755: Jen Parkinson - Living in a Mixed-Orientation and a Mixed-Faith Marriage Pt. 2
Mormon Stories Podcast
Dr. John Dehlin
4.5 • 5.7K Ratings
🗓️ 13 June 2017
⏱️ 69 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
We are excited to release an interview with Jen Parkinson that has many fascinating components, including:
*Her devout LDS upbringing and bout with perfectionism while a youth and as a missionary
*Her first marriage to a gay man, unbeknownst to her
*Experiences with LDS Family Services in addressing her husband’s sexual orientation
*Her resulting divorce and intense feelings of guilt and shame
*The experience of seeking a sealing cancellation and how it made her relive the nightmare of her divorce
*Dating and marrying her current husband
*Working for BYU-Idaho and the gender disparity she observed
*Her husband’s faith transition and her reaction to it by “quintupling down” on her beliefs
*How leaving her job at BYU gave her the freedom to learn and question
*Her own faith transition and hope for the future
Transcript
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| 0:49.7 | Hello everyone and welcome back to part two of my interview with Jen Parkesib. |
| 0:54.1 | It's been a really fascinating interview so far. I'm so grateful that Jen's |
| 0:59.1 | willing to tell her story. It's June 9th, 2017 broadcasting to you from a |
| 1:05.8 | recording from our new home in Salt Lake City. We're really thrilled to be |
| 1:10.8 | here. Part one of our new to Jen talked about her upbringing is a very |
| 1:16.1 | devout, scrupulous Mormon woman in California. Dad was a bishop and eventually |
| 1:22.4 | say presidency member, perfect seminary attendance, served a mission back |
| 1:28.1 | before women were strongly encouraged to serve missions. BYU, BYU, SA, EFI |
| 1:35.9 | counselor, EFI administrator, all that stuff married in the temple and then |
| 1:42.6 | life started falling apart when she found out that her husband was looking at |
| 1:46.4 | gay porn and eventually she found out that her husband was gay. She had three |
| 1:50.6 | children with this husband. It ended up in divorce after seven years of marriage |
| 1:55.5 | and lots of difficult times. For those who are considering a |
| 2:02.2 | mixed orientation marriage, for those who care about the issue, it's a really |
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