Monday, we’re talking about the delicate balance of being religiously conservative and attracted to the same sex. Ty Mansfield is a family therapist and he’s attracted to men. He’s also married to a woman, has kids, and is a faithful Mormon. Mansfield believes that human sexuality is fluid enough for some gay people - not all - but some to be perfectly happy married to someone of the opposite sex. Mansfield joins us to share his own story, and to talk about what he’s learning about sexuality and happiness.
Ty Mansfield is a marriage and family therapist in Provo, Utah, and is a co-founder and current board member of the nonprofit North Star, a faith-based support organization for Latter-day Saints addressing sexual orientation or gender identity. He's editor of Voices of Hope: Latter-Day Saint Perspectives on Same Gender Attraction [Amazon] and co-author of In Quiet Desperation [Amazon]
Ty Mansfield is part of a team of researchers conducting the 4 Options Survey, designed to identify important aspects of life and relationships for people who experience (or have experienced) same-sex attraction or who identify as LGBT. The group is actively soliciting participation, and you can take the survey at 4optionssurvey.com
Mansfield is also part of the Reconciliation and Growth Project, a consortium of health-care professionals from a variety of approaches who have worked together to create a "Best Practices" document for providing services for LGBT or same-sex attracted patients [Learn more]
For a list of other RadioWest programs on religion and sexuality, click here. Among these, a conversation about mixed-orientation marriages that included researcher John Dehlin on his study of LGBT Mormons. [Listen here]
