Mormon, gay, and sane.

While reading your story on how boyfriends Stephen Shroy and Aaron Cloward and others have survived the Mormon Church ["Mormons on a Mission," April 12], I am reminded of how resilient we gay people are. Plant us in the arid soil of Mormonism, Roman Catholicism, Protestant fundamentalism, Orthodox Judaism, even Islam, and many of us grow and prosper. We are file finest examples of how the human spirit can survive even the most inhospitable of environments.

Those gay and lesbian people who still find themselves persecuted and oppressed by their particular brand of religion should follow Cloward's example and "look at the church with a critical eye." Once you give yourself the freedom to use the intellect the creator or evolution gave to you to examine the Bible, the Book of Mormon, or the Koran, you will easily see that they are merely fallible human attempts to explain the unknown and not the words of God. You can shed the self-hatred that these all-too-human religions have taught you and see yourself for the valuable and decent gay human beings that you are.

John E. Leddy, Philadelphia, Pa.

I grew up as a member of the Mormon Church. When I lust came out to my family at 16, my parents forbade me to participate in activities that did not involve the church. Later, when I refused to suppress my sexual orientation, I was forced to attend regular meetings with the bishop, who told me I was no longer allowed to participate in any church ceremonies, including the sacrament. I was interrogated regularly by file bishop about extremely personal issues. Bulletins were posted about how to vote on Ohio's homophobic Issue 1; I even watched my own grandmother pass around a petition against gay fights. My family avoided talking to me at church events, and my mother accused me of trying to break up my family. My sister told me that my grandmother said she would never want to even touch a gay person. I was forced to move out of my family's home and into the house of my best friend's family.

The Mormon Church has a way of secluding its members from the rest of society. Gay and lesbian Mormons need to step up and connect with each other. The church has deviated front its religious duties and is trying to control the laws of the land. Only the church's gay and lesbian members have the power to reveal the church's agenda. Thank you for addressing an issue that has fallen under the radar for far too long.

Greg Parsons, Nashville, Ohio

Gay and lesbian members of the LDS Church should realize that their intent to change the church from the inside is not shared by many other gay and lesbian Mormons. The authority of the leaders of the church comes directly "from the mouth of God." Since no one ever "sees" God except the church president, members have to take his word for what God says. Sounds like a Wizard of Oz story. The only two times I know of when the church reversed major policy was when it banned polygamy so Utah could be admitted as a state and when it admitted blacks to the priesthood after much pressure from society in the early 1970s. Until societal pressures make it advantageous for the church to accept gays, the "Mormon God" will never change.

Gary Fairbourn, San Diego, Calif.

It's long past due that we gay Christians speak out and acknowledge that our sexuality comes from God and only from God. God knows what he's doing and doesn't need any permission from the LDS tipper echelon, the pope, or any other self-appointed earthly "superiority."

Joel A. Brown, Akron, Ohio