I was a new Convert and I had just turned 18. In my home ward all of the Moms had it planned out which boys from the Ward their Daughter’s were going to marry. It was my first introduction to the meat market. My first Sunday my Mom stood up and introduced me in relief…
I’m a Mormon male who grew up in a small Mormon town in Idaho. The first time I confessed was when I was 13. After a Deacon’s Quorum lesson about “self-abuse”, I spent a lot of time considering the things they had talked about and I really internalized the teachings that masturbation was very awful.…
I did lose a 14 year old son to suicide in 2014, this petition is correct about the risk of suicide attached to these interviews. In my most painful moments searching for what sparked my Samuel’s end of life decision, the issues presented in this petition quickly rose high on the list to investigate. Not…
Fighting all embarrassment and fear of repercussions, I want to bravely share my experience preparing for a church mission and meeting with the bishop as a 17-year-old boy. Like all young boys in the church, I was asked by my local bishop about masturbation. This local bishop, mind you, had no license, no professional training,…
I was Mormon for the first 16 years of my life, and quit due to a few different things. I was also a “jack Mormon,” which means I was often late to church (it was 3 hours long!), didn’t read the scriptures (books), and didn’t pray regularly. When I was 15 or so, I was…
Last year when Trump was elected, a friend of mine started a website, I’m Not Just A Statistic. I shared a story of nearly being raped (but a dear friend sensed something was wrong and came into the room) that had recently come back to my memory. I try not to think about it, but…
When I was 17 I went to a “party” at a college-aged guy’s house. He was the friend of a friend of mine, a friend I’d expected to be there that night but never came. It was awkward just the two of us, drinking vodka he’d provided as we waited for more people to show…
I am writing on behalf of someone close to me who told me that he gets asked specific, vile questions regarding sexual behavior by the bishop of his church. Whenever his parents think he’s depressed, they send him to the bishop. He said he told his mother he doesn’t want to see him anymore and…
When I was 12, I had a bishop in the Centerville Utah ward named _____. He interviewed me on several occasions. He asked me personal questions about masturbation, if, when and how often, and how and where, I did it. He made me come in to his office repeatedly and asked me if I had…
I struggled with pornography and particularly masturbation from the age of 11, when I hit what I considered to be ‘early’ puberty. I’ve always had a strong sex drive. I also always kept every other commandment. From the age of 12, I went back and forth between periods of lying outright to ‘pass’ interviews and…