He felt the urge to let the world know that despite him being gay, he is in a happy marriage with a straight woman.
Our today’s “fun fact” is proudly “sponsored” by the New York Post, that has published this young man’s confession.
The 25-year-old said: named Skyler “That sexual attraction came from, I mean, trial-and-error and a lot of practice. We have our struggles of course, like every marriage, but me being gay hasn’t been … the biggest issue in our marriage. It’s been communication, normal marriage things.”
A “mixed orientation marriage”? Apparently Skyler got asked many times what he meant, and he managed to get a lot of attention over twitter with this tweet:
Being in a mixed-orientation marriage is like going to Disneyland and having some people tell you you’d be better off at Six Flags.
Six Flags may have more rollercoasters, but it’ll never beat the happiest place on earth😉
— Skyler Sorensen (@_skyler_austin_) May 25, 2020
Of course, such a message gets a lot of attention on social media, and his twit bounced all over the globe, hence the NYP releasing this article today.
We were apprehensive about doing this interview, but for a sensational/click-batey publication like the NY Post, it could’ve been much worse! I appreciate @mshannahsparks kindness & honesty, while I wish her editors would’ve handled it less scandalously. https://t.co/0Lig2LRDiX
— Skyler Sorensen (@_skyler_austin_) August 11, 2020
You may ask “and what about his wife”?
Amanda said: “Do I wish that Skyler wasn’t gay? Yeah, sometimes. But I wouldn’t want to be with anyone else other than him. He grew up always knowing that he was never going to be with a guy. That was always his conviction and his belief and his desire. Skyler is just so kind and sensitive and loving and giving. Growing up, he probably thought, like, ‘Oh, this makes me different than other guys.’ But I love those aspects of him.”
The Mormon community is well known for their strong opposition to the LGBT+ community and their strong homophobia. In fact, apparently, “mixed-orientation relationships” are a normal habit among the Mormons. A doctor of their community has been consulted by the NYP on the matter and he said that it is always better to be in a mixed-orientation relationship that to be single and this allows Mormons to obey to their church’s teachings.
The couple also consulted a Mormon counsellor who is specialised in “mixed-orientation relationships” to make their marriage work.
Dr. Mansfield, consulted by the NYP – who is also gay, but married to a woman – said that between 40 and 60 per cent of his clients were “navigating sexual or gender-identity questions. Whatever path you choose, there are healthy ways and unhealthy ways to navigate that path. The options for gay people are either a lifetime of celibacy or a mixed-orientation marriage”.
According to Mansfield – while discussing the data of a research made by the Mormon University in Utah and commissioned by the LDS Church, 80% circa of those in “mixed-orientation marriages” said they were generally satisfied, a far greater proportion than those that were single and celibate (42 per cent) or single and not celibate (40 per cent). But the other side of the coin reveals that the study inadvertently made an important point about Mormon’s teachings on sexuality where the happiest couples were those made of LGBT+ Mormons who were in same-sex relationships, with a satisfaction rate of 95%.
