The struggle of homosexuality isn’t a new thing in the Church. There are members struggling with same-sex attraction that choose to leave the bosom of the Church and share their lives with their chosen partners. However, what’s not quite as normal is to see a same sex couple choose to get divorced in order to gain the full blessings of the Gospel.
Courtney and Rachelle are one of those couples. While Courtney grew up in the Church, her struggles with her sexuality—and the wonderful woman she met—led her to leave the Gospel and marry her partner. After a few years, Courtney realized she missed Church, and she and Rachelle started seeing the missionaries and attending meetings. The nonjudgemental members, missionaries, family, and Church community gave them love and acceptance. The Spirit gave them peace. And the love of God gave them strength. Even if that strength and peace meant divorce:
“It all came together for me that the reason I met Courtney wasn’t for us to get married; it was so that we could do this together and so that I could be introduced to this gospel.”
The two ended their Splitting the Sky interview by testifying of the Gospel:
“The only thing that truly matters is your relationship with your heavenly Father and truly taking advantage of the atonement of Jesus Christ. Nothing else matters.”
Rachelle and Courtney, though a rare case, are not the only ones out there choosing to put Christ and the Gospel first. Becky and Bennett Borden, before they married each other in the temple, spent 20 years in same-sex relationships with other people. Both examples show us that the Atonement of Christ can heal all wounds and lighten all burdens.
