32 LGBT Mormons Aged 14-20 Have Committed Suicide in Wake of New Anti-Gay Policy, Group Says
LDS Church Leaders Call Trend ‘Heartbreaking,’ Say They ‘Mourn with Families’
Thirty-two young LGBT Mormons reportedly have taken their own lives since early November — when the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced a new devastatingly anti-gay policy labeling people in same-sex marriages “apostates” and barring their children from being baptized.Â
All of the victims were between the ages of 14 and 20, with an average age of 17. Twenty-seven were male, three were female and two were transgender, and all but six of the suicides occurred in Utah.Â
Those figures are based on a report from Mama Dragons, a support group for the Mormon parents of LGBT children that we first told you about last May. Wendy Montgomery, co-founder of Mama Dragons, announced recently during a conference of Affirmation, another Mormon LGBT support group, that the families of the 32 victims had contacted her directly about the death of a child or sibling.Â
The Deseret News, a Salt Lake City-based daily newspaper owned by the Mormon church, reported the shocking figure Wednesday after obtaining the following statement from senior LDS leaders.
“Every soul is precious to God and to the church and the loss of life to suicide is heartbreaking,” an LDS church spokesman, Dale Jones, said. “Those who are attracted to others of the same sex face particular challenges and pressures in this regard, both inside and outside the church. We mourn with their families and friends when they feel life no longer offers hope. Each congregation should welcome everyone. Leaders and members are taught to follow the example of Jesus Christ and to reach out in an active, caring way to all, especially to youth who feel estranged or isolated. The church has repeatedly stated that those who feel same-sex attraction and yet choose to live the commandments of God can live fulfilling lives as worthy members of the church. We want all to enjoy the blessings and safety offered by embracing the teachings of Jesus Christ and living the principles of His gospel.”
RELATED:Â 1830 Mormons In Salt Lake City Quit LDS Church Over New Anti-Gay Policies
The 15 million-member LDS church teaches that acting on feelings of “same-sex attraction” is a sin, and excommunicates gay and lesbian members who decline to remain celibate. The church fought vigorously against the legalization of same-sex marriage, bankrolling the campaign in support of California’s Proposition 8 in 2008.
In the ensuing years, however, the church appeared to soften its anti-gay tone and left decisions about the issue in the hands of local leaders. As a result, some “wards,” or congregations, in progressive areas became welcoming of LGBT people. Last year, the church even supported a bill banning anti-LGBT discrimination in Utah, although the measure contained significant religious exemptions.Â
RELATED:Â Amid Mass Resignations, Mormon Leaders Try, Fail To Soften New Rule On Children Of Same-Sex Parents
But in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of nationwide marriage equality, the church took a major step backward. In the policy released Nov. 5, the church relegated same-sex couples to the same status as those in polygamous marriages, labeling them “apostates,” a term for those who’ve renounced their faith. The policy also bars the children of same-sex parents from becoming full members of the church until they turn 18, disavow their parents’ relationship, and leave the household.Â
The new policy prompted thousands to leave the church in protest. Then, earlier this month, the president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Russell M. Nelson, declared that the policy was a revelation from God to LDS President Thomas S. Monson, which elevated it to the status of church doctrine. Nelson is next in line to become church president, and his wife later said that LGBT people could “repent” and have their “sexual feelings be in harmony” with God’s law.Â
Even before the new policy was announced, Utah had the fourth-highest rate of suicide in the nation, and suicide was the No. 1 cause of death for children ages 10-17. Sadly, the families of LGBT Mormons who commit suicide typically don’t publicize it because they want to avoid the associated shame from fellow church members.Â
Nationally, LGB youth are four times more likely than their straight peers to attempt suicide, according to the Trevor Project. LGB youth who come from highly rejecting families are 8.4 times as likely to attempt suicide as those who report no or low levels of family rejection. And one quarter of young transgender people “report having made a suicide attempt.”
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Image by Brian Palmer via Facebook
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As millions of Americans are seeing their health care premiums spike and the cost of living continue to rise, House Republicans are expected to bring to the floor a bill to redefine the word “showerhead.”
The legislation is officially named the “Saving Homeowners from Overregulation With Exceptional Rinsing Act,” or the SHOWER Act.
“If we wanted a gentle mist as our shower, we would just stand in front of a humidifier. So that’s why I introduced The Shower Act. Because no one wants to be waterboarded by a trickle at 6 AM in the morning,” the bill’s primary sponsor, U.S. Rep. Russell Fry (R-SC), said last month when defending his legislation.
According to congressional reporter Jamie Dupree, the bill is scheduled for a vote on the House floor next week.
READ MORE: ‘Exhausted, Indebted, Aging’: Researcher Warns the Trump Age Is America’s ‘Final Act’
U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse (D-CO) last month blasted the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee for prioritizing legislation on home appliances over reducing the cost of health care premiums.
“You’ve got 15 bills—six of those 15 bills are on home appliances, the so-called ‘Shower Act’—and you can’t be bothered to include your health care plan that you’ve been spending a year developing?”
Meanwhile, Republican former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy appeared to take a veiled swipe at Speaker Mike Johnson on Friday, telling C-SPAN that “Maybe Democrats won the shutdown” because Johnson effectively shuttered the House for two months rather than work on legislation to lower health care premiums.
“Republicans, having the majority, should have planned further in advance instead of the last weeks of the year to see, ‘how am I going to deal with this?’ So now they’ve kind of got a political football,” McCarthy explained.
“The House kept everybody away” during the government shutdown,” he said. “And when you only have a majority for two years, to pass a bill, you have to have a hearing, then you have to have a markup, then you’ve got to pass the building, it’s got to go the floor. You just lost two months.”
“I just think in the House,” McCarthy continued, “you have the power as the Speaker and the majority. If you give that power away, you may look at the end of the day. ‘Ooh, I gave two months. Maybe the Democrats won the shutdown of those two months.'”
Ceasefire@SpeakerMcCarthy on gov’t shutdown: The House sent everybody away. When you only have a majority for two years…you just lost two months…Maybe the Democrats won the shutdown of those two months just by not letting us work. How many other bills could we have passed? pic.twitter.com/fw79NbNoAg
— CSPAN (@cspan) January 2, 2026
READ MORE: Trump Says No Other President Would Take Cognitive Test He ‘Aced’ Three Times Straight
Image via Reuters
A culture and society researcher is warning that America in the age of Trump is seeing its “final act” — but says Trump is just the messenger.
“What MAGA voters received,” writes John Mac Ghlionn in an opinion piece at The Hill, “wasn’t renewal, but a grim revelation. The failure was never just Trump. He was the messenger. The problem is that America no longer has the political, economic or cultural capacity to deliver restoration at all.”
Mac Ghlionn says that America under Trump’s second term is worse than under his first: “Not because Trump changed, but because the country has weakened further — and no amount of bravado can reverse structural decline.”
READ MORE: Noah’s Ark Museum Visitors Hit With Potential ‘Highly Contagious’ Measles Exposure Warning
Warning of what he calls “managed decline,” Mac Ghlionn says that the pillars of American dominance — “productive labor, demographic confidence, institutional trust, and cultural gravity” — are “steadily eroding,” while its “social foundations” are “cracking.”
“Fewer young Americans are working,” he writes. “Not transitioning between jobs — simply not employed at all. Many move between credentials and gig work, lacking direction and long-term footing. Marriage rates are collapsing. Birth rates are falling below replacement. These trends are linked. When stable work is harder to find, forming relationships becomes harder, commitment harder still, and raising a family nearly impossible. With AI accelerating job insecurity rather than easing it, the trajectory only points in one direction.”
This may not be the end of America, but America “no longer defines the age.”
“Trump didn’t save America,” Mac Ghlionn observes. “He didn’t destroy it either. He revealed it. And what he revealed is a nation exhausted, indebted, aging, and divided — still powerful, still wealthy, but no longer confident in its future.”
READ MORE: Trump Says No Other President Would Take Cognitive Test He ‘Aced’ Three Times Straight
Image via Reuters
Recent visitors to Ark Encounter, a Christian theme park that has drawn controversy over the years, are facing a new challenge. Kentucky health officials are warning of possible exposure to measles, after an unvaccinated individual reportedly visited the museum and a local hotel earlier this week.
“Measles is a highly contagious disease,” Northern Kentucky Health District Director for Health Jennifer Mooney, PhD, MPH, said in a press release, according to NBC affiliate WLWT. “Being around so many people at a place such as the Ark Encounter creates the potential for wide exposure. We want to make sure everyone who visited during that time is aware they may have been exposed to the measles, and they should monitor themselves for symptoms.”
“We also want to remind people that measles is preventable through the highly effective MMR (Measles, Mumps & Rubella) vaccine,” Dr. Mooney added. “The vaccine has been administered to millions of people over several decades and has a proven health and safety record.”
READ MORE: Trump Says No Other President Would Take Cognitive Test He ‘Aced’ Three Times Straight
WDRB reported that “Measles, a highly contagious respiratory virus, can cause serious health problems, especially in young children, according to the CDC’s website. The virus spreads through the air after someone infected coughs or sneezes. It can then linger for up to two hours after the infected person leaves.”
According to the CDC, the U.S. saw 2065 cases of measles in 2025, up from 285 in 2024 and just 59 cases in 2023.
“Measles was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000. This was thanks to a very high percentage of people receiving the safe and effective measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine. In recent years, however,” CDC reported, “U.S. national MMR coverage among kindergarteners has decreased and is now below the 95% coverage target—with much lower coverage in some communities.”
Hemant Mehta of The Friendly Atheist wrote that “Ark Encounter offers free tickets for children,” and warned of “the possibility that unvaccinated kids will pay the price because of one irresponsible person’s ignorance.”
“It’s already happened in South Carolina,” he noted, “where one particular church is now the epicenter of a measles outbreak.”
Image via Shutterstock
GOP Pushes Vote on Showerheads as Millions Struggle With Rising Cost of Living
‘Exhausted, Indebted, Aging’: Researcher Warns the Trump Age Is America’s ‘Final Act’
Noah’s Ark Museum Visitors Hit With Potential ‘Highly Contagious’ Measles Exposure Warning
Trump Says No Other President Would Take Cognitive Test He ‘Aced’ Three Times Straight
Mike Johnson Brags About House Accomplishments When It Broke Record For Fewest Bills Passed
News2 days agoGOP Pushes Vote on Showerheads as Millions Struggle With Rising Cost of Living
News3 days agoNoah’s Ark Museum Visitors Hit With Potential ‘Highly Contagious’ Measles Exposure Warning
News2 days ago‘Exhausted, Indebted, Aging’: Researcher Warns the Trump Age Is America’s ‘Final Act’
News3 days agoTrump Says No Other President Would Take Cognitive Test He ‘Aced’ Three Times Straight
