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  • On same-sex attraction and meddling families.

    Not sure that this even belongs in the "Foyer," but it does touch on LDS themes so I thought I'd put it here.

    I'll tell you all the situation and look forward to hearing your comments.

    I'm so fuming mad right now that I hope my depiction of the situation is coherent.

    Just now I heard my wife on the phone with my MIL. As a result of what was being said, I got curious and asked for some details of what was going on.

    It appears that my BIL, who is 29 and has never had a girlfriend, and is suspected to have never "kissed a girl" was in a serious "friendship" with a girl. The girl was being very attentive to him. She was writing a lot of emails, texting, calling, etc.

    My MIL and at least one SIL, behind my BIL's back, are vocal that they think he has SSA.

    There is very little evidence to support this. They know he hasn't had a girlfriend and they suspect he's never kissed a girl. However, they have no evidence that he is gay, either. There is zero evidence that he's ever kissed a male or had a boyfriend.

    My MIL, for reasons beyond my understanding, likes to, behind his back and unknown to my BIL, tell people that she found an LDS book that deals with many issues including SSA.

    It should be noted that NOBODY, including my mother in law, has ever had the balls to talk to him about this. My MIL also found a men's fitness magazine. A FITNESS MAGAZINE!

    Now, she's already got one son that is outwardly touts his SSA and participates in the SS lifestyle, so maybe she's hyper-reactive to such things. Also, it's very possible that this book was related to the outwardly gay son, prior to his leaving the LDS community.

    Anyway, my BIL has been in this relationship with this girl. Apparently, he's not reciprocating, or at least, he's aloof to her advances. However, they are very close friends, to say the very least.

    So, at some point, my MIL took it upon herself to tell this girl that my BIL may be gay. Without any more than supposition. And, they were not dating.

    She says that she thought the girl should know because she was looking for temple marriage and she didn't want her to be disappointed.

    I got into a row with my wife over it. I said it was absolute bullshit that her mother would tell ANYONE this without having absolute knowledge of my brother in laws tendencies/actions, without HIS PERMISSION and without him even being in a relationship that was anywhere near the level of being close to a temple marriage, let alone any marriage.

    She then drops the bomb, IMO, that if her mother hadn't told this friend, that she or one of the sisters would have.

    I am beside myself. She sees NO reason why this is verboten.

    She says she would want to know if she was dating a guy that was gay or had SSA.

    I said, 1) They weren't dating 2) He's an adult, he can deal with his relationships. To this point, he hasn't had a girlfriend, so apparently, one way or another he isn't capable or interested in marriage 3) NOBODY EVEN KNOWS IF THIS IS TRUE! (Because nobody has the balls to talk to him about it!) 4) It's HIS decision to make it known to people about his feelings and tendencies IF they exist, not his meddling family.

    I also said, hey, he might actually be into animals, seeing as he's never been known to be physical or in a relationship with ANY human! Might as well warn the girl about that, too!

    So, am I crazy for being appalled at this behavior from my MIL and the seeming complicity of my wife and sisters in law on this issue?

    *edit* This kid is an active LDS kid. Went on a full mission. Goes to church every week. Wears his garments, etc., etc., etc....
    Last edited by Portland Ute; 09-10-2010, 11:32 AM.

  • #2
    I get the feeling that your MIL may not want to share her little boy with another woman. That might explain why he has a hard time connecting with women. Of course I may be way off base here.
    "In conclusion, let me give a shout-out to dirty sex. What a great thing it is" - Northwestcoug
    "And you people wonder why you've had extermination orders issued against you." - landpoke
    "Can't . . . let . . . foolish statements . . . by . . . BYU fans . . . go . . . unanswered . . . ." - LA Ute

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    • #3
      They need to explain why they are comfortable spreading this all around with others, but don't have the common decency to have an honest discussion with your BIL.

      Does he have a history of beating his mother and sisters with boards and boulders?
      Everything in life is an approximation.

      http://twitter.com/CougarStats

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      • #4


        I preface this by acknowledging that I do not know your family dynamic, and my opinion might not be relevant, but you asked for it.

        I think you in-laws are crazy.

        My advice to you would be to forget everything you heard. Emotionally detatch yourself from this whole situation, and let your wife and inlaws deal with the drama without your input.

        Maybe you could keep the practice open on Fridays for a little while so you won't have to overhear any daytime phone gossip.

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        • #5
          Originally posted by Indy Coug View Post
          They need to explain why they are comfortable spreading this all around with others, but don't have the common decency to have an honest discussion with your BIL.
          Yup, there's the crux of it. Well said.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by Indy Coug View Post
            They need to explain why they are comfortable spreading this all around with others, but don't have the common decency to have an honest discussion with your BIL.

            Does he have a history of beating his mother and sisters with boards and boulders?
            It's a great question. One I'd like answered. I want to beat my MIL with a board and boulder right now.

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            • #7
              MIL probably just drove the girlfriend off, even if Men's Fitness Magazine BIL isn't SSA.

              By your description, there are some serious communication issues in your wife's family.
              We all trust our own unorthodoxies.

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              • #8
                I think the BIL needs to move out of his mom's house, then she won't know everything about his life and won't screw it up anymore.
                "Discipleship is not a spectator sport. We cannot expect to experience the blessing of faith by standing inactive on the sidelines any more than we can experience the benefits of health by sitting on a sofa watching sporting events on television and giving advice to the athletes. And yet for some, “spectator discipleship” is a preferred if not primary way of worshipping." -Pres. Uchtdorf

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by Sleeping in EQ View Post
                  MIL probably just drove the girlfriend off, even if Men's Fitness Magazine BIL isn't SSA.

                  By your description, there are some serious communication issues in your wife's family.
                  The interesting thing is this: The friend (girl) was told this months ago.

                  The reason this came to light is because my BIL, who works for the Treasury in Afghanistan, is on leave in Tuscany with the girl. Sharing a villa.

                  So, my MIL called to talk about this and told my wife, to paraphrase, "well, at least she knows what she's getting into..."

                  I wish the old ATT ads were true and you could reach out and touch someone.

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Eddie Jones View Post
                    I think the BIL needs to move out of his mom's house, then she won't know everything about his life and won't screw it up anymore.
                    He doesn't live in his mother's home. Hasn't for some time.

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Portland Ute View Post
                      He doesn't live in his mother's home. Hasn't for some time.
                      Well, I figured that but my comment was more of a joke that contained some pretty good (IMO) advice. Your story implied that he freely shared information on relationships/friends with family members as if he was living at home and they were seeing everything he was doing.

                      A nosy mother is annoying, but she only knows as much as you let her know. There were times in my life that my mom had no idea I was dating someone exclusively. In fact, she was very surprised when I got engaged because she had only met my fiancee a couple times and figured we weren't that serious.

                      To this day, I don't share all aspects of my life with my family. Granted this is just how I am (my wife is somewhat the same way) and it worked well for me. The BIL needs to do what is best for him, which probably entails moving farther away from family and not publicly sharing dating information.
                      "Discipleship is not a spectator sport. We cannot expect to experience the blessing of faith by standing inactive on the sidelines any more than we can experience the benefits of health by sitting on a sofa watching sporting events on television and giving advice to the athletes. And yet for some, “spectator discipleship” is a preferred if not primary way of worshipping." -Pres. Uchtdorf

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Eddie Jones View Post
                        Well, I figured that but my comment was more of a joke that contained some pretty good (IMO) advice. Your story implied that he freely shared information on relationships/friends with family members as if he was living at home and they were seeing everything he was doing.

                        A nosy mother is annoying, but she only knows as much as you let her know. There were times in my life that my mom had no idea I was dating someone exclusively. In fact, she was very surprised when I got engaged because she had only met my fiancee a couple times and figured we weren't that serious.

                        To this day, I don't share all aspects of my life with my family. Granted this is just how I am (my wife is somewhat the same way) and it worked well for me. The BIL needs to do what is best for him, which probably entails moving farther away from family and not publicly sharing dating information.
                        The bad part is that he doesn't even know that any of this has gone on. It's all been done behind his back.

                        I suppose the girl may well have told him. Who knows.

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Portland Ute View Post
                          The interesting thing is this: The friend (girl) was told this months ago.

                          The reason this came to light is because my BIL, who works for the Treasury in Afghanistan, is on leave in Tuscany with the girl. Sharing a villa.

                          So, my MIL called to talk about this and told my wife, to paraphrase, "well, at least she knows what she's getting into..."

                          I wish the old ATT ads were true and you could reach out and touch someone.
                          What the hell?

                          This story gets more "Days of our Mormon Lives" by the minute.

                          Seriously, put your inlaws on "manual ignore" for a while until this blows over.

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                          • #14
                            What your MIL did is for the best. She gave this girl important information. Now this girl knows what she is in for as far as a MIL that she would be getting.

                            It just seems kind of tragic that you weren't afforded the same vital information before you tied the knot.

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by beefytee View Post
                              What your MIL did is for the best. She gave this girl important information. Now this girl knows what she is in for as far as a MIL that she would be getting.

                              It just seems kind of tragic that you weren't afforded the same vital information before you tied the knot.
                              Thread winner.
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