I’m from Mormon stock, all 8 lines crossed the plans. the two main lines, my mothers and fathers joined in first 6 months that the church was organized, and followed the church from NY, to Kirkland, to Missouri to Nauvoo to Utah. I named my oldest boy Stephen Markham after the body guard that smuggled a gun in to Carthage jail, second son was named a compromise long name 5 months after he was born, James Orrin Rockwell Porter, and my youngest daughter Mary Elizabeth Porter after her GGGGGrand Aunt Mary Elizabeth Rollins Lightner Smith Young.
My standing in the church or callings that I have had, is a type of special call authority, regardless of my position in the church or lack there of, or priesthood I hold or don’t hold, be it low or high, is like my gender it should not determine if what I say if valid, my words stand on their own, not because of any supposed authority I may more may not have.
I have great friends that I dearly love, are some of the finest people on the planet, and just happen to also be feminist.
I was one of a hand full of men that participated on an early email forum back in like 1995ish, and it was there where I moved kicking and screening and making my friends mad, from raised by John Birtch conservatives to a flaming liberal.
I have calmed down since then, when people ask where I stand on feminism, I say that I am a lapped feminist investigator, and while I may choose to keep my month shut more than I used to, I speak up more than men on this issue and on gay rights. I do speak up in favor of Pro-Choice every time I hear it maligned. When EVERY child is fed and loved, than and only then can we start to worries about splitting hairs about when mass of cells, i.e. tumor, becomes a viable person.
My ultimate feeling is that I may not get up early to march in their parade, I sure as hell am not going to rain on their parade.
We cannot swallow an elephant in one bite, our first step is to RE-empower women back to the unique and elevated position they held in the 1840-1940’s pre-correlation. What member can say that doing such is wrong without saying the church was in apostasy for over 100 years and only put back on the straight and narrow, in the 1960s.