I stand with you

I write stories set in Utah and with characters who live there. It’s where I grew up and I am—even more so as I continue into my 40s—interested in examining the place and people I grew up with. That means taking a hard look at the culture of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Full disclosure: I was baptized a member in the church at eight years old and ordained into the first two levels of Priesthood at 12 and 14. Soon after, I stopped going. I currently attend a non-denominational Christian church. My ideas about horror and religion, Christianity in particular, are often in conflict and other times, surprisingly to many, perfectly aligned.

One area of personal belief that conflicts with Christian culture and especially Mormon culture is my support for the LGBTQA+ community. I read the recent Brigham Young University conference speech from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland and and both flabbergasted and not surprised. Holland is a former president of the church-operated university and currently a member of the Quorum of the Twelve (the church has a three-person First Presidency, then the “12” that form the top two levels of leadership. Yes, the 15 members of these two divisions are all old white men). While saying that church members have prayed and cried with other members as they struggle with “same-sex” issues, he also reintroduces the idea of “musket fire” in regards to combating the influx of tolerance and acceptance of LGBTQ lifestyles within the church.

Friends and readers, I want you to know that while I portray characters within this culture, I do not agree with these sentiments. Holland may be speaking of metaphorical musket fire, but the implications of violence against those in the LGBTQ community is unacceptable. You may read characters within my work that hold these ideas and that is because my fiction would be dishonest if I did not have characters who believe such things within my pages. But I hope to also portray realistic struggles within my pages. Not every character I write will support the LBGTQA+ community and, additionally, many of them hold misogynistic, racist, and classist ideals. Many people who grow up in the church don’t even realize they have grown up with such “values” in their daily lives. Holland’s speech, however, should make it clear: no amount of praying and crying will ever change into actual support.

I stand with you.

I’m going one step further: I call on other university athletic departments to boycott games and matches against BYU. Intolerance from the highest levels of church leadership should not be rewarded with the funds that come along from major college athletics.

You’ll see Mormon characters in my work that I believe are genuinely good people who have institutionalized ideals that they have not yet been pushed to grow away from. I will be pushing them because that is also an honest depiction. Not every character will become a better person, because sadly, that is not how the world works (yet).

As always, think you for taking a chance on my books and this post.

Catch you on the flipside.