FAIR is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing well-documented answers to criticisms of the doctrine, practice, and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
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Aversion therapy performed at BYU in the 1970's
Recently, several newspaper articles have appeared that discuss homosexual aversion therapy performed at BYU in the mid-1970s. During this period, a graduate student at Brigham Young University conducted a clinical study in the use of aversion therapy to treat ego-dystonic homosexuality. Ego-dystonic homosexuality is a condition where an individual's same-sex attraction is in conflict with his idealized self-image, creating anxiety and a desire to change. At the time, the American Psychiatric Society considered ego-dystonic homosexuality to be a mental illness, and aversion therapy was one of the standard treatments. Experiments were run on a volunteer basis adhering to the professional standards of the time. FAIR examines the history of this aversion therapy in the following FAIR Wiki article: Aversion therapy performed at BYU in the 1970's
Analysis and response to the documentary 8: The Mormon Proposition
A June 2010 documentary called "8: The Mormon Proposition," written and produced by Reed Cowan, claims to be an expose of the role that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints played in the passage of California Proposition 8. Reviews of the film generally agreed that it was a polemical treatment of the issue, pitting the Church as villain in a quest to limit or remove the rights of same-sex couples. FAIR reviews some of the individual claims made in the documentary.
A Brigham Young "quote" related to California Proposition 8?
A quote alleged to have been uttered by Brigham Young recently began gaining wide circulation on the web. The quote appeared to be a "smoking gun," with Brigham mentioning practically every controversial issue in which he was ever said to have been involved. Ex-Mormon critics of the Church became excited about the quote and attempted to verify its source because it represented, according to one ex-Mormon critic, "an astounding batch of ammo if it is a true quote from B[righam] Y[oung]." There was even an allusion to Proposition 8:
"If there ever comes a day when the Saints interfere with the rights of others to live as they see fit, you can know with assurance that the Church is no longer led by a Prophet, but a mere man."
Despite the attribution of this phrase to Brigham Young in numerous locations on the web, Brigham never actually uttered this phrase. The entire quote was confirmed to be a fabrication by an anonymous blogger. We examine the full "quote" here: