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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Bibliographische Detailangaben
VerfasserInnen: Cragun, Ryan T. (VerfasserIn) ; Sumerau, J. E. (VerfasserIn)
Beteiligte: Williams, Emily (BeteiligteR)
Medienart: Elektronisch Aufsatz
Sprache:Englisch
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Veröffentlicht: Wiley-Blackwell [2015]
In: Journal for the scientific study of religion
Jahr: 2015, Band: 54, Heft: 2, Seiten: 291-310
normierte Schlagwort(-folgen):B USA / Mormonen / Elite / Diskurs / Homosexualität / LGBT / Geschichte 1954-2013
RelBib Classification:CH Christentum und Gesellschaft
KAJ Kirchengeschichte 1914-; neueste Zeit
KBQ Nordamerika
KDH Christliche Sondergemeinschaften
NCF Sexualethik
weitere Schlagwörter:B religion and sexuality
B religious elites
B Homosexuality
B social inequalities
B discursive work
B Mormonism
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Zusammenfassung: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:1468-5906
Enthält:Enthalten in: Journal for the scientific study of religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/jssr.12180