I was taught for years in church that I was responsible for the thoughts in a man’s head. That if a guy was turned on, it had to be caused by something that I did- whether it was my choice of clothes, something I said, or whatever. I was also told that men lose control…
I grew up in the LDS church. My sister still practices and is active in the church. My parents are semi-active. I left the church as an adult after realizing that I did not agree with the practices of the LDS church. I was subject to intensively intimidating interviews such as this and realized how…
Growing up, my mother and I were the only ethnic people in the ward. I generally blended in since my skin is fair but that changed when I hit puberty. Suddenly I had wide hips and was the only girl wearing a real bra. I got a lot of comments from adults and I guess…
My brother has suffered for 20+ years because of the extreme shaming coinciding with sexually explicit questioning. It was only about a year ago that he shared his tearful story with me. My brother was a “pleaser” from a young age. He strove to be a model Mormon, citizen and son. As his teenage years…
As a young boy going through puberty, I didn’t know what was going on with my body. I was changing. I remember when I was very young how painful my erections were, and I didn’t know what it meant or why it was happening. I’m sure they talked about it in the maturation program at…
I grew up in a “happy” devout Mormon family; and yet I felt completely isolated and alone my entire childhood. My sister and step-dad had such obvious contempt for me we rarely spoke. My mother admitted to me on multiple occasions that she felt she had lost the bond with me as an infant. So…
Hello! My name is William and I am celebrating my 28th birthday today… Even though I am so grateful to have another year of life, there were times where it was not that easy…. Confusing aspects of sexuality in my childhood started around 7 years of age, where my bishop at the time, had to…
Where to start? So many instances though 4 stick out in my mind the most. I think my experiences were more of the run-of-the-mill variety – though it’s sad to have to say that at all. TL;DR: As a child I ruined an important relationship with my mentor/leader due to what I confessed during an…
When I was a little girl, I was sexually abused by my older brothers and an older cousin. I was 3 when the abuse started. It happened almost daily until I was 9 years old. When my parents found out what happened, they took my brothers and I all to see our bishop. In an…
I grew up in the church. From a young age, I was taught the church’s “law of chastity” from church materials such as the pamphlet “For the Strength of Youth”. This pamphlet says, among other things, that sexual sins are more serious than any other sins except for murder and denying the Holy Ghost, that…