Hello to our loved friends and family!

If you are unaware, I have moved back to Utah for the summer! Sean is still in NYC until May 24th finishing his awesome job at the Public Theatre downtown.

But all that is not what this blog is about!

Last week I – this is Taylor BTW– got a call from my family’s bishop asking for my attendance at a disciplinary council hearing in regards to my potential disfellowshipment and excommunication from the Church. The disciplinary council hearing is tomorrow at 1PM. I sent this letter to my bishop in my absence. My hope is that it touches at least one young adult or teen that feels alone or rejected.

WARNING: STOP READING NOW IF YOU ARE OVERLY SENSITIVE. I do not wish to demean or devalue any of my friends or their personal belief’s. Please feel free to contact me personally if you have any questions comments or concerns regarding me, my husband or our life choices.

To the Bishopric,



I have been fighting to find the words to adequately express my feelings about my potential disfellowshipment or excommunication from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and I must admit that it has been extremely difficult and heart-wrenching.



Because I feel that members of the Bishopric do not know me whatsoever–and have not taken the time to do so in my years spent within the boundaries of your ward–I will take a moment to explain to you who I am.



My name is Taylor Nathan Dakota Knuth, son of Jennifer and Nathan Knuth. I have lived in Utah all of my life, but currently live in New York City. I graduated in the top 2% of my class from High School in 2011, and Summa Cum Laude from Weber State University in 2014.

I am extremely passionate about the world of theatre. I love to create theatre in many ways through acting, singing, dancing, producing, and managing. I have three sisters, all of whom are incredibly successful in their own personal and professional endeavors. I have a nephew who lights up my world.



In August of 2011, I began my journey at Weber State University for a degree in Musical Theatre. This was also the time that I met Sean Bishop, who is now my lawfully-wedded husband. I find it necessary to explain our relationship to the disciplinary council because, after all, that is why we are having this discussion.



Sean became a quick friend for me. We attended classes together, sat on the board of the university’s theatrical production company, performed in shows, and worked together.

In January of 2012, we decided together to pursue a relationship that was more than friendship. We casually dated for a month,and in March of 2012 I introduced Sean to my family and close friends as my boyfriend. With time, my family and friends welcomed Sean into their lives as a friend, brother, son and even grandson.



On January 28th of 2013, Sean Bishop proposed to me in front of my dearest friends and family. I said yes.



On January 26th of 2014, I lawfully married Sean Bishop in Los Angeles, California–along with 32 other couples on the Grammy Awards.



On September 14th of 2014, Sean Bishop and I held a small ceremony and reception for close friends and family in Ogden, Utah. Our ceremony was a spiritually-binding ceremony in which Sean and I promised to love one another for time and all eternity.



We currently reside in New York, New York, where we lease an apartment together. We share finances, mutual living spaces and yes–even a bed. I share with Sean my greatest successes along with my downfalls, hardships, and my most interpersonal trials.

Sean Edward Bishop is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me.



On Sunday, April 26, 2015, I received a phone call from Bishop Roberts asking for my attendance at a disciplinary council hearing in regards to my status within the Church.

On the telephone Bishop Roberts repeatedly used the word “Choice” to describe his reason in calling the disciplinary council hearing, and that this choice could potentially lead to my disfellowshipment or excommunication from the Church. I have CHOSEN to marry Sean Bishop. It was my CHOICE to live the lifestyle I live. That was among the vocabulary used to describe my situation.



On Tuesday, April 28, 2015, I received a formal letter signed by Bishop Roberts stating; “[I] have participated in conduct unbecoming a member of the Church.”



While I no longer actively participate in the teachings of the Mormon faith, I still greatly value my foundational teachings of love, charity, kindness, hope, and faith–among others.



I do call into question this decision on the part of the Bishopric. I question the decision because I do not believe that I have “participated in conduct unbecoming a member of the Church.”



Do I love and value my husband? Yes.

Do I participate in a monogamous relationship? Yes.

Do I respect Sean? Yes.

Do I have a spiritual connection with my husband? Yes.

Do I responsibly share finances with my husband? Yes.

Do I practice love, charity, kindness, hope, and faith in my day-to-day life? Yes.

Do I love? Yes.



Does my relationship with Sean Bishop actively demean or devalue your way of life? The answer is No.

I am not afraid of who I am or who I love in the eyes of God as I see them, nor will I deny that love. To me, Jesus preached love and acceptance–not exclusivity, perfection, judgement, or fear-mongering.



The Mormon faith has been wrong on countless occasions throughout their rocky history, both in revelations and prophecies through leadership of the church and within their own doctrine. An occasion very similar to my own would be the decision to allow people of African decent the priesthood in 1978 and allowing inter-racial marriage within the temple. Something that before that time, was unheard of- even sinful. The Doctrine shifted through revelation, and I sincerely believe that the current interpretation of this issue is misguided. There are real dangers in this mindset of exclusion. I hold to hope and faith that revelation will provide another change in hearts and minds. Since it has happened before, then isn’t it possible that The Doctrine will shift again?



I firmly believe that this Church has come to a crossroads in regards to homosexuality.

I, along with my entire family and close friends, have CHOSEN to stand on the side of love, equality, acceptance and celebration.

I do not believe that the members of the Bishopric (who are making this decision to single me out of a crowd of people in your congregation) is enlightened, educated or even Christlike. I also know with utmost conviction that anyone reading this would only need to look to his or her own immediate family to find at least one who identifies as something other than heterosexual in orientation. This has become an issue of family for each and every one of us.

I fully understand that the purpose of the excommunication process is one of repentance and forgiveness. Let me be perfectly clear in stating openly that I do NOT see anything in regards to my relationship with Sean Bishop that I deem necessary for the repentance process.

Am I perfect? No. Is my relationship with Sean perfect? No. We are merely two human beings who wish to create a life with each other, and yes, eventually bring life into this world to create an eternal family no different from yours. Can you honestly believe–when Sean and I die–that a loving and caring God, as we see them, would take our children from us?



Our marriage is not “Counterfeit,” our love for each other is not “Counterfeit,” and our life most definitely NOT “Counterfeit.”

In closing I would like to ask the members of the Bishopric to take a moment to reflect on their actions (whether intentional or otherwise) surrounding the road to this disciplinary hearing, as well as any with a similar conflict.



I would like you to take into perspective the following statistics for a moment:



1- The number one cause of death in teens and young adults in Utah is suicide.

2- Utah leads the nation in teen and young adult suicides.

3- A teen or young adult is four times more likely to attempt or commit suicide if their family, friends, or religious institution rejects or devalues them.

I was blessed in regards to my “coming out” story. I had family and friends who stood by my side, accepted, understood, and even celebrated my identification of sexual orientation. My state of being.

I do, and always have, had a strong sense of self. Having a family who did not reject me, and having Sean by my side throughout my “coming out” process are the only reasons I am still on this Earth. Too many are not as fortunate as I am in this regard, and TOO MANY choose to take their own lives because of men like you and processes like this disciplinary council. TOO MANY feel excluded, rejected and devalued because of comments made in passing in General Conference, from their own family, and from men like you. TOO MANY take a blade to their wrists, bullet to their brains, and pills down their throats to end their suffering because of something that they CANNOT control: a desire to live a happy lifestyle with someone of their own gender or sex.

I hope and pray to God as I see them, that anybody reading this letter can ask themselves the following: “What would Jesus do?”



Would Jesus devalue someone because they are living in a happy, monogamous relationship filled with trust, compassion, and honesty?



Would Jesus prefer that I marry a woman, have kids with said woman, and then leave said woman years later because of a lack of physical attraction?

Would Jesus prefer that I engage in unsafe sexual conduct with multiple partners?

The answer to all of the above is: absolutely not.

A truly “counterfeit” lifestyle would be to engage in a life that does not align with the being I was created to be. My true self.



Shame on you.

Shame on you for calling into question a relationship that is the cornerstone of my life–that I hold above all others. Shame on you for telling me that my “behavior” is “unbecoming of a member the Church.” Shame on you for not honoring the promises that you made to your congregations to love, value, and respect each member. Shame on you for being so far away from the true lessons of Christ. And finally, shame on you for attacking me for engaging in a relationship that does you and the members of your congregation no harm whatsoever.

If you do not agree with Same Sex Marriage, then don’t have one.



Respectfully Yours,

Taylor Nathan Knuth-Bishop



