Sexuality and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
[19][20][21] The church states that sexual relations within the framework of monogamous opposite-sex marriage are healthy, necessary, and approved by God.
[3] The LDS denomination of Mormonism places great emphasis on the sexual behavior of Mormon adherents, as a commitment to follow the law of chastity is required for baptism,[22]: 219 adherence is required to receive a temple recommend,[2][22]: 219 and is part of the temple endowment ceremony covenants devout participants promise by oath to keep.
[27]: 90–91 [28] The law of chastity includes standards of modesty in dress, grooming, and appearance which have varied according to cultural norms of the time.
[33]: 375 [34] It was a highly influential all-time bestseller in the LDS community, and was viewed by many members both then and now as representing official doctrine despite never being endorsed by the church.
[35]: 16 [36] Victims of rape, incest, or sexual abuse are not guilty of sin and are not considered to have broken the law of chastity.
"[39] This statement was criticized by therapist Julie de Azevedo Hanks as reinforcing the likelihood that victims will mistake their abuse response for a spiritual prompting to repent.
LDS teens have the highest rate of self-reported abstention from sexual activity of any US religious group surveyed in 2002 and 2024.
[40]: 87 A study by church university sociologists published in 1992 found that 60% of 1,000 LDS teen women surveyed reported having had sex before marriage.
[66] For example, church president Spencer W. Kimball, called the "soul kiss" an "abomination" that leads to necking, petting, and "illegitimate babies".
[68][69] Apostle Richard G. Scott advised that physical expressions of romantic feelings between unmarried individuals should be kept to "those that are comfortable in the presence of your parents".
[74][75] In a January 5, 1982, First Presidency letter to bishops and other local leaders, it was explicitly stated that members who participated in any oral sex were barred from the temple unless they "repented and discontinued" this practice.
[76][77] In a popular book sold by the church's bookstore and cowritten by a BYU professor, the authors state that oral sex is unworthy and impure for married couples.
[83] LDS Church leaders have repeatedly condemned the use of sexually arousing literature[84] and visual material for decades.
[95] The church has also stated that viewing erotic material can become a habit that is "almost impossible to break"[96] which can metaphorically "blast a crater" in the brain.
[107] In 2017 the church school BYU released a study using data gathered online from nearly 700 unmarried English-speaking adults on the effects of religiosity on perceptions of porn addictiveness and relationship anxiety.
[109][110] Currently and in the past LDS Church leaders have looked down on dancing that includes full-body contact, is suggestive of sexual behavior, or has same-sex romantic overtones.
[111][62]: 23 A 1972 youth guide stated that unapproved dance movements that were deemed vulgar included shoulder or hip shaking, body jerking, crouching, slumping over, and backbending.
[117][119][118] In the past the use of birth control methods including artificial contraception was explicitly condemned as pernicious and sinful.
[128] The church played an important role in defeating same-sex marriage legalization in six US states in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
[33]: 410, 413–414 Expressions and identities for sexuality and gender are "separate, but related" aspects of a person[161] and stem from similar biological origins.
[165] Though not considered clergy, women play a significant part in the operation of local congregations[166] Transgender people and other gender minorities currently face membership restrictions in access to priesthood and temple rites.
