When he began by saying he loves everyone, I thought “Oh no, here we go, he’s about to tell a bunch of people things that sounds like he does not love them.”
He preached that only cisgender couples sealed together in a marriage of a husband & wife will make it to the celestial kingdom. The rest of you are going to a lower kingdom. He tries to soften it by saying those are also kingdoms of glory, but it feels like the Mormon version of go to hell. ‘Get thee to a lower kingdom, the Celestial is reserved for people like us.’
Even as he talks, I think the seeds of a more expansive view are in the words but he doesn’t recognize it. For example, he talks about people being judged by their desires.
I know many gay men who married a woman and had children but eventually things end in divorce. The desire of their heart is for what the Church teaches even though they were not made by their Creator to fit that kind of covenant between a man & wife. Many other gay people also want that sort of story but know they are not made for marriage to an opposite-gender spouse and don’t enter such a relationship. If God is judging on our desires, I don’t see how that means locked out of exaltation and eternal glory.
I could continue on with specifics he said, but here’s the thing, he knows how this will be received, he’s given some version of this talk again and again over the years. How about talking about what is the purpose of life for trans & gay people? Talk to us about our place, what hope can we have? What possibilities are open to us?
It’s hard to hold on and feel hopeful on days like today when it feels like the top leaders gave us a boot to the face. It’s times like this I feel like I’m done, this church clearly doesn’t want me and doesn’t know what to do with queer people. I believe queer people are included in God’s Plan, but not in the Church’s version of that plan.
All I know is that God loves all of Their children and wants us to love everyone.
The first part of this talk also talked about (religious) freedom, the divinity of agency, and how important it is to have the right to choose.
…Then the rest of the talk seemed to be about, “Except not thesechoices.”
