) were not held to the same standard enforced against men regarding the original sodomy law—especially in religious circles. As an example: in 1856 a married woman from Salt Lake City was publicly accused of trying to seduce the daughter of a local man but no charges were ever brought against her. However, only a year later, a man was brought before the law and his church leaders, the man was castrated for sodomy. Even though the government (which was also run by Latter-day Saint Church leaders) did enforce new sodomy laws, the Church of Jesus Christ began to mete out penalties of their own. From 1857 to 1859 there were at least three castrations sanctioned by Brigham Young, the president of the Church. In February of 1876 the Utah territory legislature enacted laws that once again criminalized sodomy—defined as anal sex. If found guilty, the penalty was 10 years imprisonment. Chuck Stewart “Proud Heritage: People, Issues, and Documents of the LGBT Experience” p. 1200 [ SOURCE LINK ] 5 Spirits in Heaven Would Thank God for Preventing [Gays] To Be Born "… or if we, like the Sodomites or Canaanites, were full of all manner of lawless abominations, holding promiscuous intercourse with the similar sex, and stooping to a level with the brute creation, and predisposing our children, by every means in our power, to be fully given to strange and unnatural lusts, appetites, and passions, would it not be a mercy to cut us off, root and branch, and thus put an end to our increase upon the earth? You will all say it would. The spirits in heaven would thank God for preventing them from being born into the world under such circumstances. … Yes, they would; for they could say—"Now there is an opportunity for us to take bodies in the lineage of a noble race, and to be educated in the true science of life, and in the commandments of God." O what an unspeakable contrast, between being a child of Sodom, and a child of Abraham!” Parley P. Pratt Quorum of the Twelve Apostles Journal of Discourses 10 April 1853, “Heirship and Priesthood,” p. 259 [ SOURCE LINK ] Brigham Young Responds to Transgenderism Church historian A. Milton Musser wrote in his personal journal, the story of how he came to adopt a daughter. Musser’s journal entry might indicate the first written account of transgenderism (or gender non-conforming dress) in the Salt Lake Valley and the subsequent response by the President of the Church, Brigham Young. “Almerin Grow has given me his daughter (now twelve years old) to raise.