criticism of latter day saints

Views on sexuality: Deborah Laake and Colleen McDannell say that the church takes a repressive stance towards sexuality and that this may be psychologically unhealthy. Affirmation, a Mormon LGBT organization, and Ed Decker, a critic of the LDS Church, both state that the repressive attitude of the church may—in extreme cases—lead to suicide, as in the case of 16-year-old Kip Eliason, who committed suicide because of the stresses that resulted when his LDS bishop told him that masturbation was sinful. In January 1982, the church's First Presidency issued a letter to local leaders stating that they had "interpreted oral sex as constituting an unnatural, impure, or unholy practice." The letter was not distributed to the general membership. This letter also instructed local leaders not to inquire into the specifics of married members' sex lives. However, this portion of the letter was often ignored, and in response to letters of protest from members, another letter was issued to local leaders in October reiterating the prohibition on inquiring into specific sexual practices. Views on homosexuality: Scott Thumma and Affirmation.org contend that the LDS Church is homophobic. Affirmation.org cites a faithful, celibate, gay Latter-day Saint who shortly before his suicide wrote: "Straight members have absolutely no idea what it is like to grow up gay in this church. It is a life of constant torment, self-hatred and internalized homophobia." Church leaders have agreed to meet with Affirmation to discuss these concerns. "God Loveth His Children", a pamphlet produced by the LDS Church, acknowledges that many gays "have felt rejected because members of the Church did not always show love." It criticizes those members, and challenges gays to show love and kindness so the members can "change their attitudes and follow Christ more fully". Gay historian D. Michael Quinn has hypothesized that early church leaders had a more tolerant view of homosexuality, and that several early church leaders and prominent members, including Louie B. Felt, May Anderson, Evan Stephens, and presiding patriarch Joseph Fielding Smith, may have either had homosexual tendencies or were involved in homosexual relationships. George Mitton and Rhett S. James do not dispute that some early members may have had homosexual tendencies, but they call Quinn's assertion of tolerance a distortion of church history and it has little support from other historians. They state the current leadership of the church "is entirely consistent with the teachings of past leaders and with the scriptures." In the early 1970s, Ford McBride did research in electro-shock therapy while a student at Brigham Young University (BYU) on volunteer homosexual students to help cure them of ego-dystonic sexual orientation. This was a standard type of aversion therapy used to treat homosexuality, which was considered a mental illness at the time. BYU is owned by the church, but the church allows its researchers to conduct research independently. As church president, Gordon B. Hinckley encouraged church members to reach out to homosexuals with love and understanding. This sparked criticism and protests from the Westboro Baptist Church at Hinckley's funeral. Affirmation.org has particularly criticized sexual repression of gays, both inside and outside of the church. A letter dated June 20, 2008, sent to Mormon bishops and signed by the First Presidency, called on Mormons to donate "means and time" to a California ballot measure designed to defeat the state's May ruling allowing same-sex marriage. Richard and Joan Ostling point out that the LDS Church actively campaigns against same-sex marriage statutes, including donating $500,000 in 1998 towards a campaign to defeat such a referendum in Alaska. The church's support (80 to 90 percent of the early volunteers who walked door-to-door in election precincts and as much as half of the nearly $40 million raised) of California's Proposition 8 in 2008 sparked heated debate and protesting by gay-rights organizations. The church's political involvement and stance on homosexuality is denounced by the 2010 documentary film 8: The Mormon Proposition.