Hello Mormon friends, I am a 83 yer old man who was unfortunately raised as a Roman Catholic. I relate to virtually all the stories of the young men who have experienced traumatizing guilt over masturbation. I lived in SLC for about 20 years and have had both Mormon and non-Mormon male friends and woman…
The most important fact to know about my story: I am deaf, so my interviews are different from other stories, and in a disturbing way. I remember two experiences that stuck in my memory until now. First one was when I was a kid in a hearing ward, and they were having a youth baptismal…
I knew I was gay as early as I was 8. All I knew is that what I felt was wrong and evil. That was constantly reiterated at church for the next decade of my life. The amount of self loathing and shaming was crippling at times. No one knew. When I was 11, I…
I was baptized at 8, like all the other kids who were raised in the church did. When I was 9 I was raped by my brother over the span of almost a year. My parent’s had caught him in the act and instead of involving law enforcement they just sat us down and told…
I had just turned 12 years old. My sister was the Laurel President and absolutely loved the Young Women’s program in our LDS faith. I was so excited to share this with my sister. Just like other youth my age, it was time for me to be interviewed by my Bishop. He was a young…
I am one of the many men who was repeatedly sexually shamed in interviews. This line of specific and graphic sexual questioning took place since I was 12 years old and lasted until after my mission. I was grilled about it explicitly by bishops, stake presidents, mission presidents, and young men’s leaders. Even now as…
I had been molested by one of my brothers friends for several years between 11 & 14. This boy would sneak into my bedroom at night when he thought I was asleep. We finally moved and I felt it was something I needed to talk to someone about it but didn’t feel comfortable talking to…
i was constantly asked as from 14-18 if I was masturbating by my ward leader; my bishop referred to it as, self abuse. I had struggled with that before, but had stopped. I felt ashamed for feeling uncomfortable discussing with my bishop, because it was basically understood at that time that I would be separated…
My uncle started molesting me when I was 6 years old. At my 8 year baptismal interview I “confessed” what my uncle was doing. My bishop told me he would make sure and “handle it”, and stressed the importance of my baptism and how it would “wash me clean again.” It continued for years…. When…
Like most children do, at the age of 11 or 12 I began feeling sexual urges within myself. I’ve come to learn that these urges are normal and are a part of our bodies maturing into adulthood in preparation for sex. But, what I didn’t know at the time was that anyone else ever felt…