Excerpts of Mormon bishop says church responsible for gays' emotional wounds by Bill Oram, The Salt Lake Tribune
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The way gays are treated and perceived by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is an "atrocity," an LDS bishop from Illinois told a group of gay Mormons Sunday.
"If you leave here not remembering what I have to say, remember this: I'm sorry," Bishop Kevin Kloosterman.
Kloosterman spoke at the final event of a weekend-long seminar dedicated to exploring gay Mormon issues, titled Circling the Wagons. He said he recently became aware of LGBT issues and had a "mighty change of heart."
"I began to see the emotional wounds and scars that many of you have today," Kloosterman said, "and I began to ask, 'Where did you get these wounds?' And the answer, unfortunately, was in the house of my friends.
"The straight members of the church have a lot of repenting to do," he said.
He clarified that he was speaking only on his own behalf and did not intend to represent the views of the church.
Dehlin [sponsor of the conference] said research he has conducted in association with Utah State University has shown that 70 percent of gay Mormons end up leaving the church.
That is unacceptable, Kloosterman said.
"We all need to change our thoughts," he said.
