I love the church so much. I really really do. And it is because I love the church so much that I am supporting this cause. The experiences shared in these stories are heart wrenching. Adolescents do not need probing into their sexual lives by older men alone in a closed room. The only question…
I need to think about this so I hope I can get back to this.
Trigger warning — I’m being honest and open where I never have before. If you have suffered from abuse, I caution reading this. Feel free to skip to the end where I discuss why I’m sharing my story. I’m male, as a boy I believe I was abused at a young age, but don’t remember…
Brethren, I am writing to you today with hopes that my story will not fall on deaf ears. My name is Sue Krupa-Gray and I was a member for over 4 decades. I believe my story is a prime example of why the church needs to stop interviewing children behind closed doors, especially in regards…
Long story short I was adopted and converted to the church. At age 4, I was already being sexually abused and raped. No one believed me and I had an “over active imagination” I was “coming on” to my abuser. At 8, I wasn’t allowed to get baptized because I wasn’t ready or “good enough”…
I am an active member of the church. When I served my mission, a man broke into me and my companions apartment. He held a knife up to my neck and sexually assaulted me. Not knowing the church protocol, I called my mission president. I don’t think he knew what to do and wasn’t prepared…
I was sexually abused by family members (aunts and cousins) and babysitters from my earliest memory (as a toddler). One such abusive event actually resulted in my drowning death but I was miraculously and gratefully revived. All of my abusers were “faithful” members of the LDS Church. I have also since learned that the abuse…
I first discovered masturbation around 6 years old. I had no idea there was anything wrong with it and I simply called it “getting butterflies”. I remember at 8 being asked in my baptismal interview if anyone touched me on my private areas or if I touched myself. This caused anxiety within me. Was it…
I masturbated only once (yes, ONCE) as a young man growing up in the Church. I was 14 years old. I didn’t really understand what I was doing or feeling, but my LDS upbringing made me quickly realize that I had committed a line never to be crossed, not even once. I was so horrified…
When I was twelve years old a male leader came to our Sunday School class. One by one, he took each child out of class to have a talk with the bishop. No parental permission. No “voluntary” confession (these assembly-line interviews with probing questions are at odds with the practice of voluntary “confession”). I can’t…