These are personal accounts of the negative consequences that inappropriate interviews have had on people.
When I was 12 years old, I had sexual feelings from touching my vagina. I told my LDS Bishop about these feelings and he threatened to Excommunicate me from the Church if I didn’t stop. He and his wife were good friends of my parents. His attitudes only made me continue the behavior and to…
I grew up in Kirkland Washington and moved to Utah when I was 10 years old. I was not a member of the church. I had always had a lot of friends but the culture in Utah was different. I was friendly and would try to make friends but was told they already had a…
I have a few stories so I’ll keep them brief. A bit of background, I’m a 21 year old woman from a multi generational Mormon family on my mom’s side and second generation on my dad’s side. I’ve watched the church erode our family and extended family. I left when I was 19 and have…
I am a biromantic asexual female. As I started realizing I had feelings for other girls, I became progressively more guilty about having urges to pursue romantic relationships with them. I had heard of LDS youth getting kicked out of their homes for being LGBT, so I was scared to talk to my parents about…
Thank you for your work. Your work helps us to be safe, even though I couldn’t convince my teenagers that it is good to have a parent with them in Bishop interviews because no one else encourages them to do this. No one is allowed to speak about safety guidelines at Church and the…
I first stated masturbation at a young age. It was a secret I kept. I felt awkward about it when other boys talked about it as they learned about sex from their parents and I did not. I didn’t think much of it until I remember seeing a video with my Mormon peers which claimed…
When I was 15, I was called in for my tithing meeting by the 1st counselor of my ward. I was asked if I had participated in bestiality. I did not know what he was asking me. I had to ask a lot of peers and do a lot of research to figure it out.…
Approximately 11 years ago I was busy with work and school as well as dealing mentally with the loss of my mom to suicide a few years prior. I let my bishop know that I needed a blessing. I told him I was taking Benadryl to sleep a lot through a depression. The bishop at…
This happened in Marseille, France approximately in 1969. I was being interviewed by my Branch President for a Patriarchal Blessing. I was 18/19 years old at the time. After asking if I had any sexual activities of any kind (I do not remember the specifics) I was asked if I ever had any sexual intercourse…
I am sharing my story in hopes that it helps others to know they are not alone in their feelings, in their experiences and in their trauma, but also to raise awareness to the reality of the unhealthy culture and environment of the church for our children. I would love to see change for future…