I was sexually assaulted as a youth. The church teachings of no sexual relations before marriage caused me years of guilt and shame. At the time my good bishop told me it was not my fault, I was still considered a “virgin,” never look back and let it go. I did that as best as…
I grew up in the 70’s. My dad is mentally ill –probably a mix of Asperger’s (back when there was that), Bipolar, OCD, and PTSD. He’s never been professionally diagnosed. His symptoms, however are not that complicated. –Not that different from a 2-3 yo with sensory overload or impossible to manage frustration or confusion. –only…
My first experience of sexual abuse was from a member of my bishopric when I was ten. He practiced ritualistic abuse using scriptures, twisted covenants, and his leadership position to sexually abuse and torture me for 9 months, including at least one instance in our church building. He convinced me that we do not share…
I know this petition is aimed at ending one-on-one interviews with children, but these interviews can be damaging to adults as well. I’d like to see the practice changed altogether. No child should be subjected to one-on-one interviews period, and no one – child or adult – should feel the religious pressure to sit through…
When I was a sophomore in high school I joined the Mormon church. I had been a member for 6 months when I joined a club at school, and was elected to State Office. For a year and a half I traveled around the state and country with the other state officers and our chaperone/advisor.…
At age 13, I was sexually abused by a school teacher (LDS). When I finally worked up the courage to talk to my Bishop, he told me that I had jeopardized the temple marriage and celestial standing of this man, but I could be forgiven. He made suggestions like take cold showers and sleep with…
I will tell my story anonymously as it the internal and external impact Church teaching around sexuality and expectations of worthiness evaluations by Church leaders still impacts me substantially. If a leader in the Church takes seriously these stories including mine, and wishes to communicate with me about the harm they have done, I will…
It took me reading so many stories to gather the courage to tell my own. While the suffering felt by all is incalculable, my story is nightmarish. When I was 12 or so, my family moved to Idaho right around the exact time anew bishopric was called. Of course, we didn’t know any of them…
I am not comfortable telling everything, but I will say I was asked the following questions in an interview when I was 15 or 16 when I confessed to looking at porn and masturbating. This isn’t a complete list. This was 15 years ago or so: What kind of porn was it? Did you watch…
I was thirteen or so when I was asked by a member of the bishopric if I touched myself. Of course, I lied. I barely knew this man. This was shortly after I was sexually abused by my ” best friends “, who happened to be the bishop’s twin daughters. They were younger than myself…