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Our special Christmas Morning release on Mormon Stories Podcast includes an interview with Tom Christofferson about his book “That We May Be One.”

Tom shares the story of voluntary excommunication from the LDS Church in order to live his life as a gay man—a life that included a fulfilling relationship with a partner and acceptance from his family including brother D. Todd Christofferson—Apostle in the LDS Church. Sensing a void in his spiritual life, Tom began attending a local meetinghouse of the Church with the support of its leadership. Over time his relationship with his partner ended and his relationship with the Church began again.

We ask Tom about his experience outlined in his book and delve deeper into the impacts his returning to the church had on his relationship with his partner, and on his spiritual self. We also ask Tom tougher questions about whether his brother’s apostleship affords him greater privilege as a member of the Mormon LGBTQ community, his thoughts on the November 2015 policy on children of same-sex parents denied baptism, and his being held up as a role model (intended or not) for Mormon LGBTQ youth to choose a life of celibacy in the LDS Church.

We thank Tom for this fascinating interview and hope it furthers the conversation on reconciling sexuality with faith!

Tom's book - That we may be one
https://www.amazon.com/That-We-May-On...

Caitlyn Ryan - Family acceptance project
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caitlin...)

Pt 2:    • Mormon Stories #846: Tom Christofferson - ...  
Pt 3:    • Mormon Stories #847: Tom Christofferson - ...  

00:00 Introduction
08:52 Tom's early experiences
10:00 What did faith mean in the family?
14:27 Hating middleschool - highschool got better
15:06 The traditional church teachings about the cause of homosexuality. Nature vs nurture
21:05 'Trying and make it go away.'
22:17 Suicidal ideation
27:49 Coming home from mission - feeling 'fixed'
29:22 Marriage. What made it hard for him - and for her. Lasted for a year
32:01 Finding from Johns study: people in mixed orientation marriage have a lower quality of life than debilitating diseases
35:51 How about divorce rates for mixed orientation marriages?
37:46 Learning the big lesson. Discovering a path for himself
42:00 Carolyn Pearson quote - 'whe trow them into the gutter and expect them not to get dirty'.
43:02 Meeting his future partner
51:05 Three things Tom loves most about his relationship
52:10 Twelve years into the relationship, the church starts stepping back in
53:40 Tom's church status - asking for excommunication after the marriage
56:29 LGBT members that were excommunicated reported the highest quality of life.
59:57 Over 40% of the respondents reported a spiritual experience affirming their identity
1:01:10 Miserable mormon pretending not to be gay, happy gay person not being mormon, now a happy gay person who is mormon