Item Detail
-
27964
-
5
-
7
-
English
-
From Sodomy to Sympathy : LDS Elites' Discursive Construction of Homosexuality Over Time
-
Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion
-
May 2015
-
54
-
2
-
Hoboken, NJ
-
Wiley ; Society for the Scientific Study of Religion
-
291–310
-
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.
-
Framing Eternal Sexual Identity in a Shifting Cultural Landscape
Hoea Te Waka ki Uta: Critical Kaupapa Māori Research and Mormon Studies Moving Forward
Tabernacles of Clay : Sexuality and Gender in Modern Mormonism
Transcending Mormonism: Transgender Experiences in the LDS Church
What Do We Know of God's Will for His LGBT Children? : An Examination of the LDS Church's Position on Homosexuality -
A Kingdom Transformed : Themes in the Development of Mormonism
Encyclopedia of Mormonism : The History, Scripture, Doctrine, and Procedures of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Fighting Over "Mormon" : Media Coverage of the FLDS and LDS Churches
Mormon and Queer at the Crossroads
The Angel and the Beehive : The Mormon Struggle with Assimilation
The Hallmarks of Righteous Women : Gendered Background Expectations in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
The Mormon Hierarchy : Extensions of Power