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Show 136 Moreover, the fragility of "eternal" families became too apparent when excommunication, divorce, and estrangement of children resulted after married homosexual men acted on their desires. The sanctions against gay men living honestly were especially potent in a hermetic culture where the church subsumed much of their lives. Both John Iverson and Rick Pace reached critical turning points in their lives in terms of choosing between respectability and gay identity. Although their trajectories took them in opposite directions, both experienced identity crises and punishment for living unconventionally, albeit in different ways. When John Iverson returned to Utah in the 1950s to care for his ailing mother, he began a relationship with another young man which lasted ten years, during which time he and his partner, Robert, remained active in the LDS Church. Given the church's official silence about homosexuality in the 1950s and John's discretion, he never felt compelled to renounce his faith and always believed his relationship with Robert met Mormon precepts for living morally: "We felt very comfortable that God loved us and being homosexual was not a sin We said, 'We are God's children and we're not promiscuous, we respect each other' Robert and I both honored our bodies, honored our religion, honored our beliefs." Their relationship also enjoyed the support of Robert's mother, whom John described as very intellectual, compassionate, and understanding, but also a devout Mormon. John's troubles did not arise from the LDS Church, but from the pervasive hostility toward homosexuals in the 1950s and the negative influence of his own mother, for whom having a gay son "was just the most disgraceful, disgusting thing." After ten years of violent attacks on themselves |
