Inclusivity in the latter-days: Gay Mormons

ABSTRACT

Individuals who identify as Mormon – adherents to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (“Church”), a distinct and peculiar form of Christianity – and also identify as gay or lesbian face a unique challenge to their mental health as they wrestle with the integration of their faith and their sexuality. Compounding this matter is the commonly held belief that one cannot authentically be gay and Mormon nor can one be a practising Mormon and gay. As academics and professionals gain a more nuanced understanding of the complexity of (a) those who identify as both Mormon and a sexual/gender minority and (b) of the Church itself, they will begin to deconstruct their own biases and increase their multicultural competence, thus becoming better equipped to address the mental health concerns of this particular sexual minority group.

KEYWORDS:

• Mormon
• mental health
• gay
• lesbian
• inclusivity
• Christian
• religion

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.