Abstract

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints currently teaches that binary gender distinctions are eternal and complementary. The subject of women’s roles, in particular, has occupied much discussion within the U.S. church in recent years. But gender conventions, inasmuch as they are shaped by cultural norms, intersect with church doctrine in various ways in other parts of the world. This essay surveys some of the tensions over gender and sexuality that have emerged as the LDS Church establishes a presence outside its country of origin.