Prominent Salt Lake attorney, Eli McCann tweeted a widely shared and remarkable claim.
I frequently have Mormon parents of lgbtq children reach out and ask what they can do to be affirming and make sure their child feels safe. I am so sorry to say that there is absolutely no healthy place for their child within the church.
— Eli McCann (@EliMcCann) March 29, 2022
While variations on this theme have frequently appeared in pop media, the reality is that his claim has been not only thoroughly debunked, but the opposite shown to be the case.
Hal Boyd at Deseret News writes:
“In a separate study, published by Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, researchers from Bowling Green State University analyzed the same data set and similarly found LGBTQ-Latter-day Saints had lower suicide risk than those of other faiths or no faith” https://t.co/hnBl5leSfO
— Hal R. Boyd (@halrobertboyd) March 29, 2022
So not only might The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints be among the safest places for LGBT+ youth, the kind of rhetoric that McCann is employing here has been found to be itself dangerous.
