“The way gays are treated and perceived by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is an “atrocity,” an LDS bishop from Illinois told a group of gay Mormons Sunday.

“If you leave here not remembering what I have to say, remember this: I’m sorry,” Bishop Kevin Kloosterman said at an interfaith service held at the First Baptist Church of Salt Lake City.

Kloosterman spoke at the final event of a weekend-long seminar dedicated to exploring gay Mormon issues, titled Circling the Wagons. He said he recently became aware of LGBT issues and had a “mighty change of heart.”

“I began to see the emotional wounds and scars that many of you have today,” Kloosterman said, “and I began to ask, ‘Where did you get these wounds?’ And the answer, unfortunately, was in the house of my friends.

“The straight members of the church have a lot of repenting to do,” he said.

He clarified that he was speaking only on his own behalf and did not intend to represent the views of the church.” (Salt Lake Tribune 2011)

(See FULL VIDEO of his speech here)

Since that talk in Late Fall 2011 Kevin Kloosterman has continued to be advocate for the LGBTQ Community within and without the church. In December of 2013 he congratulated via Twitter the first Gay Couple from the State of Utah to be married, and that action caused his temple recommend to be taken away.

Brother Kloosterman, though no longer a Bishop, continues to be a faithful attending Latter-Day saint.

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