Episode 626: Hunter Steele (gay BYU student) and Amie Steele (supportive LDS mother)

Listen, Learn & Love Hosted by Richard Ostler

Richard Ostler

Religion & Spirituality

4.8 • 839 Ratings

🗓️ 24 March 2023

⏱️ 76 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

My friends Hunter Steele (Age 24, BYU Journalism Major, Kennewick Washington RM) and his mother Amie Steele (married mother of three) join us to share their story. Hunter starts with his story growing up in Nephi, Utah (student body president of his high school) trying to reconcile his sexual orientation in a very heteronormative environment. Hunter talks about his mission (good experience) and then returning home realizing he was still attracted to men. Hunter talks about doing all things “with God” in his journey which led him to come out to his therapist and parents (both good experiences). Hunter then talks about why he came out publicly. This is a powerful—Spirit led—story. Amie shares her story of Hunter coming out to her (she didn’t ever suspect he was gay) and he journey to love and support Hunter. She talks about relying to Christ, prayer ,and scripture study to navigate this road. They share coming out to extended family and friends and the support and love they are receiving. This is one of the finest podcasts we’ve done—especially to have both a parent and her son who is gay jointly sharing their story. I was deeply moved listening to Hunter and Amie and believe their story will help you. I encourage you to listen to this podcast and share it with others. Their story will help so many. Thank you, Hunter and Amie, for sharing your story! Podcast links: Hunter’s coming out post: https://www.instagram.com/p/CkWe6RxyV_l/ Hunter’s Instagram reel with his journal entry: https://www.instagram.com/p/CotP2HNj33w/ Ministering to LGBTQ Latter-day Saints Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/1433556613672143 Richard Ostler Book: Embracing LGBTQ Latter-day Saints: Deseret Book: www.deseretbook.com/p/listen-learn-and-love-embracing-lgbtq-latter-day-saints Amazon: www.amazon.com/dp/1462135773

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome listeners to another episode of Listen, Learn, and Love hosted by Richard Osler.
0:09.8	On my guest on today's podcast are my friends Amy Steele and her and her son Hunter Steele.
0:17.5	Welcome to the podcast.
0:19.9	Thank you so much. We're happy to be here. They're going to tell
0:24.6	their story. Hunter is gay. He's 24 years old. He's a BYU student, a journalism major. He served
0:33.6	a mission in Washington Kennewick. And I'm going to link in the show notes to his Instagram account is coming out post,
0:41.2	as well as a reel.
0:42.9	He shared reading, had journal entry that was really powerful for me just to better understand
0:48.4	the road that Hunter walks.
0:51.1	We're also joined by Amy Steele, the mother of three. Hunter is her middle child. She has a
0:58.3	married daughter and a younger son on a mission in Arizona, Little Rock, Arizona. She teaches special
1:06.4	needs. Tell us what you teach, Amy, before I miss it.
1:13.8	Special education at the high school. Yep, here in Nephi.
1:18.3	And they are joining us from Nephi. I'm Hunter. We're recording this on a weekend.
1:25.7	I drove home from BYU and they're joining us via Zoom. And I reached out to Hunter and Amy and asked them to do this.
1:46.3	Somehow I got connected with both of them on social media and just recognized Hunter's maturity, being honest about his sexual orientation and his deep love of Christ and the church and the principles of the gospel and trying to reconcile both of these things that he loves about himself.
1:49.7	And I thought his voice would be helpful for other LGBTQ Latter-day Saints.
1:55.0	Some of you that are closeted are looking for the maturity that Hunter has that can help you
1:59.9	and some of you that aren't closet are just looking for a voice that Hunter has that can help you and some of you that aren't
2:01.7	closets are just looking for a voice to be helpful.
2:04.9	I also thought it would be great to have Amy here, a mom of an LGBTQ child, for her to share
2:11.1	some of her story and the things she's learned, the advice she'd give, how she feels about
	...

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