LDS Gays in the Temple

Some people are confused about temple worthiness and open homosexuality. It is confusing. Can we make sense of it?

Right now it seems to be true that an LDS person probably won't be denied a temple recommend unless he voluntarily states to his ecclesiastical leader that he physically acts on his same-sex sexual lusts. But neither will a person who is addicted to pornography, a person who harbors adulterous sexual desires, or a person who supports gay marriage or abortion. (For some reason the Church has decided that we---they single out elected officials but the principle must apply to all citizens---don't have to be in agreement with publicly stated Church positions on political/moral issues in order to answer truthfully the temple interview question about supporting our leaders. See LDS.org, Political Neutrality.) Does this make these people anywhere near pure and holy? There are many ways to commit sin, so obviously not. In truth, none of us are very pure or good. The good news of the gospel is that we can all come closer to godliness by repenting continually and humbly relying on the merits of Christ. We can continually be convinced of our sinful natures, reject any impure thoughts and desires, and be forgiven through the Lord. But this takes some spiritual work, some humble repentance. And that word repentance doesn't seem to appear in the LDS gay vocabulary.

Here are some words that do appear in the LDS gay vocabulary. Certain male temple recommend holders are quite public about their penchant for "buddymoons," "mandates," "gaycations,"  and "bromances." (All of these made-up words, though some may be used jokingly by straight people, are rooted in perverse sex and sexuality when used by gays.)  Apparently open LDS male gays, married and sealed to women, can advertize their obsession with same-sex sexual lust to the whole world via the internet without consequence.  In fact, these individuals are held up as a light. (See northstarlds.org.)

One man is emboldened enough to relate online his experiences of lusting in the endowment room of the temple. His narrative sounds like titillating language in a cheap romance novel, only it's about people of the same sex which escalates it to pornography; ex-gays report that everything about homosexuality is pornographic. In another instance, when this man was escorting  a youth group to do baptisms in the temple, he wrote of his uncontrolled lusting experience toward a male youth in a towel in the dressing room, and his physical sexual reactions. Please note that this person by his own admission is an endowed married man with children. This material is published on his blog for all to see; this is gay porn.

We say lusting is a mental choice, an act, but for those who don't agree, surely writing and publishing this trash is most definitely a physical act, but apparently still one not worthy of needing help, repentance, warning, or discipline. 

It's strange that prominent advocates of the innocence and wholesomeness of the claimed LDS gay identity deny that homosexual attraction is sexual like heterosexual attraction is. Wrong. Not only is it sexual, but compared to normal hetero attraction, it is quickly escalated, wildly obsessive and exaggerated, and totally out-of-place, as can be seen on these men's blogs. It knows no age limits, no appropriateness, no inner self-restraint, no, not even in the temple. It is one-track, physical-only, oversexualized, lust of the flesh. Certainly, decent heterosexuals do not carry on these types of thoughts about random strangers, much less people they know, in the temple or anywhere else. They may happen to notice attractive people but that's as far as it goes. They don't sexualize them. They know they are supposed to keep their sexual feelings focused, and focused properly, on their spouse alone. And if they wander even the slightest bit, even in their thoughts, they know they are in need of some serious repenting. Again, the word repentance is not in the LDS gay dictionary.

The Church measures worthiness a lot more leniently here on earth than God does in the eternal sense. We know that God holds us accountable for our thoughts and desires as well as our actions, whereas the Church administration holds us accountable, when it comes to formal discipline, only for certain actions. But of course all true followers of Christ, including temple-going Latter-Day Saints, must strive to keep even the appetites and desires of their hearts within God's boundaries. If they don't, not only are their hearts and minds and souls spotted and unclean but they are poised and primed to act on these mental lusts with their bodies.

So yes, anyone can be active in church and hold a temple pass, but whether or not we are clean and forgiven (pure and holy) through Christ before God may be totally different story. We see this in a dramatic way when respected people in authoritative ecclesiastical positions are caught in secret illegal, immoral acts that began with impure and unholy desires, such as a seminary teacher in our area who was arrested for depraved sexual relations with a student. There may be legal consequences and outward Church discipline, but of course the real work is done inside themselves; they can always repent, get professional help if needed, experience the mighty change of heart, and begin again on their spiritual journey, as can we all.

We all experience sinful tendencies of some kind or other which do not interfere with the type of worthiness our Church requires for full participation. The important thing, if we care about self-respect, our character, God and eternal life, is to continually resist that which is impure and unholy and keep our inner selves in line with God's will, as Jesus exemplified. Our hope for those who experience homosexual attractions is that they will put aside the politically correct propaganda of the times, get humble, get the right kind of support, and strive to overcome these wayward desires no matter the difficulty or time it takes, motivated by love for God. Heavenly Father's plan is to make us inwardly holy, fit for His presence.

How does this affect the rest of us? Not only should we be uncomfortable with open, unrepentant sexual perverts having access to the temple ( if you doubt their existence and the salacious character of the material we have referred to here do a google search for mormon gay blog; there are plenty bold enough to broadcast their proclivities); not only should we object to avowed gays being allowed in temple locker rooms and rest rooms (it's even more unfair and inappropriate than generally allowing opposites sexes to share these facilities because of the total pornographic sexual preoccupation of emboldened gays); not only that, but we should care about the condition of their precious immortal souls. These people have given themselves up to filthy lusts, and nobody seems to care.

In fact, as a people we seem to be encouraging these individuals' depravity. Yes, the Church is for sinners, as we all are, but we are supposed to desire to repent and improve, not accommodate and glory in sin. Even within churches founded on Holy Scripture, homosexuality is not being called a sin, a disorder, or an illness anymore, but rather righteous, orderly, and healthy. By the way, there was recently a conference held specifically to help Mormon gays feel comfortable and accepting of their homosexual desires and fantasies as it relates to their religion, called Reconciling Faith and Feelings, in other words, giving an ecclesiastical green light to homosexual lust as seen on these ridiculous pornographic blogs we've mentioned, repentance unnecessary.

Our bodies (including our minds) are temples. We attend temples. Both are supposed to be treated with "Holiness to the Lord." Instead, we've turned them both into free lust zones.

Note: If there are any who self-identify as "gay" but who quite incredibly claim their SSA is "nonsexual," who claim they don't participate in same-sex lust/ behaviors, they need to know that they are nevertheless supporting and affiliating themselves with an abominable sin and setting themselves up for exploitation and experimentation. We actually think there are no such people, unless mentally ill or deficient.