Mormon Transsexuals

[Guest (Lightsider)]

I am posting this in hopes I can connect with other members who are also Mormon. I am not writing this to debate the merits of my religion or any other. But I am offering my knowledge and support to others like myself.

-Corina

[Guest Sheila]

hi corina, i'm actually a reorganized latter day saint. not a morman but we're a branch of your church. i know your church and my church share the same president. i don't go to church anymore, havn't been to church in decades, but thought i'd say hi.

sheila

[Guest Seth]

What exactly is mormon? Isn't that, like, when you marry more than one chick?

[Guest JustinNL]

What exactly is mormon? Isn't that, like, when you marry more than one chick?

I think that's part of it, but I'm sure there's more to the religion than just that.

[Guest Mia]

Well I'm not mormon but I've lived in Utah my whole life. For those of you who don't know they are actually pretty normal people. The majority don't believe in polygamy but some fringe elements and offshoots of the religion practice it.

[blackkatsen]

What exactly is mormon? Isn't that, like, when you marry more than one chick?

No. The Church's full name is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Members are called Mormons a lot, but it is kinda misleading. Members are just ordinary, good Christians. The Church doesn't practice polygamy (multiple wives) anymore. You get excommunicated if you do. There are other groups that split off from the Church and they shouldn't really be called Mormons since they are different churches. Some of them continue to illegally practice polygamy.

Also, the Reorganized church doesn't share Presidents with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The reorganized has a completely different system and has ditched many of the LDS doctrines.

[Guest StrandedOutThere]

No. The Church's full name is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Members are called Mormons a lot, but it is kinda misleading. Members are just ordinary, good Christians. The Church doesn't practice polygamy (multiple wives) anymore. You get excommunicated if you do. There are other groups that split off from the Church and they shouldn't really be called Mormons since they are different churches. Some of them continue to illegally practice polygamy.

Also, the Reorganized church doesn't share Presidents with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The reorganized has a completely different system and has ditched many of the LDS doctrines.

You know, I think some of the confusion comes from all the press the FLDS (Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) people have been getting. I work with several Mormons. They are all nice people and don't do anything freaky like multiple wives.

[Guest (Lightsider)]

Like I said in the first post I am not here to debate the merits of my religion. So I will not respond certain doctrinal comments or ideas.

...if you are Mormon please feel free to contact me and perhaps I can help you...or you can help me.

Corina

[nephyte]

I have been looking to talk to someone for a while. And it really needed to be a member of the church.

I need opinions from people that have gone through something similar to what I am going through. And i need some advice.

My mind is breaking down on me. Partially due to the increased temptations put on me after my mission papers went in.

I am completely suppressed by the desires to be female. The wanting to be cute, and longing to be female. However, I have a firm testimony of the gospel, and I have never wanted anything more than to serve a mission. But lately, I have had weird feelings; and they kind of sprang up on me in the last few weeks. i have already had counseling from a Therapist, and it went really well. At first, i was consumed with thoughts of being female; but after learning new techniques at blocking the thoughts out: i really thought I was getting somewhere. I finally felt worthy again to go to the temple. I sent my papers in. and it all came crashing down.

Lately I have slipped up; and now i am really confused. My gospel faith is still unwavering, but It is like my persona has really split. One side, Jacob still values a mission and a temple marriage. And Jessica, just wants to feel at peace in her own body.

I don't know whats wrong with me. Why am I feeling so good about making the wrong decisions. When i slipped up; and wore those female clothes. It was electric; it made me feel warm and excited inside; like nothing i have ever felt before. I mean how could anything make me feel so good; it felt a lot like you do when you have done something right. Like a service project for an old lady, or just helping someone in need. But it was all self encompassing.

I am just, tired of fighting with my conscious mind. It is very physically and mentally draining. And i cant seem to feel the spirit anymore; dont get me wrong, i read my scriptures every night, and go to church every Sunday, but I feel numb.

Am i broken?

[MaryEllen]

No, you're not broken. I'd recommend seeing a gender therapist. Preferably one not affiliated with any church organization.

MaryEllen

[nephyte]

No, you're not broken. I'd recommend seeing a gender therapist. Preferably one not affiliated with any church organization.

MaryEllen

Why would it matter. It was not like a church leader who "counseled" me. I mean we sought a therapist that shared the same values as our family.

[MaryEllen]

If you'd rather see a church affiliated therapist, that's your perogative. I think you'd get a better perspective from an independent therapist not biased in favor of church policies. That's just my opinion.

MaryEllen

[nephyte]

If you'd rather see a church affiliated therapist, that's your perogative. I think you'd get a better perspective from an independent therapist not biased in favor of church policies. That's just my opinion.

MaryEllen

Thats a good opinion; and i value that.

but; i am really interested in finding out the views of the church on this. Or at lease opinions of church members here on the boards.

Thanks

[Guest StrandedOutThere]

Thats a good opinion; and i value that.

but; i am really interested in finding out the views of the church on this. Or at lease opinions of church members here on the boards.

Thanks

I'm not mormon, but I can tell you what my church says. Feeling like you are transgendered is okay, as long as you don't act on it. My church would basically tell me to become celibate if I can't do the right thing. They are still hung up on the idea that things like this are a willful choice. I guess that's true to some extent, but I certainly didn't choose to have these feelings...and to have them so strongly.

My advice to you is to be extra, extra solid on where you stand before you talk to the church. I used to try to be a Christian, but I have given up on it. I just couldn't resolve who I am with my family's faith. I don't know what God thinks, but I like to think that he doesn't want me to suffer and will forgive me if I am making a mistake by wanting to transition.

[nephyte]

I'm not mormon, but I can tell you what my church says. Feeling like you are transgendered is okay, as long as you don't act on it. My church would basically tell me to become celibate if I can't do the right thing. They are still hung up on the idea that things like this are a willful choice. I guess that's true to some extent, but I certainly didn't choose to have these feelings...and to have them so strongly.

My advice to you is to be extra, extra solid on where you stand before you talk to the church. I used to try to be a Christian, but I have given up on it. I just couldn't resolve who I am with my family's faith. I don't know what God thinks, but I like to think that he doesn't want me to suffer and will forgive me if I am making a mistake by wanting to transition.

My church feels the same way; you can be ts/tg you cannot act on the whims and feelings associated with it.

[Guest Mr. Fox]

Remember that the opinion of a church is not necerssary congruent with the teachings of the Bible. You can scour the Bible for condemnation of transsexuals all you want, but you will not even find a mention of them, let alone a warning not to transition.

Adrian

[Guest Mr. Fox]

Dang, absentminded me, LDS=Book of Mormon as well. I have not done much research on that particular tome, but I doubt there is mention in there either. However, there may be admonishments to obey your church, so just ignore this post and the last.

Adrian

[Guest (Lightsider)]

My church feels the same way; you can be ts/tg you cannot act on the whims and feelings associated with it.

Feel free to contact me. I totally understand where you are coming from.

[MaryEllen]

Remember that the opinion of a church is not necerssary congruent with the teachings of the Bible. You can scour the Bible for condemnation of transsexuals all you want, but you will not even find a mention of them, let alone a warning not to transition.

Adrian

You bring up an interesting point. Can anyone show me in the Bible, book, chapter and verse where it says that being tg/ts is a sin and if so, why is it a sin. I'm not interested what so called learned, religious men have written or man made church doctrines. Only what it says in the Bible. After all, it is said that the Bible is the only true word of God for the Christian faith. It would seem to me that anyone adding doctrines in addition to what the Bible says are the sinners. I suppose in a misguided effort to improve on God's word, they think they are justified. I have a feeling that God doesn't like people messing around with his Holy Word.

MaryEllen

[Guest Isobelle Fox]

I am just, tired of fighting with my conscious mind. It is very physically and mentally draining. And i cant seem to feel the spirit anymore; dont get me wrong, i read my scriptures every night, and go to church every Sunday, but I feel numb.

Am i broken?

I'm kind of a border-line Christian myself, by which I mean that I am not associated with any particular church and disagree with any ideology that condemns people for things like this, but I do believe in Jesus and try to maintain my own personal spiritual life. So, I'm not qualified to speak regarding anyone's doctrine, but if I may, I would like to speak from my own experience.

I have tried all my life to surpress this element of myself. Doing so has brought me a great deal of pain and unhappiness. In some ways, the effort has made a genuine mess of my heart, mind, and life. Nothing that can't be fixed- BUT- to continue on the course of denying something as basic and important as my own identity would be terribly destructive, and realizing this has been one of the most profound and important discoveries I have ever made.

It is possible to deny this part of yourself, but, I do not believe that it is wise or productive.

I believe that you can accept your nature as a transgendered/ transsexual person to any extent that you choose- you can decide to transition or you can decide merely to try to understand your feelings and define your own parameters for their expression. But its probably a good idea to sit down, listen to your heart, and find a way to say to yourself, with honesty and with as little fear as you can, that you KNOW this of yourself, that you KNOW you have these feelings and that you do not need to feel bad about them.

There's nothing wrong with you.

Be your own master. Live life the way YOU want to. Live it according to whatever is most important to you. If your church and your mission work is the most important thing, then follow that. But try to understand that no matter what anyone tells you, this is a part of you, and there is nothing wrong with it.

Denying it doesn't make it go away. Therapy will not change it. It is a part of the person that God made you to be. What you do with it is your own decision. That's your own journey.

I don't know what God thinks about this. No one knows what God thinks. Its my opinion, and only my opinion, that God made me the way I am and if anything watches with interest as I figure out how to use the whole of my person, body and soul, to make my life and the world a better place, if I can. I don't believe, in my heart, that God asks any of us to diminish who He made us to be by lieing to ourselves or hiding from ourselves. I've tried both with the net result of wasted years of self-loathing. I don't believe that that can be what God intends.

Honestly, when I finally sat down and let myself be aware of who I am without judgement, and asked myself what it was I have felt for so long was "wrong" about my being this way, I realized that these feelings of self-reproach had more than anything else in my life come BETWEEN me and God.

Who am I to decide that I am unworthy of a spiritual relationship with God. Who is anyone on this earth to make such a decision. It is my opinion that that is entirely God's judgement to make, and from the way I feel in my heart, which is, in two words, healed and loved, I have to say that I do not think that there can be anything but good in accepting yourself and accepting that this is a part of you. It saved my life. It made me want to reach out into the world and try to do whatever I can to make it a better place. It rescued me from a dark place. What can there be but good in that?

Its not necissarily what we are taught or made to feel by our society and often by our religions, but I believe this to be true.

[Guest Leah1026]

God made me the way I am.

I am a child of God. I am not broken or a mistake.

Man cannot judge what God has wrought.

http://www.whosoever.org/v2Issue2/starchild.html

Transition allows me to better serve Him.

[Guest Leah1026]

While web surfing last night I came across this:

http://www.affirmation.org/transgender/

Looks promising!