Within the last few years, the Mormon faith has been forced to confront issues of gender and sexual orientation. Traditionally, Latter Day Saints doctrines only support heterosexual marriage and consider same-sex couplings as contrary to the Divine plan. In addition, the religion often bars transgender people from serving in church leadership or even attending some worship services. However, LGBTQ Mormons have challenged their religion’s status quo and are demanding understanding, change and inclusion. While the LGBTQ community has made some strides, the road to acceptance remains difficult.

Teen Mormon’s Coming Out Makes National News

With June traditionally being Pride month, news stories about people coming out as LGBTQ are unsurprising. However, one Mormon teenager’s experience in her church made headlines recently. The young Utah woman, only known as Savannah, went before her congregation in May during one of her church’s testimony meetings to reveal that she is a lesbian. “No part of me is a mistake,” she stated in her speech, as documented by a June 22 New York Times article. “I do not choose to be this way, and it is not a fad.”

Unfortunately, what initially gained media attention was the fact that her microphone was cut off during her speech. Despite church leadership’s apparent rejection of her message, Savannah remains undaunted. “There’s been a lot of homicides or deaths, and a lot of [LGBTQ individuals] have been kicked out from their house [sic] because they have not been accepted by their parents, and that’s really hard,” she told the New York Times. “So I wanted some change.”

Current Mormon Doctrine Is Not Inclusive

Nevertheless, Savannah’s conscience and beliefs are in direct conflict with Mormon teachings. Official doctrine specifies that identifying as LGBTQ or having same-sex attraction does not preclude membership or participation in church ministries. At the same time, a March 2016 piece in The Atlantic revealed some troubling updates to LDS policies in November 2015, including:

• The declaration of Mormons in same-sex marriages as apostates, with possible excommunication as punishment
• The exclusion of children from same-sex households from participation in religious rites until age 18
• The requirement that children in same-sex families denounce their parents’ relationships in order to rejoin the church

Moreover, the LDS is no better in its treatment of transgender congregants. A February 2015 article in Slate disclosed that trans Mormons who elect to have gender-confirming surgeries of any kind are subject to church discipline, prohibition from certain worship rites and exclusion from the priesthood. These policies can also affect trans men who opt for chest reconstructive procedures. Carol Kuruvilla reported on one instance in a March 2016 piece for the Huffington Post. The article featured a young transgender Mormon man potentially risking excommunication if he undergoes top surgery.

LGBTQ Mormons Press for Change

While some LGBTQ Mormons eventually leave their churches, others elect to stay and fight. In 2015, Buzzfeed published an anonymous piece from a queer Mormon woman who had decided not to leave the faith. “I believe that [remaining] puts me in a powerful position,” she stated. “I’m staying in the Mormon church for as long as I can, so that people will hear my voice and come to understand its meaning.”

This young woman is not the only one pushing back against church doctrine. Affirmation is an advocacy organization for LGBTQ Mormons and their families, with a mission to work for understanding and acceptance of these individuals within the Latter Day Saints movement. Additionally, Millennial generation and younger LDS members are also embracing equality and challenging traditional thinking and church policies. With these kinds of activism and opposition growing, there may be hope that the LDS will shift direction and welcome its queer and trans membership without added conditions.