Queer Mormon Theology Quotes

“In Gethsemane, Jesus experienced the pains of a person dying of cancer. He experienced what it is like to be a queer kid who is constantly bullied. He experienced the birthing pains of every mother who ever lived or would live. He experienced the embarrassment of a gay boy having an erection at the sight of his school crush in the locker room. He experienced conversion therapy. He experienced rejection. He experienced the brutal physical and psychological attacks that trans women endure. He experienced the acid poured on a woman’s face for her defiance to the patriarchs. He experienced the fear, grief, and sorrow of every parent who has buried their child. He experienced sex slavery. He experienced his first period. He experienced menstruation, not simply from a vagina but from every pore of his body. He experienced rape. He experienced catcalls. He experienced hunger. He experienced disease. He experienced an ectopic pregnancy. He experienced an abortion. He experienced a miscarriage and stillbirth. He experienced the Holocaust. He experienced war – both the killing and being killed. He experienced internment camps. He experienced depression, anxiety, and suicide. He experienced sleeping on the street with the homeless. He experienced the slave master’s whip on his back and the noose around his neck. He knew the fear of every black mother who kissed her son before he left the house, praying he would return home safely. He experienced the effects of unrighteous dominion, corrupt politicians, and all manner of injustice. He experienced the migrant mother with no food or diapers for her baby as she desperately walked north in search of a better life. He experienced having his child taken away from him at the border due to “legal complications.” He experienced it all – every death, every cut, every tear, every pain, every sorrow, every bit of suffering imaginable and beyond imagination. He experienced an onslaught of suffering, which was so great that it took a god to bear it. He experienced death and came through the other side to show us the way.”
― Blaire Ostler, Queer Mormon Theology: An Introduction

“Whether any of us like it or not, queer people are not going away, and every day, queer kids are born into the Church. Their health and safety should be our primary concern. Is there room for them in the church? I want to believe that there is, but the truth of Elder Uchtdorf's comment depends on our ability to make room for people who sit on the margins.”
― Blaire Ostler, Queer Mormon Theology: An Introduction

“Queer abuse, assault, murder, and suicide are realities. Queer Latter-day saints are suffering, even dying. And instead of listening to queer survivors, we debate the statistics and manipulate numbers to displace our communal responsibility to care for the least among us. Too many have attempted to wash their hands of accountability. […] Queer suicide among Latter-day saints is a reality, and we all play a role in it when we cultivate an environment that rejects queer identities and relationships. Through our action and inaction, we are sending a clear message to queer Latter-Day saints, you don’t belong here.”
― Blaire Ostler, Queer Mormon Theology: An Introduction