I really don’t have a great sense of exactly how to communicate just how damaging these one on one bishop interviews involving sexual topics by untrained men with authority for and from the church have been to me so this will probably come off long and not very concise. I think those that read the…
I don’t think my story is anywhere near as hurtful and disturbing as others who have come forward. I offer my respect, love, and support to each of the brave people who have shared their horrific realities with the world through this forum, and I add my voice to the collective voice crying for these…
When I was in my late teens, I was called into the Bishop’s office, out of the blue, and interrogated for over one and half hours, regarding sexual acts that I knew nothing about. With each question the Bishop asked, I answered NO, as I was unaware of what he was talking about. I was…
Those who read my story may well conclude that I have no business posting alongside those who have been subject to the horrors of sexual abuse and assault. My story is perhaps altogether commonplace. I share it because I am convinced that many members of the church of Jesus Christ of latter-day saints have suffered…
My father was in church leadership as were all the males in my family dating back to Joseph Smith himself and are direct descendants of him. My maternal grandfather was a stake president, the first in the stake where I now live. He had a large family and every one of his children as well…
My ex-wife used to masturbate when she was a young woman until our marriage (she was 25). She is a true believer and claims that she didn’t have any bad bishop experiences. Despite what she claims, we had some sexual issues during our marriage and she always thought that it was because she was cursed…
I was ~middle school age when my Mormon leaders started bringing this stuff up and asking me about the same stuff. Wish I’d known back then how messed up it was. In my case. My father drove me late at night to have an “emergency interview” with our Mormon bishop when they found some “magazines”…
When I was in high school I was sexually assaulted by a classmate. When this happened I was totally naive to anything sexual in nature, so obviously I didn’t quite understand what had happened to me or that what had happened was not a normal sexual experience. After some time of feeling guilt, I went…
I haven’t read even one of these stories. I won’t. I can’t let myself read child abuse. I’m 58, BIC, active nearly my entire life. My experience is likely better than most as I remember it. I wasn’t asked directly about masturbation until i was just a month shy of 16, my priest interview. I…
I was a new missionary at the MTC. The MTC President groomed the sister missionaries by constantly praising and complementing us as if he had us on a pedestal. At the same time he was very controlling over our behavior. He wouldn’t allow us to talk much to the Elders and we couldn’t laugh. He…