I just finished reading “Voices of Hope” compiled by Ty Mansfield.
Quick Take: I loved the first-person accounts. Very helpful for an ally of the gay community to hear so many varied perspectives.
Longer Take:
“Voices of Hope” is a collection of first-person accounts of those trying to live the gospel of Jesus Christ while at the same time dealing with same-gender attraction.
The book is divided into various sections (e.g. Inclusion, Priesthood Leaders, Eternal Marriage, etc.). Each section contains an essay by an LDS author (e.g. Brad Wilcox, Robert L. Millet, Camille Fronk Olson, etc.) related to same-gender attraction. Each section then includes the stories of varied members of the church as they have tried to square their life as followers of Jesus Christ with their sexual orientation.
The essays were a bit of a mixed bag. Some gave me a new understanding of this complicated topic, while others went on for a long time but didn’t seem to say much. So, if you are looking for a doctrinal explanation of same-gender attraction this is not the book.
But if you want to better understand the struggle of those who try and navigate life in the church with the reality of “not fitting the mould”, this is a fantastic resource. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the various first-person accounts. There were major variances in how people approached this challenge and I believe my ability to understand and empathize will be improved from reading this book.
Some of My Favourite Quotes:
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