From Sodomy to Sympathy: LDS Elites' Discursive Construction of Homosexuality Over Time

In this article, we examine how leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) discursively constructed homosexuality over the last 50 years. Based on textual analysis of LDS talks, magazines, and other publications, we analyze how LDS elites, responding to shifting historical, cul...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal for the scientific study of religion 2015-05, Vol.54 (2), p.291-310
Main Authors: Cragun, Ryan T., Williams, Emily, Sumerau, J. E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attitudes
Belief & doubt
Content analysis
Discourse
discursive work
Elites
Emotions
Gays & lesbians
Homosexuality
Minority groups
Mormonism
Mormons
religion and sexuality
Religious attitudes
religious elites
Rhetoric
Sex roles
Sexes
social inequalities
Sodomy
Symposium on Sexuality and Conservative Christian Traditions
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Summary:In this article, we examine how leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) discursively constructed homosexuality over the last 50 years. Based on textual analysis of LDS talks, magazines, and other publications, we analyze how LDS elites, responding to shifting historical, cultural, and religious interpretations of sexualities, discursively constructed homosexuality as problematic for (1) society from the 1950s to the 1990s, (2) the family from the 1970s to present, and (3) divinely inspired gender roles from the 1980s to present. Further, we show how LDS elites softened their rhetoric in the 1990s, and in so doing, established a new discursive construction of homosexuality as an ailment requiring sympathetic treatment. Throughout our analysis, we also examine how LDS elites accomplished such discursive work in response to shifting societal and religious attitudes concerning sexual minorities. In conclusion, we draw out implications for understanding how religious elites discursively construct sexual norms, the reciprocal relationship between sexual and religious discourse and advocacy, and the importance of examining how dominant religious discourses change over time.
ISSN:0021-8294
1468-5906
DOI:10.1111/jssr.12180