Episode 877: Emily Groves, Age 18, Lesbian, Blind, Super Brave, Episode One

Listen, Learn & Love Hosted by Richard Ostler

Richard Ostler

Religion & Spirituality

4.7 • 855 Ratings

🗓️ 11 April 2026

⏱️ 55 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

**Note: In this episode, Emily talks about being lesbian. In a future episode, Emily talks about being blind** My friend Emily Groves (student of Boise State University, doubling in bio and computer science, active LDS) joins us to share her story. * Journey to understand and accept being lesbian * Break from religion * Coming back to religion—super powerful experience with God confirm she is lesbian * Coming out to her Patriarch prior to her Patriarchal blessing (positive experience) * Coming out to others—possible family reactions * How her feelings about the church vacillate—but trying hard to make it work—loves being in the Church * Work to find/accept her path and grace for others choosing a different path * Probably will marry a woman someday * Open to serving a mission, open to getting endowed—and thoughts around these two decisions Thank you Emily for your courage to share your story. You are awesome—and wise beyond your years. Honored to have you on the podcast. You story and insights help all of us better love, understand and support others. You have a great life ahead of you! Links: Emily’s e-mail: emilygroves00@gmail.com

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, welcome listeners to another episode of Listen, Learn, and Love, hosted by Richard Osler.
0:09.2	Our guest on this podcast is my new friend, Emily Groves.
0:14.3	Welcome to the podcast, Emily.
0:17.0	Thank you so much for having me on.
0:19.1	So grateful to have Emily.
0:21.0	She is one of our youngest guests, age 18.
0:25.3	She is currently a Boise State University student.
0:28.9	She's recording this podcast from that area.
0:32.8	She was born and raised in North,
0:34.8	born in North Carolina, raised in Iowa, Utah, and Idaho.
0:38.3	She is blind. She's blind from birth, and she is a lesbian, and she is an active Latter-day
0:44.3	Saint. And we're going to do two podcasts with Emily. We thought it would be best not to pack
0:51.3	this all into one episode that spread it out. So we decided to
0:55.8	first talk about her being a lesbian in Latter-day Saint, and then maybe in a month from now,
1:01.0	you'll, our second episode will be released talking about being blind. And all this with the
1:06.9	spirit of how we can better support people walking more complicated roads.
1:12.0	In this case, the sexual minority being lesbian and also being blind.
1:16.1	And I've read her outline super powerful, super vulnerable, super insightful.
1:22.5	And I'm just honored to have you on the podcast.
1:25.3	We said a prayer ahead of time that this would be helpful for you, our listeners, to better support others.
1:31.7	And if you're walking either of these two roads, the things Emily shares will be helpful for you.
1:37.0	But you're super brave to do this, Emily.
	...

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