When Grayson Moore, a young transgender Mormon man, initially came out as gay to his devout mother Neca Allgood six years ago, Allgood immediately told Moore she loved him and then spent the evening researching sexual and gender identity. She quickly realized that he might not be gay at all, but rather transgender.
The next day, Allgood sat down with her 16-year-old son in their northern Utah home to explain to him what it meant to be transgender.
She pointed to his body and said, “Here you’re a girl.” Then she pointed to his head and said, “Who are you here?”
http://www.thedailybeast.com/the-mormon ... -lgbt-kids
“I have a boy’s soul,” said Grayson, who is also a member of the Mormon Church.
“When he said that, that was just so clear to me that I needed to help him make his life match his soul,” she said. With the help of his mom, Moore has since made a female-to-male transition, and Allgood is now the president of Mama Dragons, a support group for mothers of LGBTQIA children, most of whom have some connection with the Mormon Church.
But at the same time, Allgood has also remained an active member of the Mormon Church, a faith whose doctrine or institutional policies appear to sometimes stand in opposition to her work for acceptance and support of her son and all members of the LGBTQ community.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ (LDS) stance on same-sex relationships states that any sexual relations between two people who are the same gender are sinful. “Sexual relations are proper only between a man and a woman who are legally and lawfully wedded as husband and wife,” according to its website.
The faith, made up of some 15 million members, doesn’t have a clear stance on transgender-related issues, but it isn’t known for updating a person’s gender on its official church records if the individual is transgender, said Allgood.
Because they don't know what to do with this situation.
“Mormon men are all ordained to the priesthood, but they won’t ordain my son,” said Allgood.
Because they don't know what to do with this situation.
Where's the clear leadership from the Paid General Authorities for the Church's unpaid volunteer local leadership? Where's the clear policy or procedure (beyond, "err....well...do nothing)? Where's the divine leadership in all this that the Church claims it is uniquely authorised to wield?
It's. Not. There.
Bet he gets his microphone cut if he starts testifying that God loves him as he is.
The only way the Church is going to change its stance on this type of situation is for the membership to speak up with enough volume to make them listen. I don't mean members going inactive.
I mean if enough members:
- stopped paying tithing
- stopped attending any meeting or program beyond Scrament meeting
- refused to serve in callings
- turned down speaking assignments
Then (barring government financial sanction) a "revelation" would be forthcoming.
Of the 5.5 million active members, if 1 million did what I'm suggesting, I think a change would come.
The Church has form for this kind of thing.