My story is not as bad as many others’ because I was lucky enough to have friends who told me what happened to them when they confessed to sexual “sins” and abuse. Growing up it was an open secret that if you told your bishop you did anything sexual, he would interrogate you with questions…
I grew up in a Mormon household. We were considered religious by my family friends outside of Utah, but moving back when I was 12 changed everything. My relationship with my bishops before we moved to Utah were very respectful and considerate of social boundaries. However, when I was 8 and before I was baptized,…
I had to confess to my older white male bishop that I had watched porn at age 13 without anyone else present. I left church early crying in shame. Went home loathing myself only to find my mother who mocked me and shamed me because obviously I did something wrong since I left the bishop…
As a young boy, I only ever wanted to do what’s right, be honest, and grow in the church. Around the age of 12, I had my first experience with pornography. I was naive and innocent, and was curious about some webpage my friends had found. I felt miserable, knowing that what I had seen…
I was not abused during or because of these interviews, but the affects of these interviews haunt me to this day. Ever since my first experience with masturbation, these interviews caused me to hate myself. I was told how weak and sinful I was because of masturbation. I was yelled at and punish by my…
In my teen years, my bishop interviewed me regarding masturbation and watching pornography. He would ask very detailed questions regarding how frequently I masturbated, how I felt, whether the pornography was “soft-core” or “hard-core”. He would tell me that what I was doing was a sin against god, equal to adultery, and that part of…
You always heard about the boys that masturbate, and that always seemed more acceptable. Like it was something expected because men weren’t strong enough to control their urges. You never heard about the girls. And I figured out that it was something I enjoyed doing, and I did it. I knew it was wrong, but…
I wish I was brave enough to post my name, but my family is still unaware of my faith transition. I feel like a coward. My heart is beating rapidly in nervousness as I type this out. But I need to do it. I grew up in an extremely dysfunctional family. My dad was a…
I was born in the church and presented as a very devout, chaste and faithful girl my whole life. It wasn’t an act. For the most part, I really was. But I had a secret : I masturbated. I was never asked about this, and masturbation was never addressed in YW. I came away with…
When I turned 12 I had a really cool bishop. During interviews he would basically say “I don’t want to know what you did just don’t do it again”. He was awesome. Then when I turned 16 they released the cool bishop and put in a bishop that was the complete opposite. This guy wanted…