What happens when a church’s teachings about gender conflict with how you feel inside?

In the final part of our conversation with Stetson Done, we reflect on his story, the process of rebuilding his beliefs, and where he stands with Mormonism today. They discuss the church’s teachings about eternal gender, its policies toward transgender members, and the contrast between how the church responds to trans people and other serious issues within the institution.

The conversation then broadens to address common questions and misconceptions about transgender people, including gender dysphoria, hormone blockers, bathroom access, and transgender athletes.

Together, Stetson and John explore how political polarization shapes conversations about trans people, why transgender identities have become such a contentious issue, and Stetson’s hope that these questions could be approached with more understanding and less political division.

This final part is a conversation about identity, belief, and what it means to listen to people whose experiences challenge what we think we know.

___________________

⁠Show Notes⁠

YouTube

At Mormon Stories we explore, celebrate, and challenge Mormon culture through in-depth stories told by members and former members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as well as scholars, authors, LDS apologists, and other professionals.

Our overall mission is to:

1. Facilitate informed consent amongst LDS Church members, investigators, and non-members regarding Mormon history, doctrine, and theology

2. Support Mormons (and members of other high-demand religions) who are experiencing a religious faith crisis

3. Promote healing, growth and community for those who choose to leave the LDS Church or other high demand religions

🤝Help us continue to deliver quality content by becoming a donor today

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📬PO Box 171085, Salt Lake City, UT 84117

What happens when you follow the path laid out for you, but it still doesn’t feel right?

In Part Two of our conversation with Stetson Done, Stetson returns from his mission and quickly becomes engaged, believing marriage is the next step in the life he is supposed to build. But despite trying to be a good spouse and faithful Mormon, he struggles with the expectations of marriage, sex, and motherhood. As his questions about the church grow, he begins to recognize his attraction to women and encounters new ideas of his own gender identity that he never had the context to understand before.

Stetson shares what led him to leave his marriage, the process of coming out to his family, and how hearing experiences of other transgender men helped him understand himself in a new way. He will also discuss what it was like to finally find a relationship that brought self actualization, and the joy he has discovered in becoming a father - rather than a mother.

This is part two of a three-part conversation with Stetson. Please be sure to continue on with his story to understand how he forged his own personal path to personal happiness!

___________________

⁠Show Notes⁠

YouTube

At Mormon Stories we explore, celebrate, and challenge Mormon culture through in-depth stories told by members and former members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as well as scholars, authors, LDS apologists, and other professionals.

Our overall mission is to:

1. Facilitate informed consent amongst LDS Church members, investigators, and non-members regarding Mormon history, doctrine, and theology

2. Support Mormons (and members of other high-demand religions) who are experiencing a religious faith crisis

3. Promote healing, growth and community for those who choose to leave the LDS Church or other high demand religions

🤝Help us continue to deliver quality content by becoming a donor today

⁠One-time or recurring donations⁠

⁠Patreon⁠

⁠Venmo ⁠

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Our Platforms:

🌐⁠Mormon Stories Blog ⁠

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Contact us:

📧 MormonStories@gmail.com

📬PO Box 171085, Salt Lake City, UT 84117

What happens when you grow up doing everything you are told, but it never feels right?

In Part One of our conversation with Stetson Done, a transgender man who grew up Mormon, Stetson shares his story of growing up in a loving LDS family in Mesa, Arizona. Although he appreciated the structure and community of Mormonism, he struggled with the expectations placed on girls and the belief that becoming a wife and mother was his highest calling. He knew he didn’t want that future, but didn’t yet understand why.

Stetson describes the gender divisions he experienced in church, the differences between the Young Women's and Young Men's programs, and the loneliness of feeling out of place without having the language to explain it. He also reflects on his LDS mission in El Salvador/Belize, and the disparity between how male and female missionaries are regarded in the Church.

Although Stetson found purpose in much of the Mormon structure, questions about church teachings—including polygamy and the legalization of same-sex marriage—began to challenge his faith. By the end of his mission, his testimony remained strong, but difficult questions were beginning to emerge.

This is part one of a three-part conversation with Stetson. Please be sure to continue on with his story to understand how he forged his own personal path to personal happiness!

___________________

Show Notes

YouTube

At Mormon Stories we explore, celebrate, and challenge Mormon culture through in-depth stories told by members and former members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as well as scholars, authors, LDS apologists, and other professionals.

Our overall mission is to:

1. Facilitate informed consent amongst LDS Church members, investigators, and non-members regarding Mormon history, doctrine, and theology

2. Support Mormons (and members of other high-demand religions) who are experiencing a religious faith crisis

3. Promote healing, growth and community for those who choose to leave the LDS Church or other high demand religions

🤝Help us continue to deliver quality content by becoming a donor today

⁠One-time or recurring donations⁠

⁠Patreon⁠

⁠Venmo ⁠

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Our Platforms:

🌐⁠Mormon Stories Blog ⁠

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📬PO Box 171085, Salt Lake City, UT 84117

In Part Two, we continue Patrick Brady and Dan Dorty’s story as Patrick becomes a Mormon bishop while privately struggling with his sexuality and his increasingly complicated relationship with Dan.

Patrick discusses serving as a bishop, his approach to worthiness interviews, pornography and masturbation, the law of chastity, and his desire to create a safer environment for members of his ward. We also explore the Church’s 2015 policy concerning same-sex couples and its eventual reversal, and how these events affected Patrick’s faith.

The conversation then turns to Patrick and Dan questioning their place in the Church, the SEC investigation, Church history, Patrick coming out to his wife, and his eventual decision to step away from Mormonism.

Patrick reflects on marriage, family, faith, sexuality, and what happened when he finally took away the Church’s power to control him.

___________________

Show Notes

YouTube

At Mormon Stories we explore, celebrate, and challenge Mormon culture through in-depth stories told by members and former members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as well as scholars, authors, LDS apologists, and other professionals.

Our overall mission is to:

1. Facilitate informed consent amongst LDS Church members, investigators, and non-members regarding Mormon history, doctrine, and theology

2. Support Mormons (and members of other high-demand religions) who are experiencing a religious faith crisis

3. Promote healing, growth and community for those who choose to leave the LDS Church or other high demand religions

🤝Help us continue to deliver quality content by becoming a donor today

⁠One-time or recurring donations⁠

⁠Patreon⁠

⁠Venmo ⁠

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Our Platforms:

🌐⁠Mormon Stories Blog ⁠

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Contact us:

📧 MormonStories@gmail.com

📬PO Box 171085, Salt Lake City, UT 84117

In this interview, we sit down with Patrick Brady and his partner Dan Dougherty to hear Patrick’s story of growing up as a gay man in the Mormon church, marrying a wonderful woman, raising a family, serving in church leadership, and eventually becoming a bishop while keeping a deeply important part of his identity hidden.

Patrick was married to Heidi for 27 years and had four children, and he describes how much he loved his family while simultaneously feeling unable to live openly as a gay man. From an early age, he was taught that being gay was sinful and that marriage to a woman could somehow “fix” his same-sex attraction. He shares how teachings from Mormon leaders, including Spencer W. Kimball, shaped his understanding of homosexuality and led him to compartmentalize his feelings and try to eliminate them rather than accept them. He shares his experiences as a missionary, his return to Salt Lake City, the underground gay culture among Mormon men, and his efforts to reconcile his sexuality with the Church he loved.

We also explore Patrick’s marriage to Heidi, his friendship with Dan, and the emotional intimacy that developed between them as two gay Mormon men who were committed to their families and their faith.

Part One follows Patrick’s journey from childhood through his marriage, family life, Church service, and the years he spent trying to live a divided life.

___________________

Show Notes

YouTube

At Mormon Stories we explore, celebrate, and challenge Mormon culture through in-depth stories told by members and former members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as well as scholars, authors, LDS apologists, and other professionals.

Our overall mission is to:

1. Facilitate informed consent amongst LDS Church members, investigators, and non-members regarding Mormon history, doctrine, and theology

2. Support Mormons (and members of other high-demand religions) who are experiencing a religious faith crisis

3. Promote healing, growth and community for those who choose to leave the LDS Church or other high demand religions

🤝Help us continue to deliver quality content by becoming a donor today

⁠One-time or recurring donations⁠

⁠Patreon⁠

⁠Venmo ⁠

⁠PayPal ⁠

Our Platforms:

🌐⁠Mormon Stories Blog ⁠

🎙️⁠Patreon ⁠

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Contact us:

📧 MormonStories@gmail.com

📬PO Box 171085, Salt Lake City, UT 84117

For this week's Mormon News Podcast, John Dehlin and Meggan Hayes look at Apostle D. Todd Christofferson's General Conference talk on gambling, a remarkably well-timed prediction from Latter-day Saint journalist McKay Coppins, a new documentary exploring the experiences of queer Christians, the latest development in the Bisbee abuse case, Dan McClellan, Flightless Bird and more.

Months before General Conference, Latter-day Saint journalist McKay Coppins spent a year immersed in America's rapidly expanding gambling industry for The Atlantic. Then, just weeks before conference, he appeared on the Mormon Land podcast and predicted that Church leaders might soon address gambling directly.

Then D. Todd Christofferson did exactly that. His October General Conference talk addressed sports betting, prediction markets, young people gambling, addiction, and even betting on the timing of the Second Coming. We compare his talk with Coppins' earlier reporting and look at just how much the two have in common.

Christofferson's gambling talk also found an unexpected fan outside the usual General Conference audience. Political streamer Hasan Piker praised the Church's stance on gambling, saying, "It's hard for me not to give a shoutout to the Mormons on this one."

Kathy Baldock is on the scene exploring what happens when LGBTQ identity and Christian faith intersect, including the experiences of people trying to find belonging in religious communities while navigating teachings about sexuality and identity.

The Bisbee abuse case may be headed to the nation's highest court. Survivors are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear their case involving clergy confidentiality and the failure of LDS bishops to report abuse they learned about through confession.

Biblical scholar Dan McClellan continues his work separating what biblical texts actually say from the assumptions and doctrines that have accumulated around them. We take a look at his latest conversation and what it adds to discussions about scripture and religious authority.

And finally, Flightless Bird enters the world of Mormonism, giving an outsider's perspective on Latter-day Saint beliefs, culture and the sometimes very unusual world surrounding the faith.

___________________

YouTube

Show Notes

At Mormon Stories we explore, celebrate, and challenge Mormon culture through in-depth stories told by members and former members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as well as scholars, authors, LDS apologists, and other professionals.

Our overall mission is to:

1. Facilitate informed consent amongst LDS Church members, investigators, and non-members regarding Mormon history, doctrine, and theology

2. Support Mormons (and members of other high-demand religions) who are experiencing a religious faith crisis

3. Promote healing, growth and community for those who choose to leave the LDS Church or other high demand religions

🤝Help us continue to deliver quality content by becoming a donor today

⁠One-time or recurring donations⁠

⁠Patreon⁠

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Our Platforms:

🌐⁠Mormon Stories Blog ⁠

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Contact us:

📧 MormonStories@gmail.com

📬PO Box 171085, Salt Lake City, UT 84117