This is a timeline of LGBT Mormon history in the first decade of the 2000s, part of a series of timelines consisting of events, publications, and speeches about LGBTQ+ individuals, topics around sexual orientation and gender minorities, and the community of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).
Timeline
2000 2000 – People Can Change was founded by Latter-Day Saints Rich Wyler and David Matheson as a nonprofit organization that provided gay conversion therapy. The organization started its Journey into Manhood retreat in 2002. The organization later changed its name in 2016 to Brothers on a Road Less Traveled. February – Stuart Matis, a 32-year-old gay man active in the church, died by suicide on the steps of a California church stake center building during the height of the LDS Church's fight to ban same-sex marriage in California with Proposition 22. Four days before, his letter to the editor had been published in the BYU newspaper pleading for the acceptance of homosexual individuals in response to a letter published five days before comparing homosexuality to pedophilia, bestiality and Satanism. His death was closely followed by the suicides of his gay Mormon friend and former mission companion, Clay Whitmer, and D.J. Thompson, a 33-year-old gay Mormon man who referenced Matis in his suicide note. September – Alexander B. Morrison, of the First Quorum of the Seventy, and Robert L. Millet, Dean of BYU Religion Education, addressed members of Evergreen International on September 16 at its 10th annual conference, which was held in the church's Joseph Smith Memorial Building. In Morrison's address he stated, "Avoid as the plague social interaction with persons who justify, encourage or engage in homosexual behavior." To the congregation of hundreds of homosexual men and women he further directed, "Stay away from places where those challenged by same-gender attraction congregate." Millet stated that through Christ "all inappropriate inclinations or orientations [can be] transformed in this life" or "resist[ed]". October – Former bishop David Eccles Hardy and his spouse Carly held a Salt Lake City press conference condemning church leaders' teachings around homosexuality after his teenage gay son Judd attempted suicide early the year before. In response a spokesperson stated, "These are individuals who are children of God. We love them; we respect them. This church is a church of inclusion, not exclusion, and we welcome them and want them to be a part of the church." October – Boyd K. Packer gave his October General Conference address in which he calls homosexuality a "temptation which seems nearly overpowering for man to be attracted to man or woman to woman" that may "lead to despair, to disease, even to death". He said it begins as an "innocent curiosity" which leads to a "pattern" leading to an "addiction". He said the idea that "God created them with overpowering, unnatural desires" is "not true" stating that "He can cure and He can heal".
2001
2001 – Family Services surveyed 381 of their clients who were homosexual and wanted to change their attractions, and 71% reported significant progress in their sexual orientation change therapy. 2001 – The eighth version of the "For the Strength of Youth" pamphlet was published updating the section discussing homosexuality. The new version only says, "Homosexual activity is a serious sin. If you find your-self struggling with same-gender attraction, seek counsel from your parents and bishop. They will help you." 2001 – Dean Byrd a director of LDS Family Services published a book entirely on homosexuality and the church stating that "the Church repeatedly, in nearly every statement about homosexual relations, teaches that homosexual attraction is not inherent to a particular genetic make-up and that they are quite able to change." March – Gay LDS Young Adults (GLYA) is founded by Aaron Cloward and organizes activities in the Intermountain West for gay Mormon young adults. They had over 400 people on their mailing list but seemed to be absorbed by Affirmation by about 2003. September – Sharon G. Larsen of the Young Women General Presidency addressed the 11th Annual Evergreen Conference in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. In her talk she stated same-gender attraction "is not in itself necessarily sinful unless it leads to impure thoughts and unrighteous behavior" and that those who "struggle with same-gender attraction" who "despite persistent effort cannot overcome that attraction and marry someone" of the opposite gender "must remain celibate". October – At BYU's Family Under Fire Conference, Family Services director Jerry Harris gave some "steps to recovery" from homosexuality for gay people to use. November – Confessions of a Mormon Boy by Steven Fales opens (later becoming an off Broadway show), dealing with Fales' homosexuality, and disaffection with the church. It later tours internationally.
2002 2002 – Reform Mormonism was founded as a loose group of intellectuals, feminists, and LGBTQ people. The group has sought to create a space where Mormon ideas and expressions can be shared outside the framework of an organized religion through blogs, conferences, and original books of scripture. February – Church spokesperson Harold Brown stated that no amount of press or protest would change church rules on homosexuality. The statement came in response to media attention to former bishop David Eccles Hardy who condemned church leaders' teachings and church publications around homosexuality after his gay son had attempted suicide in early 1999. August – The official church Ensign magazine published an anonymously authored article by an LDS woman attracted to other women. The author gave advice for how "to overcome this challenge" including advising against "attach[ing] labels to yourself or others who struggle with this problem" since these temptations "do not define who we are". She also recommended a person "quit [their] job" if necessary to "avoid places frequented by those who are involved in this lifestyle".
November – With heavy influence from the LDS Church, Nevada state's Question 2 on amending the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage passed on the 5th after also winning a majority vote in the general elections two years prior. A Nevada Mormon newspaper, Beehive, first reported the Coalition for the Protection of Marriage's intent to file an initiative petition in December 1999. The coalition raised over $800,000 by October 2000 from mostly Mormon-owned businesses and LDS individuals. Mormon leaders had strongly encouraged members through letters with church letterhead to do campaign work and post yard signs distributed at church buildings. November – Several notable Mormon leaders including James O. Mason, Joe J. Christensen, and Ardeth G. Kapp founded the Mental Health Resource Foundation (also initially called the Hidden Treasures Foundation) as a resource for Mormon leaders and members. The website was advertised in church publications and contained never-before-published materials from Family Services and a guide on changing homosexual attractions called Helping Individuals Who Want to Diminish Same-Gender Desires And Stop Same-Gender Sexual Behavior.
2003 January – After facing criticism from several organizations, KBYU and BYU-TV cancelled the planned broadcast of LDS therapists Jeff Robinson's presentation "Homosexuality: What Works and What Doesn't Work" given at BYU's 2002 Families Under Fire conference. Transcript available here. The talk characterized homosexuality as a serious addiction that could be cured with enough motivation, and stated that gay men can develop a sexual attraction to women if they walk away from rather than focus or fight the dragon of their gayness. July – A controversial fictional film about a gay Mormon missionary, Latter Days is released garnering numerous film festival awards. October – Family Services counselor Jerry Harris presented at BYU's Families Under Fire conference on helping people overcome their homosexuality.
2004 2004 – The church published True to the Faith, which states, "homosexual activity is a serious sin .... contrary to the purposes of human sexuality" which "distorts loving relationships and prevents people from receiving blessings". The book further states "sexual sins are more serious than any other sins except murder and denying the Holy Ghost". 2004 – The church's publishing company Deseret Book released the book In Quiet Desperation: Understanding the Challenge of Same-gender Attraction by Ty Mansfield, and Fred and Marilyn Matis. The book contained a firsthand account of Ty's experience coming to terms with his sexual orientation and religious views as well as the parent's telling of their gay Mormon son's experiences and suicide. Mansfield later married a woman and was editor over another Deseret Book on homosexuality, in 2011, titled Voices of Hope: Latter-day Saint Perspectives on Same-gender Attraction—An Anthology of Gospel Teachings and Personal Essays. 2004 – Los Angeles bishop Robert Rees stated in an academic presentation that of the 50 homosexual Mormons with whom he had a close relationship over the past two decades, not a single one "was able to change or alter his or her sexual orientation," and that he had not "met a single homosexual Latter-day Saint who had not tried valiantly, generally over a long period of time, to change his or her orientation." July – The First Presidency issued the July 7 statement saying the church "favors a constitutional amendment preserving marriage as the lawful union of a man and a woman." A few months later on October 19 they expounded this stance with the First Presidency Statement on Same-Gender Marriage supporting the 2004 movement to add an amendment to the US Constitution defining marriage as between "a man and a woman" and barring the "legal status" of any other union. The letter also states that the church "reach out with understanding and respect" for homosexual persons and "realize there may be great loneliness in their lives", but defend their stance as being "right before the Lord". September – The church's Ensign magazine published an anonymous article of a Mormon man struggling to curb and overcome his attractions to some other men. September – Merrill J. Bateman in the Presidency of the Seventy gave a September 18 address at the 14th Evergreen Conference for homosexual Mormons. He explained that for those "struggling with nature, with thoughts and feelings that are opposite from what the Church teaches" Jesus has the power to "assuage one's feelings" and "assist one in his efforts to abstain". December – Gordon B. Hinckley gave an interview in which he did not support same-sex civil unions and spoke against same-sex marriage. He also stated that gay people have a problem that the church wants to help them solve, though, he said he did not know if they were born with this problem.
2005 2005 – The Foundation for Attraction Research (FAR) is founded by LDS lawyer Dennis Dahle, BYU psychology professor Dean Byrd, and BYU social work professor Shirley Cox, with a board of directors also consisting of BYU English professor Doris Dant, BYU law professor William Duncan, BYU religion professor John Livinstone, and retired BYU psychology professor Gawain Wells. In 2009 the organization published Understanding Same-Sex Attraction which advocated therapy to change sexual attractions. In 2012 FAR co-hosted the Reconciling Faith and Feelings conference with the Association of Mormon Counselors and Psychotherapists (AMCAP). October – The church published an article tying the term gender confusion to homosexuality stating, "If governments were to alter the moral climate by legitimizing same-sex marriages, gender confusion would increase, particularly among children, and this would further blur the line between good and evil."