It’s that time of year — awards season once again! And — as usual — we start with nominations for William Law X-Mormon of the Year!!
As always, the X-Mormon of the Year award goes to the X-Mormon who made the biggest public splash in the year in question (2023 in this case). Typically the winner was excommunicated during the year, but that is not a requirement.
This year my money’s on Ryan Gosling.
Did you even know he was Mormon? I didn’t, but his wikipedia entry references his “Mormon upbringing.” And his iconic starring role in the smash hit “Barbie” qualifies as a pretty big splash in 2023!!
If you’re asking whether he’s still Mormon, I think it’s unlikely. The CoJCoL-dS loves their celebrities! So I think we’d have heard about him as a Mormon if he were among the faithful. And being still a member is not technically disqualifying for this award.
The only high-profile excommunication that I’m award of for 2023 is Tim Ballard. He was apparently excommunicated, according to a lawsuit filing. I’m less keen on that choice because X-Mormon of the Year is supposed to be a positive award for admirable X-Mormons (although being excommunicated for being a monstrous criminal is also not technically disqualifying…)
Do you know of any other X-Mormon who made a big public splash in 2023? Please nominate them in the comments below!
21st century saints for their campaign to have DBS checks in The church in the UK , a safeguarding officer called in each stake and more up to date safeguarding training . Now all implanted!
Here’s the link to 21st Century Saints.
Normally nominations for content providers like podcasters should be reserved for the Brodie Awards (coming this weekend), however I’ll allow it because you’ve nominated them for real-world activism (not just their content).
Their podcast can also be nominated for Brodie Awards.
And here are the Reddit threads where further nominations are being collected: Mormon and ExMormon.
https://floodlit.org for best site! Their outstanding collection of data surrounding LDS sex abuse cases is a gold mine. It’s taken countless hours of digging, interviews, expenses for software and court records, and we now have verified evidence of what the church has been up to.
Best AI meme, here are 3
https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Fjesus-found-the-cash-register-at-the-temple-v0-5z9v1npj0mwb1.jpg%3Fs%3D83fd241aa78e8dadb93e3a5f4ea88ff42a97a44e
https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Fbaptism-for-the-dead-v0-15cbl1zlyx2c1.png%3Fs%3De0a5e6f38d5c5efb1f17629b19e483e603799bf3
https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Fking-lamoni-the-jewish-american-indian-from-the-book-of-v0-cbk5bh6k8d3c1.png%3Fs%3Dab189a53b187ce7700b83c8833811da93234dc84
Thanks for the great nominations!! Keep ’em coming!!! 😀
It looks like we’re getting Brodie Awards nominations on the X-Mormon of the Year nomination post. The one for the Brodie Awards is here
However There’s no need to re-submit your nominations. Whether you nomination is here or on the reddit threads or on the Brodies nominations post — I’ll find it and include it. 😀
Dustin Lance Black previously brought us Under the Banner of Heaven. This year he co-wrote the Netflix biopic Rustin about the black civil rights leader, who never got his due recognition for being gay. (See more in The New Yorker profile)
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/11/13/eclipsed-in-his-era-bayard-rustin-gets-to-shine-in-ours
James Huntsman, whose continuing fraud case against the Church, is keeping the issue of appropriate use of tithing donations in the spotlight
The September Six—the scholars and feminists excommunicated thirty years ago this year—who began an important debate about values of obedience and conformity versus personal truth seeking. (This ‘purge’ was one of many forces leading me to leave the Church myself this decade)
https://www.signaturebooks.com/books/p/the-september-six
David Archuleta for best ex-Mormon of the year! He has been authentic, bold, and honest about his departure from the Mormon church this year.
Hi Michael — Thanks for the nomination, but he actually won last year: https://mainstreetplaza.com/2023/01/18/congratulations-david-archuleta-x-mormon-of-the-year-2022/
There’s not technically a rule against winning twice, but he left the church last year and won last year, so I’d rather not put him on the ballot again until he does some big, new thing in the year in question.