Mister Scratch wrote:Daniel Peterson wrote:gitxsanartist wrote:Now lets switch the topic to Micheal Quinn. What do you know of his story?
Considerably more than I'm willing to share publicly.
Thanks to the rumor mill among DCP's "circle."
gitxsanartist wrote:Why did he get excommunicated?
I can't speak for certain, as I wasn't present during the disciplinary council that considered his case. (Nor was he, for that matter.) But I have it from a reliable source that his stake president was aware of his actively homosexual lifestyle.
I would bet the house that DCP's "reliable source" was his "friend" who discussed Quinn's rumored sexual orientation with Quinn's SP (who wasn't even aware that the inactive Quinn had moved into his stake).
Here are some other tidbits:
1. The SP in question was Paul Hanks, a high-ranking CES employee. Hanks met Quinn for the very first time when Hanks visited Quinn's apartment (unannounced) on February 7, 1993. Quinn, sick at the time, refused to let Hanks in. Later that same day, Hanks delivered a letter to Quinn requesting that they meet to discuss (i) Quinn's recent article "Mormon Women Have Had the Priesthood Since 1843," which was published in Maxine Hanks's (a distant relative of Paul Hanks, ironically) 1992 book,
Women and Authority: Re-emerging Mormon Feminism, and (ii) Quinn's comments in the
Salt Lake Tribune on Dec. 6, 1992, about the Church's pressure on members to conform. The SP's letter also quoted the definition of "apostasy" from the
Church Handbook of Instructions. Clearly, then, Hanks's first approach was to get Quinn on an apostasy charge.
2. Quinn refused to meet with Hanks. On Feb. 10, 1993, Quinn was quoted in an Associated Press article about Hanks's efforts to meet with him under threat of losing his membership. Hanks responded in a Feb. 23 letter to Quinn, telling him that these matters should be discussed in private. Quinn still refused to meet with him.
3. Hanks sent another letter on March 16, again urging that Quinn meet with him. Via letter dated April 6, 1993, Quinn stated that under no circumstances would he meet with Hanks (who, Quinn had learned, was consulting with Seventy Loren C. Dunn).
4. Hanks sent another letter to Quinn on May 11, 1993, which stated, for the first time: "There are other matters that I need to talk with you about that are not related to your historical writings. These are very sensitive and highly confidential and this is why I have not mentioned them before in writing." Quinn took this to mean that even though the 'real' issue was his historical writings, Hanks would use rumors of Quinn's homosexuality to get rid of him.
5. On May 18, 1993, Hanks wrote Quinn another letter and again referenced "very sensitive and highly confidential" matters unrelated to Quinn's writings. The letter also scheduled a meeting two days later, and stated that if Quinn did not attend, his refusal "is a very serious matter under these circumstances and could lead to further action, out of love and concern for your welfare."
6. In a May 23, 1993 letter, Hanks informed Quinn that his refusal to meet would lead him to convene a court against Quinn on June 6th "for conduct unbecoming a member of the Church." The charge appeared to now be changed from apostasy to "conduct unbecoming."
7. Hanks again showed up at Quinn's apartment, on May 28, 1993, demanding that Quinn explain to him the "moral allegations" that Hanks had "heard" about Quinn (probably thanks to DCP's "friend").
8. Quinn didn't attend the disciplinary council on June 6, 1993 -- the result was that Quinn was put on formal probation, which was contingent on, among other things, Quinn's meeting with Hanks within 30 days. Quinn did not meet with Hanks; consequently, on July 9 Quinn received a letter from Hanks scheduling another court on July 18th. Quinn didn't attend; Quinn was then disfellowshipped.
9. On September 13, 1993, Quinn received a letter scheduling a third court for Sept. 26. The charge in the summons: "Failure to meet personally and privately with President Hanks to discuss serious allegations leading to the charge of
conduct unbecoming a member of the Church and
apostasy." (emphasis in original). Quinn did not attend this court, either. He was informed by Hanks, in a telephone call on Sept. 30, that he had been excommunicated. In the official letter notifying Quinn of his excommunication, the reason therefor was "conduct contrary to the laws and order of the Church" in refusing to meet with Hanks. No mention of apostasy or homosexuality -- really just insubordination.
10. Thus, Quinn became one of the "September Six." Quinn learned from Hanks that the council had taken 6 hours, which seemed odd since the final conviction was for mere insubordination (which Quinn thought was a no-brainer, given his refusal to meet with Hanks). A friend who attended that council as a witness favorable to Quinn, later informed Quinn that the council could not agree on whether Quinn had committed apostasy due to his historical writings, and that Hanks admitted during the meeting that BKP was pressuring him to excommunicate Quinn. Apparently, after 6 hours of debate, insurbordination (not apostasy) was the only thing they could agree on (I have seen no evidence one way or the other that Quinn's rumored homosexuality was considered at the council).
My conclusion from the above: the Church (particularly BKP) wanted Quinn out because his controversial writings and speeches were causing problems. in my opinion, Quinn's rumored homosexuality (and, later, his insubordination) was mere pretext to bring about the predetermined result of excommunication.
My sources for the above information:
D. Michael Quinn, "Dilemmas of Feminists & the Intellectuals in the Contemporary LDS Church,"
Sunstone vol. 17:1, pp. 67-73 (June 1994);
Lavina Fielding Anderson, "DNA Mormon: D. Michael Quinn,"
Mormon Mavericks: Essays on Dissenters (Signature Books 2002).