Could God Be Gay?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mette-ivie-harrison/could-god-be-gay_b_7701624.html

Mette Ivie Harrison
Mormon mother of 5, author of 'The Bishop's Wife,' Princeton PhD, nationally ranked triathlete

In the wake of the recent Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage throughout the United States, and the response by the Mormon church to reaffirm that marriage in Mormon temples will continue to be authorized only between one man and one woman, I find myself contemplating the continuing suicides of young Mormon teens who cannot negotiate a space for themselves in Mormonism while gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, asexual, intersex or queer. I think of the pressure on these Mormons to "try" to marry and pretend to be heterosexual so that they can qualify for the highest level of Mormon heaven. I think of those who leave the Mormon church (or are excommunicated) for the sin of marrying a same-sex partner they love or for simply wanting something more than lifelong forced celibacy. And I am sad.

I love Mormonism and I love specifically the Mormon doctrine that God has a body. He made us in His image, which to Mormons means that the body itself is not something dirty, not something to rise above, but something that is divine and can be perfected. Mormons believe that the reason we are on this earth is very specifically to get this body. Without it, we were limited in our ability to become more like God. As spirits alone, we could only understand so much about God Himself. After the war in heaven, those who fought on Satan's side were doomed never to have a body, which is why they sometimes try to possess our bodies or tempt us because they are jealous of what they will never have.

This body of mine is not something separate from me that I must cast off when I die and return to God and to heaven. It will be returned to me in a universal resurrection, perfected as God's is, no longer subject to pain, but still capable of all else that a body can do. As someone who actively participates in the extreme sport of Ironman as an adult, I have come to love the way that my body grows muscle, uses sweating to cool itself, and turns food into fuel. I have had five children, three of them delivered at home without medication, and am amazed every day as I watch the bodies that I birthed grow and change. The human body is a beautiful thing.

Yet I am burdened beyond expression by the current doctrine of Mormonism that tells people with different sexualities that they must be celibate--and more than that, never even hold hands in public with a person of the same sex. The prize for a lifetime of avoiding such "sin"? They are told that God will work it out somehow, and that He will make them heterosexual, fixing the "error" in their bodies or minds. Some accept this with bowed heads and an attempt to do their best to do a very difficult thing. Others rebel against it, and I cannot help but sympathize.

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