Marybeth Raynes

MARYBETH RAYNES, M.S., M.S.W., is a licensed clinical social worker and marriage and family therapist with a private practice in Salt Lake City. She is co-editor with Ron and Wayne Schow of Peculiar People and Same-Sex Orientation (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1991).

Getting Unmarried in a Married Church

Articles/Essays – Volume 14, No. 4

My earliest memory of my Bluebird class in Primary is cross-stitching a sampler: “I will light up my home.” Our teacher admonished us to embroider carefully because we would want our samplers to hang in…

Single Cursedness: An Overview of LDS Authorities’ Statements About Unmarried People

Articles/Essays – Volume 16, No. 3

Being married is one of the most important ideas within Mormon culture, emphasized almost to the exclusion of other states of being. Much like the moon that is visible only when reflecting the sun’s light,…

Can You Change? | Erin Eldridge, Born That Way? A True Story of Overcoming Same-Sex Attraction

Articles/Essays – Volume 28, No. 2

Born That Way? asks a question about the origins of homosexuality, readily answers it in the affirmative, then turns to the author’s, and the church’s, real thesis: You can change your same-sex attraction and “life…

Getting Out/Staying In: One Mormon/Gay Marriage: Thoughts of a Therapist

Articles/Essays – Volume 38, No. 3

I frequently see Mormons who are gay or gays who are Mormon. Which comes first matters immensely to many. I consult with individuals, lesbian and gay couples, and couples in which one partner is gay, bisexual,…