“You know the church frowns on homosexuality.” My bishopric interview at 14 years old (1984) and why it shouldn’t have happened. Life was okay at 14 years old in Bountiful, Utah. It was 1984, so a much different world. It was a world without internet and only 3 TV channels. If you wanted to learn…
When I was 12 I was a very devout LDS kid. I wanted to be “worthy” and tried my best to follow every rule and expectation. At my 13 year old “worthiness” interview with the bishop, he told me that he needed to talk to my grandma (who I lived with) about the modesty of…
I was sexually abused by a family member from the age of 6 to almost 15. When it all came to light, I was asked to see my Bishop (alone). My Bishop tried to be a psychologist and told me that I CHOSE to be abused when I was in the spirit world so it…
I had a terrible sex education growing up. It was practically a banned topic at my house. We even had a TV guardian that would edit swear words on live TV, and it would replace the word “sex” with “hugs.” My bishop was a good man who sincerely loved and wanted to help others. I…
I had a boyfriend in high school and we were both very active LDS. We’d been dating for about 6 months when he told me he would kill himself in I didn’t have sex with him. I did because I knew him and I knew he would follow through with his threat. I did not…
I didn’t realize until I was at college that masturbation and strong sexual desire is a normal attribute of nearly every healthy person. My high school years were spent thinking that I was a deviant freak. Those years were counted in weeks that followed the shame cycle; dreading the coming of Sunday when I’d have…
I was a good girl at 14, when Bishop _______ took me into his office and shut the door. Most of the girls my age had done stuff with boys in my ward . Most of the girls had money and were born into familes that were married into the temple. I was neither .…
It really pains me that there is sexual abuse in the Church, and leadership struggles to apologize, and counteract it in lasting, meaningful ways. It’s fine and necessary for bishops to conduct worthiness interviews, but there is never a good reason to ask prying sexual questions, especially not to children. I know this is very…
I was 13 years old when I went to a young men’s camp for the first time. In Brazil, these camps were usually made away from the city, at a farm. I took my journal with me and there I had written about the feelings I had for one of the boys. I had written…
I was raised LDS and was used to bishop interviews. My first bishop was pretty respectful, the farthest he would go was, “do you obey the law of chastity?” And when I didn’t know what that meant instead he asked “have you sinned in a way that disrespects your sacred body parts?” Enough said, it…