Review: Gregory Prince. Gay Rights and the Mormon Church: Intended Actions, Unintended Consequences. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2019.

Authors

Elizabeth Alice Clement

Keywords

Gregory Prince, homosexuality, Latter-day Saints, public policy, queer Mormons

Abstract

With an accessible writing style and startlingly short chapters, Gregory Prince analyzes three aspects of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint’s engagement with homosexuality in the postwar US.1 First, he carefully traces the evolution of the church’s understanding of the causes of homosexuality and the policies the church developed to address same sex attraction among the faithful. Second, he analyzes the church’s participation in both state and national debates around public policy towards homosexuality, with a particular focus on the campaigns against gay marriage. Finally, he explores the harm the church’s analysis, policy, and public involvement have done to queer Mormons. Prince’s work will be useful to a popular audience interested in postwar Mormonism. Given the dearth of literature on Mormonism, gender, and sexuality in the twentieth century, it might also be a helpful starting point for academics interested in these topics.

BYU ScholarsArchive Citation

Clement, Elizabeth Alice (2020) "Review: Gregory Prince. Gay Rights and the Mormon Church: Intended Actions, Unintended Consequences. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2019.," Mormon Studies Review: Vol. 7: No. 1, Article 17.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/msr2/vol7/iss1/17