{"id":42209,"date":"2017-06-19T00:37:36","date_gmt":"2017-06-19T00:37:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=42209"},"modified":"2017-06-19T00:37:36","modified_gmt":"2017-06-19T00:37:36","slug":"mormon-girl-12-stopped-speaking-explains-gay-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=42209","title":{"rendered":"Mormon girl, 12, is stopped from speaking as she explains why she is gay to church"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"yui_3_18_0_4_1497831823453_3744\" style='margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: 0.3px; font-family: \"Helvetica Neue\", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15.5px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; word-spacing: 0px; white-space: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;'>A 12-year-old girl who came out as a lesbian in front of her Mormon church congregation in Utah was told to sit down halfway through a speech in which she said she was not a \u201chorrible sinner\u201d.<\/p>\n<p style='margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: 0.3px; font-family: \"Helvetica Neue\", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15.5px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; word-spacing: 0px; white-space: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;'>Speaking at the church\u2019s monthly Fast and Testimony session, the girl, Savannah, said she was a child of \u201cheavenly parents\u201d who had \u201cmade me to be gay\u201d, according to<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp;<\/span>a video taken by someone in the audience<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp;<\/span>which has been watched by more than 200,000 people.<\/p>\n<p style='margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: 0.3px; font-family: \"Helvetica Neue\", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15.5px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; word-spacing: 0px; white-space: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;'>But, as she was speaking at the church near Salt Lake City, the microphone was turned off and she was asked to sit down.<\/p>\n<p style='margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: 0.3px; font-family: \"Helvetica Neue\", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15.5px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; word-spacing: 0px; white-space: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;'>A man then addressed the congregation, using the same mic, telling them he was grateful that the \u201cHeavenly Father has made us all unique\u201d.<\/p>\n<p style='margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: 0.3px; font-family: \"Helvetica Neue\", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15.5px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; word-spacing: 0px; white-space: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;'>Savannah began by saying she wanted to \u201cshare my testimony with you\u201d.<\/p>\n<p style='margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: 0.3px; font-family: \"Helvetica Neue\", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15.5px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; word-spacing: 0px; white-space: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;'>\u201cI believe I am a child of heavenly parents. I don\u2019t know if they talk to us, but I feel in my heart that they made me and that they love me. I believe I was made the way I am, all parts of me, by my heavenly parents,\u201d she said in remarks<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp;<\/span>first reported by<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp;<\/span><em>Pink News<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p style='margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: 0.3px; font-family: \"Helvetica Neue\", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15.5px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; word-spacing: 0px; white-space: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;'>\u201cThey did not mess up when they gave me brown eyes, or when I was born bald. They did not mess up when they gave me freckles or they made me to be gay. God loves me just this way because I believe that he loves all his creations.<\/p>\n<p style='margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: 0.3px; font-family: \"Helvetica Neue\", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15.5px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; word-spacing: 0px; white-space: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;'>\u201cNo part of me is a mistake. I do not choose to be this way and it is not a fad. I cannot make someone else gay and being around me won\u2019t make anyone else this way.<\/p>\n<p style='margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: 0.3px; font-family: \"Helvetica Neue\", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15.5px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; word-spacing: 0px; white-space: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;'>\u201cI believe that God wants us to treat each other with kindness, even if people are different \u2013 especially if they are different. Christ showed us this.<\/p>\n<p style='margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: 0.3px; font-family: \"Helvetica Neue\", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15.5px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; word-spacing: 0px; white-space: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;'><div class=\"e3lan e3lan-in-post1\"><\/div>\n\n<p style='margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: 0.3px; font-family: \"Helvetica Neue\", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15.5px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; word-spacing: 0px; white-space: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;'>\u201cI believe that we should just love. I believe I am good. I try my best to be nice to each other and stick up for those that are hurting.<\/p>\n<div class=\"remaining-body&#10;                        &#10;                        &#10;                            &#10;                            &#10;                        &#10;                        \" style='color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-transform: none; line-height: 1.5; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: 0.3px; font-family: \"Helvetica Neue\", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15.5px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; word-spacing: 0px; white-space: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;'>\n<p>\u201cI know I\u2019m not a horrible sinner for being who I am. I believe God would tell me if I was wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She said she hoped to one day go on dates, to school dances and eventually to find a partner, get married, have a family and find a \u201cgreat job\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know I can have all of these things as a lesbian and be happy. I believe that if God is there, he knows I\u2019m perfect just the way I am, and would never ask me to live my life alone or with someone I am not attracted to,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe would want me to be happy. I want to be happy. I want to love myself and not to feel shame for being me. I ask you\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The microphone then went dead and Savannah was asked to sit down.<\/p>\n<p>A man then rose to say: \u201cBrothers and sisters, I ask you to recognise that we are all children of God, we are loved by our Heavenly Father.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd, I have no doubt that Heavenly Father has made us all unique in different ways and for that I am grateful.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd I am grateful for all of you that are here today as sons and daughters of God.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd I know very much and I\u2019m grateful for Heavenly Father\u2019s plans for us. And I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Her mother Heather<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp;<\/span>told dailymail.com<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp;<\/span>that Savannah left the stage in tears.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe came off crying to me. We both walked out of the hall, and I held her face in my hands and told her over and over that she is perfect and good, that there is nothing wrong with who she is, that she is brave and beautiful,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n<p>\u201dI was angry that they chose to hurt her for whatever reason they had.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy husband and I both were reluctant to let her share her testimony because of the potential rejection. She asked to do it in January, we finally agreed in May.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe had worked so hard at perfecting it so that it would portray exactly how she felt. We decided to let her do it because we thought it would be more harmful to silence her or give her reason to feel she is wrong in any way.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A 12-year-old girl who came out as a lesbian in front of her Mormon church congregation in Utah was told to sit down halfway through a speech in which she said she was not a \u201chorrible sinner\u201d. Speaking at the church\u2019s monthly Fast and Testimony session, the girl, Savannah, said she was a child of &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42210,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[38],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.7.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Mormon girl, 12, is stopped from speaking as she explains why she is gay to church - TheFastFashion.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=42209\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mormon girl, 12, is stopped from speaking as she explains why she is gay to church - TheFastFashion.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A 12-year-old girl who came out as a lesbian in front of her Mormon church congregation in Utah was told to sit down halfway through a speech in which she said she was not a \u201chorrible sinner\u201d. 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