Latter Day Survivors

Samantha Sorensen

Samantha Sorensen is the author of "Nonconsentual Morality: A Silenced Woman's Voice From The Dark." In this episode she tells us her story of growing up within the LDS faith and facing abuse and sexual assault along with not getting the help she needed. She then discusses her breaking point and how she came to discover the perfect title for her book. We are grateful we chose to share her story with us!

Chris Davis - Worthy: The Memoir Of An Ex-Mormon Lesbian

Chris Davis, author of Worthy: The Memoir of an Ex-Mormon Lesbian, shares her experiences of abuse and continued trauma as a member of the Mormon church. She was a lifelong devout Mormon, who checked all the expected boxes: wife, mother, teacher, leader, follower, and believer until 2020 when she left her family and her church to fulfill her personal destiny as a gay woman and independent thinker. She remains close with her two adult children, one of whom is a believing member of the church, and the other who is a transgender man who has also left the church. She now lives quite happily in her home state of Maine and looks forward to a long and joyful life as her authentic self. She can be found online at www.chrisdavisproud.com (http://www.chrisdavisproud.com/), on most social media at @ChrisDavisProud, and on Facebook at @ChrisDavisPr0ud. The blog post titled "The Day I Stopped Believing" can be found at this link. (https://chrisdavisproud.com/blog/f/the-day-i-stopped-believing)

Celestine Kamrad

Celestine joined the LDS religion as a young adult after she was introduced to it by her first husband. After facing years of narcissistic, physical, and sexual abuse from him, she finally worked up the courage to leave. However, her ex-husband used her history of depression against her and was able to obtain full custody of their children. In this episode, Celestine tells her story of heartbreak, resilience, and hope.

Deep Thoughts on Compulsory Heterosexuality with Sarah and Kindra

https://www.latterdaysurvivors.org/podcast1/episode/d4881398/deep-thoughts-on-compulsory-heterosexuality-with-sarah-and-kindraIn this episode Sara and Kindra discuss our experiences with compulsory heterosexuality as former members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. 

Kenny Ballentine

Re-release After sharing his story intially, Kenny needed space and time to work on healing and therapy. The initial recording of his story was taken down at his request, and he opted to rerecord it when it would be healing for him. Kenny is a documentary film maker and activist for social change. His most recent film, Healing US, is set to release this week. Kenny shares his story about how he came to consciously identify what happened to him as a child, was rape. While listening to the Latter Day Survivors podcast, he recognized the significance of what happened to him, how it informed many of his life choices, and is learning how to manage the PTSD symptoms that followed when acknowledging and processing the trauma.