Footnote 21
The text for Elder Dallin H. Oaks' conference talk Two Great Commandments in Oct 2019 includes footnote references.
Here is a quote from the talk: "Our walk must be considerate of children who are uncertain about their sexual orientation, but it discourages premature labeling because, in most children, such uncertainty decreases significantly over time."
It is followed by footnote 21, which pulls up this reference: "See, for example, Michelle Forcier, “Adolescent Sexuality,” UpToDate, June 3, 2019, uptodate.com/contents/adolescent-sexuality." Unlike the other footnotes, this one didn’t have a hypelink because it’s behind a paywall. Cammie Vanderveur paid the $20 in order to read and has shared what she discovered.
The article does support Elder Oaks' claim that "in most children, such uncertainty [about sexual orientation] decreases significantly over time".
However, the article refutes Elder Oaks' other suggestion in the same sentence of "discourag[ing] premature labeling." That thought is from Elder Oaks, not the researcher he referenced.
Dr. Forcier's article says "Adolescents' uncertainty about their sexual orientation decreases with age, from 26 percent of 12-year-old students to 5 percent of 17 year olds". There is nothing terribly amazing about that, they learn to make sense of the feelings & attractions they have, which may have been new to them at age 12. This is equally true of gay/bi/lesbian teens or straight teens.
Elder Oaks only used this article in reference to LGB but not to T, but the article does address gender identity. "An individual's gender identity is generally established at some point during early childhood. Rather than a binary concept with fixed opposites (male/female), gender may also be viewed along a continuum, depending upon individual or social interpretation." This directly contradicts Elder Oaks’ assertion of a gender binary. It seems he is cherry picking only what he likes from Dr. Forcier.
In contrast to Elder Oaks, the article takes care to distinguish between gender and sex. "In general, transgender or gender diverse refers to individuals whose gender role or gender identity is not congruent with their biologic or anatomically assigned sex." This opposes Elder Oaks’ idea that gender is biological sex at birth.
—————————
When Elder Oaks discourages “labeling,” I know he means as to whether a person is LGBT, be we could take his words to mean to also stop labeling children/teens as heterosexuals/straight.
In which case, should we remove from baby blessings about marrying certain genders? Same with patriarchal blessings? Should we adjust youth Sunday School and YM/YW meetings/activities to remove a hetero-normative assumption?
—————————
Let’s look at how Elder Oaks uses the LGBT labels. Not long ago he only referred to people who experience Same Sex Attraction in this life. Following President Nelson’s lead, he has begun using Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender.
But pay attention to how he uses them. He never says HE calls us LGBT, instead he’ll phrase it as "commonly referred to as LGBT"or "those identifying as LGBT." It seems that Elder Oaks is unwilling to say that we are LGBT, just that we have chosen to label ourselves that.
—————————
In the article that Elder Oaks referenced, Dr. Forcier says it is important for health care provider to assume the sexuality of teens. They should not assume they’re all heterosexual unless told otherwise. “Gay, lesbian, and bisexual youth exist in all communities and in all pediatric practices; health care providers should ask adolescents questions that are gender and sexuality neutral. Avoid terms such as "boyfriend" or "girlfriend" but instead ask about "crushes" or "romantic or sexual partners," directly asking if patients are attracted to males, females, both, or neither." Dr. Forcier goes on to explain that "Adolescent sexuality occurs in the context of many other aspects of adolescent development and is more complicated for sexual minorities or lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (LGBTQQ) youth. Regardless of the acronyms and current issues in terminology, the individual youth is the person best suited to describe and define identity and behaviors. Many youth refuse categorization, preferring more diffuse terminology such as gender queer, queer, pansexual, or fluid regarding gender and sexuality. What matters for most youth is that the provider asks about their personal perspective, experience, and what terminology best suits their needs."
In other words, Dr. Forcier is pro letting people define themselves and working with how they label themselves. She merely advocates having the adolescent be the one who issues the label; not that labels be avoided by the LGBT (or cis-het) person. This contradicts Elder Oaks’ idea of not letting teenagers use labels.
Dr. Forcier’s article also says "Formation of sexual identity among youth often is fluid, and experimentation with same-gender sexual contacts can be part of healthy adolescent development", which I highly doubt is a position Elder Oaks wants readers of his talk to see in the link.
It’s a pity that most people won’t read the work that Elder Oaks cites and how it mostly contradicts what he says in his General Conference address. He appeals to Dr. Forcier’s authority while denying her actual positions. Her work actually rebuts Elder Oaks’ positions.
