My parents were heterosexual, cisgender, married, and had four children. This is the life they envisioned for themselves, and they diligently pursued it.
As I have grown, I’ve discovered I am pretty different from my parents—I am bisexual, transgender, married in polyamorous relationships, and have no children with little desire to have them. I have indeed carved my own path and become my own person.
Despite living a life so different from the one my parents lived, I am leading an incredibly fulfilling life, rich with self-discovery, love, empathy, and connections to older and younger generations. I wouldn’t trade my life for anything; I am exactly where I need to be and learning the lessons I need to grow into the person I want to be.
My parents are proud of who I have become.
Heavenly Mother and Father are (seemingly) heterosexual, cisgender, married, and having countless children.
For many, exaltation means mirroring Heavenly Mother and Father’s life, and any deviation from this ideal has traditionally cast doubt on a person’s path to exaltation. In practice, this means that entire classes of people – such as many in the Queer community – simply don’t qualify for exaltation.
However, when we look at how earthly parents – like my own – can have children who don’t live similar lives and yet lead fulfilling lives, the traditional understanding of exaltation must also be called into question. I believe we need to disconnect the concept of exaltation from living a prescribed life and instead connect it to a more values-based system that won’t exclude certain classes of people – like myself.
For our heavenly parents to be proud of us, we must treat each other well, grow in wisdom, and improve our character.