Born That Way? By Erin Eldridge Deseret Book, 1994. 192 pages. ISBN: 0-87479-835-7
Reviewed by: Rex Goode

I was recently informed that Born That Way? by Erin Eldridge, Deseret Book's attempt at providing inspirational material to persons affected by same-sex attraction, has been slated for "out of print" status. It was recently offered at Utah Valley bookstores for $2.99. I received this news with mixed emotions.

Born That Way? has been one of Deseret Book's more controversial offerings. There were many accusations that Erin Eldridge was not in fact a real person, but a composite of many persons. There were also criticisms that whatever message Eldridge was trying to convey got watered down by Church censors who were not willing to see a frank discussion of homosexuality published by Deseret Book.

Indeed, the question posed by the book's title never got any real treatment within the text, becoming a textbook example of a poorly named work. Many more lesbians claim that their sexual preference is a matter of personal choice than do male homosexuals, who tend to point to genetics as the cause.

Equally unsatisfying is that Eldridge's own story seemed more of an example of a woman overcoming alcoholism than homosexuality.

The book ends in testimonials by several persons about their struggles with same-sex attraction.

Apart from the topical disappointments in the book are some difficulties I have in the politics of the situation.

A good friend of mine, a single man who was the victim of a gay-bashing incident that nearly killed him, left the lifestyle he had been pursuing and returned to full church activity. He now serves in a ward bishopric, though he will likely be released soon because of deteriorating health due to AIDS. He recently finished his life story, which he submitted to Deseret Book for consideration. Their response was a been-there-done-that attitude about any book dealing with overcoming same-sex attraction. They were, of course, referring to Born That Way?

If Born That Way? is their defining work on the subject of same-sex attraction, then I am truly disappointed. Same-sex attraction for men is a very different experience than for women, making Eldridge's story only mildly interesting to men like me. It certainly does not provide much in the way of good information on addressing issues of healing and change.

With attitudes like those displayed by Deseret Book, it is no wonder that Angels In America by Kushner, which also is not truly about homosexuality and Mormonism, is thought by most to be the best work on the topic. As it turns out, given the milk toast flavor of Born That Way?, there are no real books about overcoming same-sex attraction for Mormons and not likely to be any in the forseeable future.

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Rex Goode
rexg@coil.com     http://www.coil.com/~rexg/index.htm

I used to be a buffalo...