This is a timeline of LGBT Mormon history in the 1970s, 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). Although the historical record is often scarce, evidence points to queer individuals having existed in the Mormon community since its beginnings. However, top LDS leaders only started regularly addressing queer topics in public in the late 1950s. Since 1970, the LDS Church has had at least one official publication or speech from a high-ranking leader referencing LGBT topics every year, and a greater number of LGBT Mormon and former Mormon individuals have received media coverage.

Timeline

1970

1970 – Church leaders released the Bishop's Training Course and Self-Help Guide for leaders which stated, "[t]hough many have been told [homosexuality] is incurable, that is not true." 1970 – The church produced Hope for Transgressors in which apostles Spencer W. Kimball and Mark E. Petersen offer ideas to leaders about how to effect a "total cure" and "bring the lives of [men with homosexual tendencies] into total normalcy" and "help these people recover" (lesbians are only mentioned once). Ideas include prayer, cutting off contact with homosexual friends, dating women and marriage, and scripture reading. He calls homosexuality a "despicable", "degraded", "dread practice", and a "perversion" that would "doom the world" while labeling the person a "generally lonely and sensitive" "deviate" and "afflicted one". The guide notes that Kimball and Mark E. Petersen were designated as the church specialists on homosexuality, and that homosexuality is not "totally" the fault of "family conditions" and concludes it "CAN be cured if the battle is well organized and pursued vigorously and continuously" (emphasis in the original).. Reprint without permission at connellodonovan.com March – The First Presidency under Joseph Fielding Smith sent a letter to stake presidents on March 19 which expressed concern over "the apparent increase in homosexuality and other deviations" and mentioned the 1959 assignment of apostles Kimball and Mark E. Petersen to help homosexuals. Also available at archive.org It was indicated that Kimball and Petersen would "send material and give counsel" as church specialists over "a program designed ... to counsel and direct [homosexuals] back to normalcy and happiness". A follow-up letter to leaders on December 23 asked them to "ask direct questions" about homosexuality when conducting pre-mission interviews. Within eight years they had counseled over one thousand individuals. April – Victor L. Brown of the Presiding Bishopric gave a General Conference address in which he stated that a "normal" and "healthy" 12- or 13-year-old boy or girl could "develop into a homosexual" if "exposed to pornographic literature" and "abnormalities". He explains that exposure to the material would "crystallize and settle their habits for the rest of their lives", while calling recent media reporting on a same-sex marriage "filth on our newsstands". April – LDS director of the Salt Lake City police department sex crimes division Max Yospe stated that the problem of homosexuality was growing in Salt Lake City and that lots of bisexual men who were pillars of the community and active in civic and church affairs would go out every few months and "get involved with homosexual activity" which was a felony. He also noted that homosexual women have an easier time avoiding detection or legal issues. May – Yospe also stated that, "homosexuality is against the law and we've sworn to uphold the law." Though he did not believe they had the staffing "to really clamp down on the thing as we should," occasionally plain-clothes officers would impersonate homosexual men to entrap them. May – An anonymous Salt Lake, Mormon-raised lesbian woman stated in the University of Utah newspaper that she had never seen such terror and hysteria as when her mother had confronted her one time over suspicions that her daughter was gay. August – Church president Harold B. Lee taught that the "so-called 'transsexuality' doctrine" was hellish and false since God did not place female spirits in male bodies and vice versa. September – The church's newspaper published an editorial defending the ban on consensual same-sex sexual activity arguing that removing the ban, along with other restrictions would be "dangerous" and contribute to far greater problems in the future. October – Apostle Howard W. Hunter asked "what will be the result of universal free love, abortions at will, homosexuality?" in reference to his fears about the future of family, the economy, community, and the "deterioration of morality" in a General Conference address.

1971 1971 – The church published a 34-page letter from Kimball to homosexual men titled New Horizons for Homosexuals. In it Kimball called homosexuality "a ruinous practice of perversion" that the church "will never condone" that begins with "curiosity" and "an unholy practice" like "an octopus with numerous tentacles to drag [the person] down to [their] tragedy". He states that saying "perverts are ... born 'that way is a "base lie" since homosexuality is "curable" and "can be overcome" and "recover[ed]" from. The letter asserts "God made no man a pervert" or "evil" and that "[t]o blame a weakness ... upon God is cowardly." It also calls homosexuality "ugly", "degenerate", "unnatural", "vicious", "base", a "waste of power", a "deep sin", and "an end to the family and ... civilization". The publication advises for the homosexual to recover they must "shun" anyone "associated with the transgression" and pray and read the scriptures. February – The church's newspaper reported on a Salt Lake City company that gave polygraph tests to job applicants for over 130 local companies. One administrator stated a standard question was "designed to catch homosexuals or lesbians, considered unemployable by many employers". February – LDS Idaho state representative Wayne LaMar Loveless Also available here. criticized Idaho's proposed decriminalization of consensual adult same-sex sexual activity as an invitation to "come out into the open" whereas the previous ban "at least ke[pt] them hidden from the public." Previously there had been no convictions for homosexuality in the state for years. The ban was removed by January of next year but was restored within three months after controversy, however. April – In general conference presiding bishopric counselor Victor L. Brown stated that God created masculine and feminine traits, and if gendered appearance and behavioral traits are ignored, it can lead to the "reprehensible, tragic sin of homosexuality". April – In another conference address apostle Kimball called the decriminalization of consensual same-sex sexual activity a damnable heresy, and the voices speaking in favor of churches accepting homosexuals as ugly and loud. May – The Salt Lake City University of Utah held its first official LGBT campus event and began hosting meetings for students in the Utah Gay Liberation Front drawing criticism from a local conservative newspaper. December – Church News reported on LDS student body president Brent Romney at California State College at Fullerton who vetoed an official recognition of the Gay Student Union, despite it being overwhelmingly approved by the student senate. December – In the Ensign, Assistant to the Twelve Bernard P. Brockbank stated that "homosexual acts are inspired by the devil and are grievous sins in the sight of God". December – BYU religion professor and conservative writer Cleon Skousen published an article in Law and Order magazine (of which he was editor) and The Utah Independent stating that "the corruption and subversion of free world governments by homosexual infiltration" is a problem of great concern, and their "object is not only to penetrate the diplomatic corps of government but also the armed services". He additionally stated that Soviet agents are "train[ed] in homosexual practices in order to penetrate the free world diplomatic services!"

1972 April – Idaho laws which barred same-sex sexual activity between consenting adults were reinstated on the 1st under heavy pressure from the LDS church after being repealed since January 1. Mormon state senator Wayne Loveless who spearheaded the effort stated that the previous law would "encourage immorality and draw sexual deviates to the state." The reinstated law restored the old wording that "every person who is guilty of the infamous crime against nature committed with mankind ... is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for not less than five years."

1973

1973 – The church published its first leaders guide on homosexuality for bishops and stake presidents titled "Homosexuality: Welfare Services Packet 1". It posited that "homosexual behavior" begins by being "molested" while also stating "not all who are molested become homosexual". Additionally, it said homosexuality was a learned behavior and not inborn, and that members should flee from other gays. It also suggested that homosexuality is caused by "a domineering mother and a passive father" and that "misunderstandings of sexuality among LDS people can contribute to homosexuality." As far as changing the sexual orientation of the person, the packet says that the lesbian "needs to learn feminine behavior", and the gay man "must be introduced to and learn the heterosexual or 'straight' way of life ... and what a manly priesthood leader and father does". The guide was written by BYU psychology professor Allen Bergin and LDS Social Services Personal Welfare director Victor L. Brown Jr. (the son of Presiding Bishop Victor L. Brown). Video of the presentation. January – In an address to all students the president of BYU Dallin H. Oaks stated that the apostle Paul had listed those who participate in homosexual activity among his condemnation of the lawless and disobedient. February – An update to church policies was published as a "Statement on Homosexuality" in the Correlation Department's Priesthood Bulletin saying "homosexuality in men and women run counter ... to divine objectives."

July – The July Ensign contained an article by BYU psychology professor Allen Bergin on agency. The article portrays some homosexuals as "psychologically disturbed persons" who are "compulsively driven to frequent and sometimes bizarre acts". He cites two clients with "compulsive or uncontrollable homosexuality" caused by intense fear for the opposite sex, a lack of social skills for normal male-female relationships, and seeking security exclusively from the same sex. Bergin discusses the behaviorist sexual orientation change efforts he used to treat these individuals. August – Four months before his death Church President Lee gave an address in which he warned young men to guard against the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah since homosexuality and adultery were both equally grievous sins second only to murder. He also noted the increasing acceptance of homosexuality. October – Presiding bishop Victor L. Brown gave a conference address in which he called homosexuality a weapon in the battle for Satan's legions to enslave mankind and destroy the family. November – An Ensign article stated that the homosexuality in the Canaanite's religions was part of what provoked God to have the Israelites "utterly destroy" the peoples of the region of Canaan.

1974 March – BYU president Oaks delivered a speech on campus in which he spoke in favor of keeping criminal punishment for "deviate sexual behavior" such as private, consensual, same-sex sexual activity. The speech was later printed by the university's press.