Episode 636: Thomas Swain, Gay Latter-Day Saint, Mid 30s

My friend Thomas Swain joins us from New Zealand to share his story. Thomas (who grew up in England) starts with knowing at an early age he had feelings for someone of the same gender but put that away and moved forward. Thomas talks about his wonderful mission experience (West Indies 2006-2008), teaching at the New Zealand MTC for 5 years and working for church media productions. These were deeply spiritual times for Thomas which also allowed him to put this attract to men on the shelf. After the MTC assignment, Thomas talks about the 10+ years working to marry a woman and how all those relationships ended. That filled Thomas with the pain of not being able to fall in love and move to his next step as a Latter-day Saint and also knowing he left behind women thinking the breakup might have been their fault. That led Thomas to some of his darkest days with feelings of suicidal ideation. Concurrent with not being able to fall in love with a women, Thomas did many things to serve in our Church including starting missiongeek.net (600K visitors to help prepare missionaries, now offline); executive producer in 2020 global youth theme video “Go and Do” with over 4 million views. Link: https://youtu.be/zeGC8lS20d8 He also helped with FSYs and YSA events around the Pacific. During these experiences Thomas worked with many senior Church leaders. After not feeling able to marry a woman, Thomas stopped dating for several years. Thomas then shares how he starts to date men a couple of years ago, and how that has brought him much joy, peace and hope into his life. Thomas and his boyfriend attend Church and are met with love and kindness from ward members. Thomas also has supportive parents who have come to love and accept their son. Thomas talks about his love of and hopes for the Church and for more kindness/acceptance of LGBTQ Latter-day Saints. I was deeply moved listening to Thomas and his spiritual and emotional maturity. Thank you Thomas for being on the podcast and sharing your story. You are vulnerable and very brave. You story will help so many as we work to expand the boarders of Zion. You can reach Thomas at: e-mail: Thomas Swain (thomasleviswain@gmail.com) IG: @themissiongeek Facebook: facebook.com/thomascarte Podcast Links: Ministering to LGBTQ Latter-day Saints Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1433556613672143 Richard Ostler Book: Embracing LGBTQ Latter-day Saints: Deseret Book: www.deseretbook.com/p/listen-learn-and-love-embracing-lgbtq-latter-day-saints Amazon: www.amazon.com/dp/1462135773