Tom Christofferson about LGBTQ+ issues within the church | Episode 398

On Sept. 28, 2017, The Salt Lake Tribune premiered a new podcast, “Mormon Land,” and its first guest was Tom Christofferson, a prominent LGBTQ+ member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a brother of apostle D. Todd Christofferson.

Deseret Book had just published Tom’s memoir, “That We May Be One: A Gay Mormon’s Perspective on Faith and Family.”

As hosts, we were definitely neophytes, but the power of Tom’s narrative and his openness carried the moment.

Now, as “Mormon Land” approaches its 400th episode — and a decade after the Supreme Court made same-sex marriage the law of the land and the Utah-based church enacted a policy (later rescinded) labeling same-sex married couples “apostates” and barring their kids from baptism — we caught up with Tom Christofferson, who was in Utah for the Gather Conference in Provo, to explore how far the church has come, in his eyes, on LGBTQ+ issues and and how far it has yet to go.