Read The Stories

Warning: Sexually Explicit content.

Legend for Consequences Suffered (CS):

Inappropriate shame and guilt
Childhood self-loathing
Adulthood self-loathing
Normalizing children to sexual questions by adult men. (Grooming)
Sexual abuse. (Pedophilia)
Impaired sexual relations after marriage.
Years of recovery from childhood shaming. Often lasting decades.
Suicide Ideation
Attempted Suicide
Suicide of a loved one or friend.

#80 Name Hidden. CS: 5

I wish I could share the details but the victims don’t want to go public. A man I loved and trusted as much as my own dad was a Bishop…

#79 Jimmy W. CS: 1,2,3,4,6,7,8

Three stories in one… When I was young, I anticipated the day I would drive a car. I would sit in the car in the driveway and practice shifting the…

#78 Logan H. CS: 1,2,3,4. Other: Sexual abuse as an adult

I was taught and groomed to believe that men were standing between me and god. That they were acting as gods representative. I do not remember large parts of childhood,…

#77 W.H. CS: 1,2,3,6,7

Looking back now, I can see that I have always been very interested in sex. Even as a young kid of six or seven years I liked being naked and…

#76 Name Hidden. CS: 1,2,3,4,6,7,8

My first experience with church leaders asking me about pornography or masturbation happened when I was about 12. I had always been curious about sexuality since most of my friends…

#75 Name Hidden. CS: 1,2,3,6,7

I turned 12 and was given a copy of the “For the Strength of the Youth” pamphlet as I entered the Young Women’s program. Shortly after, I was interviewed by…

#73 Name Hidden CS: 1,4

In a private interview with my bishop as a child, he asked me if I obeyed the law of chastity. I was young and didn’t know what it meant and…

#72 Amy P. CS: 1,2,3,5,6,7,8,9

I was inspired by former Bishop Sam Young’s campaign to end teen interviews with bishops for the plethora of reasons he has outlined. I have been wanting to share my…

#70 Name Hidden. CS: 1,2,7. Other: Lasting fear and anxiety about sex, damage to relationships and friendships

I grew up in a traditional Mormon family. As a teenage boy, I could always tell I was a very sexual person. I had an intense curiosity about sex from…

#69 John B. CS: 6,7. Other: Questions about bestiality while preparing for my mission

I was raised LDS and was a believing devout member as I prepared for my mission in my senior year of high school. I left for my mission a week…

#68 Name Hidden CS: 1,2,4,6

When I was 6, my brother and I played “doctor”. I had no idea at the time there was anything wrong with the game, we were nearly playing make believe.…

#66 Name Hidden. CS: 1,3,4,5,6,7,8

When I was in my mid-30’s, my father admitted to me that he molested me when I was a very young child. He said that he “took care of it”…

#65 Name Hidden. CS: 1,2,3,6,7,8

As a girl, I never heard any messages directed to the young women about masturbation, which made me feel like I must be especially bad because I couldn’t stop doing…

#64 Dan M. CS: 1,3

Hi. I didn’t grow up LDS, but I did have a “problem” with masturbation. I had done it before I became a member (around 25 years old) and had no…

#63 Melissa E. CS: 1,3

I don’t have the horror stories that some people have, but I have a few incidents to relate. First, when I was about thirteen, Elizabeth Smart was kidnapped. I was…

#62 Name Hidden. CS: Other: No permanent damage.

I am the mother of two grown and married daughters with their own children. We have all signed the petition Sam started because we felt it to be important. As…

#61 Lisa B. CS: 1,2,3,4,6,7,8,9

The first interview I remember was my pre-baptism interview when I was 8. The bishop took me into his office, having my parents wait outside. He asked me a lot…

#60 Name Hidden. CS: 1,2,3,4,6,7

I turned twelve in 1973, while living in Cache Valley, Utah. I spent the two years I was a Deacon in the Aaronic Priesthood in Utah. I do not recall…

#59 Brian M. CS: 1,3

I was a good kid. Didn’t smoke, didn’t drink, over 4.0 GPA, seminary president (out of Utah, had to wake up at 4:30 every morning.) My only “problem” was I…

#58 Name Hidden. CS: 7

I just recently learned of this interview. My son sustained a broken back that took nearly a year to heal. He often missed church. You could not meet a kinder…

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