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Good Guys In Syracuse February, 1997 By Joe, Affinity, 19:2 [February 1997] Today I asked to speak with my Branch President (for help for my wife). After we talked for a short time, he said that he wanted to review the new temple recommend questions with me. (I thought, "Oh, no! I must tell him that I do not wish to discuss this, and am not asking for a recommend.") He read the new question that asks if you have even any sympathy for groups that don't agree with church policies. Before I could respond, he said, "I have to go over this with the Stake President, because, frankly, I agree with you and other gays about many issues with the church, and I want them to know this before I renew my temple recommend." I nearly fainted. After this, I was chatting in the halls with his second counselor who is just finishing his Ph.D. in family therapy, and will be moving to an academic position shortly. He told me about a Mormon therapist who had "preached" to a gay Mormon about how disgusting he was, and the therapist's supervisor called him on the carpet and told him how inappropriate his behavior was. So I asked the 2nd counselor what he would do if he had to counsel a gay Mormon (BTW, he knows I am gay). He said that he already had counseled many, and his first rule was, "I don't tell them to 'switch teams.'" I got a chuckle out of that. So there are good guys in the lower leadership of the church.
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