I finally got my letter.

I'd left years ago and never saw the need to resign, but the homophobic, yet somehow divinely revealed "policies" forced my hand. I simply couldn't stand to have my name affiliated with such an anti-gay institution.

I had emailed them in early November, the day after Dehlin revealed their new handbook changes. I emailed them again on Monday to see why I hadn't heard from them. All they sent was a simple 2-line statement, per your request, and see the bishop if you want back in.

I suspect they had already annotated my file that I'm gay. I'd spoken to my bishop about it before I left. Since then, I founded a gay BYU group on Yahoogroups (still somewhat active). I have been pretty open on Facebook about my relationship and my disgust with the LDS Church.

The real reason I resigned is that I plan on getting married sometime this year, and I didn't want some local bishop I'd never met convening a court about my "apostasy". I'm apostate because I read church history, not because I've been with a guy for 5 years.

Its not just the homophobia. I'ts the racism. The intellectual dishonesty. It's murders. It's the pedophilia. It's the financial hypocrisy. Its the discrimination of women. It's the cover up of abuse. It is the exploitation of the poor.

Congrats on leaving all of that behind!

I agree, but as a gay man, it's the homophobia that drove me out.

You can be a member and disapprove of the church's 19th C attitudes, but you can't be a gay man and stay in the church. I really left years ago, but this latest blow made it so I didn't even want nominal connection.

I'm glad that you are out. I think that we need to look out for all of us. Muslims, gays, blacks women.


This is one of my sticking points with John Delhin:


He knew about it all, knew it was not true, knew about the sexism, the gay hate, etc, BUT he chose to stay as long as he got to vent online about it.


This church will not go down until we unite and determine that wrong is wrong, even if its not my wrong.

We are all gay. We are all women. We are all the poor, we are all those who remember the abuse, we are all Native Americans who had our culture stolen. We were all lied to.

Dehlin stayed in the church to prevent being labeled "apostate". That allowed TBMs to listen to Mormon Stories without fearing being seduced by the Dark Side. The church knew this, so they publicly exed him to let TBMs know that his podcast was not safe.

I'm sure if you asked a TBM today about Mormon Stories, they would call it an anti-Mormon site.

It feels good to be really out doesn't it?

I had been out for years and thought I wouldn't go along with

the church's requirement for resigning, because I was out when

I said I was out, but then the new Gay Hating policy was

announced and I was so angry that I wanted to resign in protest

so I did on behalf of my lesbian daughter and all the gays and

lesbians who have done nothing to merit this kind of medieval

treatment. The church can eat shit.

I still believe you leave the church when you decide not to come back. I only resigned because I was angry at calling gay couples "apostates" and mandating excommunication. I'm no more nor less out today than I was a year ago.

An interesting fact about my letter: I emailed them November 6th and heard nothing from them. I emailed them again last Monday to ask the status of my request. The letter was dated January 11, so they clearly jumped on it with my 2nd request.

Congratulations on making your departure official!

And congratulations on your upcoming wedding! I'm so happy that it became legal, and I'm so happy for you.

That is interesting. Who knows how long they would have sat on your first request if you hadn't asked for your status.

I know the feeling of that "last straw". If I hadn't already reached that point before Prop 8 came on the scene, it would surely have been the last straw for me. Being officially resigned gives one a clean feeling.

"I simply couldn't stand to have my name affiliated with such an anti-gay institution."

That was my thought exactly! I've been out for decades, but I was so pissed off by that move that it not longer felt like I was quite FAR ENOUGH away from it until I resigned.

I don't want them calling me up if I marry my partner either. So I also resigned in November. Good riddance.

Welcome to the real world!
You are not alone.
It's good to know you are completely out of their clutches.
Congrats on the upcoming marriage.

and your upcoming marriage.

Perhaps your posting will encourage someone to go ahead and do the same if they're so inclined.

If you are interested in a church at all, try the Episcopal church. I like knowing that my gay son and transgender daughter would feel comfortable attending with me.