Hello, I'm Amethyst!
I'm aroace lesbian and a demigirl. The church took 13 years of my life, and I'm lucky it didn't take more. I was a Mormon.
About me
I'm an introvert and a queer person. I use she/they pronouns. I'm a demigirl (meaning I'm partially female and partially nonbinary) and an aroace lesbian (I don't experience romantic or sexual attraction, but I feel queerplatonic attraction towards women and enbies.) I was born into a mormon family and raised in the belief. Even though I had a gay uncle, I didn't learn about the LGBTQ+ until fourth grade.
# Why I left More stories of 'Why I left' the Mormon church
In fourth grade I was introduced to the concept of "Transgender" and "Queer." I didn't fully undestand, but I wanted to call myself nonbinary. I asked my teacher to use they/they pronouns for me. Everything seemed fine.
When my parents found out...things did not go well.
Anyway, I ended up moving into a town half an hour away from the city where we had lived. I was miserable. I had no friends, I hated church, I hated my parents. After half a year of being depressed and angry, I decided to "let the gospel into my life", so to speak. I regained my happiness, but at a price. The church took my agency, my identity. As years passed by, I blocked out memories of fourth grade. Anything with queer related content made me uncomfortable. I would read over and over the copy of "The Family: A Proclamation to the World" in the church library. I hated the LGBTQ+ community, especially transgenders. I blamed them for my past depression. I tried to forget they existed.
Then in 7th grade, I read some books with LGBTQIA+ characters. I related to them, so much that I started to question my own beliefs. I decided the LGBTQIA+ wasn't so bad after all. Secretly, I began wondering if I was bi.