Mormon couple claim they’re ‘not homophobic’ despite believing gay sex is a sin
Linday Preston (L) and husband Mark are Mormons who claim they are “no homophobic” but also say gay sex is “immoral”. (Screen capture via W)
An English Mormon teenager clashed with his parents who claim they’re “not homophobic” while also believing gay sex is a sin.
Lindsay Preston, from Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, who belongs to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, appears on Wednesday’s episode of Stacey Dooley Sleeps Over on W, the Daily Mail reported.
She and her husband Mark tell their son, Adam, that they believe being queer is “immoral” and acting on it violates the “moral standard” of the Mormon church.
But the 17-year-old disagreed with his parents, blasting them for saying that homosexuality is a “choice”.
Son slams his parents for homophobic beliefs: “It’s not something you choose.”
The teen is preparing for a two-year missionary trip to Zambia where he will try to recruit new church members. However, as a result, he will have limited contact to his family.
Host Dooley asked the family their views on homosexuality, and Lindsay sharply responds: “We’re not homophobic.
“But there are things that, if you were practicing that lifestyle, you wouldn’t be able to be baptised, because you’re not living the standard of morality that we would expect.”
She goes onto say she doesn’t “recognise marriage between same-sex couples. We believe marriage is between a man and a woman.”
This ‘homophobia’ promoted Adam, also a devout member, to denounce his parents. He said: “You don’t want to be homophobic, do you?”
Adam Preston, 17, quizzed his parent’ religious beliefs onStacey Dooley Sleeps Over. (W)
Husband Mark then jumps in to defend his wife, saying: “I honestly don’t think we are homophobic. It’s an eternal principle.”
According to the church’s website, identifying as LGBT+ “or experiencing same-sex attraction is not a sin and does not prohibit one from participating in the Church, holding callings, or attending the temple”.
However, “sexual relations […] between people of the same sex, violate one of our Father in Heaven’s most important laws and get in the way of our eternal progress.”
Adam continues to press his family: “It’s not something you choose, it’s just in your brain.
“It’s not really a problem. Well, I don’t think it’s really a problem.”
“Even if I knew God was real, I wouldn’t want to be part of that [homophobia]”, says Mormon missionary to-be.
However, Mark remained unconvinced. He replied: “We do believe we’re here to be tried and tested and it’s not going to be easy.
“We believe that the majority of the world will go to heaven, but there will be different levels.”
In the heated exchange, Adam hits back: “I just don’t understand it. That’s the thing, it makes zero sense. The reason you gave, that’s just a rubbish reason
“God made us to be who we are. Why would He make gay people and say, ‘But you can’t really be gay?'”
Dooley worries how Adam will respond to people asking about the church’s position on LGBT+ rights while on his mission.
He admits: “Even if I knew God was real, I wouldn’t want to be part of that, even if he was homophobic, because you’re not gonna wanna be, are you?”
Stacey Dooley Sleeps Over airs Wednesdays at 10pm on W.
Mormon church has re-affirmed its anti-LGBT+ stance.
The episode of Stacey Dooley Sleeps Over will air just a couple weeks after the Mormon church doubled down on its anti-LGBT+ stance.
President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Russell M Nelson, addressed students at Mormon institution Brigham Young University (BYU) on Tuesday, September 17, to tell them about “five truths”.
In 2015, the church announced that children of LGBT+ parents would be banned from baptisms and from joining the church, unless they “disavowed” their parents’ relationships. Less that two weeks later, more than a thousand members had quit the church.
This year, the church revoked this policy and said that bishops would have the power to decide whether or not to baptise someone raised in an LGBT+ family.
But, in his speech at the notoriously anti-gay university, Nelson reiterated that the Mormon church defines marriage as opposite-sex only.
