Faithful: A Lesbian Mormon Story
Join us on Sunday June 25th, 2017 at 7:00pm
What would it be like to live with the love of your life but remain celibate to meet the requirements of your religion? In this groundbreaking documentary, that is touching hearts and expanding paradigms, the story of two lesbian Mormons living in rural Utah is explored, showing how they are making it work in their own way. Join us for an exclusive private screening of the 20 minute documentary and a Q&A to follow with the filmmakers!
Faithful was born out of the need to tell an honest story and to foster compassion and conversation around the lived experiences of lesbian Mormons. Over the past several decades, at least 20 movies and documentaries have been made about the gay Mormon experience, but almost no films have been made about Mormon lesbians. At the center of this film are Marylu and Lauralie. Marylu comes from many generations of Mormons who crossed the plains, and Lauralie was once married in the temple to a man. Together, they live in the plateaus of eastern Utah in Roosevelt, a town of 6,700 people.
A trailer to the documentary can be viewed here:
FAQs:
1. Are Marylu and Lauralie active in the Church? Yes they are and they hold temple recommends. They are managing to be in a committed same-sex relationship while keeping the standards of the Mormon church, which is not a common choice. It’s not an easy path, but it seems to work for them.
2. Is the film promoting their choice to remain celibate? No, it is not. You will meet another couple under similar circumstances who have chosen very differently. This is a love story between two women and their love stories with their religion and God.
3. Who are the filmmakers? Dane Christensen is finishing his MFA in Documentary Film & Video at Stanford. This film is his thesis project. Jenn Lee Smith grew up partly in rural eastern Utah and is dedicated to telling true stories of women. They met at a Hearth fireside last year!
4. Is there a way to help support sharing this film to a broader audience? Yes! Dane & Jenn Lee have created a Kickstarter campaign in an effort to get the film into the upcoming film festival season. Even small donations make a huge difference as distributors are impressed by high numbers interested in a film. Additional information can be found here:
Jenn Lee recently screened a fine cut of the film to a select audience of about 20 people consisting of Mormons and non-Mormons. The response was overwhelmingly positive.
Comments included the following:
"You can feel their level of devotion both to each other and to the religion."
"I think about my parents who are truly wonderful people, but they have no exposure to stories like these. They have no frame of reference, so the best thing for them would be to talk to people who are gay and Mormon and the second best thing is for them to see people in a wonderful relationship. Why this film resonated with me so well is the thought that, wow, I would like to send this to my parents."
"You've done such a good job of just looking at these people and not trying to make a statement other than that they love each other and they love the church and those things come in conflict. It's not trying to pass a judgment or whatever. I think it's just beautiful."
We look forward to having you join us around the Hearth!
If you are learning to love with fewer conditions, if you are LGBTQ and looking for a safe place, or if you simply want to demonstrate your care for your LGBTQ friends and family and join with others who care, you will find a place with us.