This flyer was posted in a Reddit a couple of days ago. It touted a Sunday night event! “Bring your friends and enjoy the refreshments afterwards.” Oh, it also started out like this:
Confused about the confusion about same-gender attraction?
The event would have a professional counselor. This counselor would explain to you that while you’ve heard over and over again that people are born gay, etc… this was not true.
It is not just a matter of opinion, but of revelation and of social science: People can and do overcome same-gender attraction and enjoy rich, full lives with marriage partners of the opposite sex without regrets.
Sounds like a fun event. Unfortunately the event seems to have been canceled.
Michael D. Williams, the Rexburg, Idaho-based counselor in question, told The Daily Beast “that I do not act on behalf of the [LDS Church], but as a member of the congregation who has taken a good look at much of the research regarding same-sex attraction [SSA], and who has assisted a number of young adults—male and female—to overcome unwanted SSA both here and in California.”
[...]
“I regret that the fears of some who’ve experienced repression and bigotry have resulted in others not being allowed to learn alternative viewpoints and options,” he said.
Alternative viewpoints and options. Here’s a viewpoint about conversion therapy:
So-called “conversion therapy” is a range of dangerous and discredited practices that falsely claim to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity or expression. Such practices have been rejected by every mainstream medical and mental health organization of decades, but due to continuing discrimination and societal bias against LGBT people, some practitioners continue to conduct conversion therapy. Minors are especially vulnerable, and conversion therapy can lead to depression, anxiety, drug use, homelessness, and suicide.
That opinion is based on science and studying facts as opposed to magic that was created, in the Mormon’s case, around 1830. Here’s some magic from counselor Williams’ own blog:
One can imagine the tension inherent in a situation where congregants regularly discuss the divine role of marriage between a woman and a man in becoming more like our eternal parents. “Daddy-Daughter Dates” could be a source of great pain and humiliation in households where one has “two daddies” or “two mommies”.
Imagine the challenges for the eleven-year old Boy Scout who cannot attend overnight camp without his father present, when there is no such clear relationship.
Eternal parents? Who is that? God and wife God? Daddy God and Mommy God?
If they keep up with these shenanigans, at this rate, the Mormon Church isn’t going to have a future.