Young Mormon Male Mitt Romney Gang-Assaults a Gay Classmate Violence-Justifying LDS Church Apostle Boyd K. Packer Burst with Pride

Mitt Romney

by steve benson May 2012

In a homophobic screed launched by Mormon Church apostle and then-acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Boyd K. Packer, entitled “To Young Men Only,” Packer justified physical violence against gays.

Packer's hate-filled speech--delivered to young Mormon boys at the General Priesthood Session of Mormon Conference in October 1976--condoned committing acts of physical assault on gays as the situation warranted.

Packer's gay-bashing sermon was subsequently published in official Mormon Church pamphlet form and distributed throughout the Church to LDS young males.

In his vicious attack on gays, the paranoid Packer issued the following foaming-at-the mouth alert:

“Now a warning! I am hesitant to even mention it, for it is not pleasant. It must be labeled as major transgression. But I will speak plainly. There are some circumstances in which young men may be tempted to handle one another, to have contact with one another physically in unusual ways. Latter-day Saint young men are not to do this.

“Sometimes this begins in a moment of idle foolishness, when boys are just playing around. But it is not foolishness. It is remarkably dangerous. Such practices, however tempting, are perversion. When a young man is finding his way into manhood, such experiences can misdirect his normal desires and pervert him not only physically but emotionally and spiritually as well.

“It was intended that we use this power only with our partner in marriage. I repeat, very plainly, physical mischief with another man is forbidden. It is forbidden by the Lord.
“There are some men who entice young men to join them in these immoral acts. If you are ever approached to participate in anything like that, it is time to vigorously resist.

“While I was in a mission on one occasion, a missionary said he had something to confess. I was very worried because he just could not get himself to tell me what he had done.
“After patient encouragement he finally blurted out, 'I hit my companion.'

"'Oh, is that all,' I said in great relief.

"'But I floored him,' he said.

“After learning a little more, my response was 'Well, thanks. Somebody had to do it, and it wouldn't be well for a General Authority to solve the problem that way.'

“I am not recommending that course to you, but I am not omitting it. You must protect yourself.

“There is a falsehood that some are born with an attraction to their own kind, with nothing they can do about it. They are just 'that way' and can only yield to those desires. That is a malicious and destructive lie. While it is a convincing idea to some, it is of the Devil. No one is locked into that kind of life. From our premortal life we were directed into a physical body. There is no mismatching of bodies and spirits. Boys are to become men --masculine, manly men --ultimately to become husbands and fathers. No one is predestined to a perverted use of these powers.”

(Boyd K. Packer, “To Young Men Only,” Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, semi-annual General Conference Priesthood Session, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2 October 1976, at: http://www.lds-mormon.com/only.shtml; see also, "The LDS Church (Mormons) & homosexuality. Church statements: 1976 to 1999," Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance, at: http://www.religioustolerance.org/hom_lds2.htm)
_____

Now comes breaking news that Mitt Romney, while a young Mormon male in 1965, actually physically assaulted a gay classmate, when both were attending the same private school:

“Mitt Romney returned from a three-week spring break in 1965 to resume his studies as a high school senior at the prestigious Cranbrook School. Back on the handsome campus, studded with Tudor brick buildings and manicured fields, he spotted something he thought did not belong at a school where the boys wore ties and carried briefcases. John Lauber, a soft-spoken new student one year behind Romney, was perpetually teased for his nonconformity and presumed homosexuality. Now he was walking around the all-boys school with bleached-blond hair that draped over one eye, and Romney wasn’t having it.

“'He can’t look like that. That’s wrong. Just look at him!' an incensed Romney told Matthew Friedemann, his close friend in the Stevens Hall dorm, according to Friedemann’s recollection. Mitt, the teenaged son of Michigan Gov. George Romney, kept complaining about Lauber’s look, Friedemann recalled.

“A few days later, Friedemann entered Stevens Hall off the school’s collegiate quad to find Romney marching out of his own room ahead of a prep school posse shouting about their plan to cut Lauber’s hair. Friedemann followed them to a nearby room where they came upon Lauber, tackled him and pinned him to the ground. As Lauber, his eyes filling with tears, screamed for help, Romney repeatedly clipped his hair with a pair of scissors.

“The incident was recalled similarly by five students, who gave their accounts independently of one another. Four of them — Friedemann, now a dentist; Phillip Maxwell, a lawyer; Thomas Buford, a retired prosecutor; and David Seed, a retired principal — spoke on the record. Another former student who witnessed the incident asked not to be named. . . .

“'It happened very quickly, and to this day it troubles me,' said Buford, the school’s wrestling champion, who said he joined Romney in restraining Lauber. Buford subsequently apologized to Lauber, who was 'terrified,' he said. 'What a senseless, stupid, idiotic thing to do.'

“'It was a hack job,' recalled Maxwell, a childhood friend of Romney who was in the dorm room when the incident occurred. 'It was vicious.'

“'He was just easy pickins,' said Friedemann, then the student prefect, or student authority leader of Stevens Hall, expressing remorse about his failure to stop it.

“The incident transpired in a flash, and Friedemann said Romney then led his cheering schoolmates back to his bay-windowed room in Stevens Hall.

“Friedemann, guilt ridden, made a point of not talking about it with his friend and waited to see what form of discipline would befall Romney at the famously strict institution. Nothing happened.”

(“Mitt Romney’s Prep School Classmates Recall Pranks, but Also Troubling Incidents,” by Jason Horowitz, reporting from Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, in “Washington Post,” at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/mitt-romneys-prep-school-classmat...)

Romney has denied that he knew the classmate whom he assaulted was gay (while curiously claiming that he recalls not knowing he was gay as he simultaneously insists that he can't remember assaulting him in the first place):

“'I certainly don’t believe that I thought the fellow was homosexual,' he said of Lauber. 'That was the furthest thing from our minds back in the 1960s, so that was not the case.'”

Trouble is, Romney had a history at that school of targeting and mocking gay students:

"The '[Washignton] Post' reported that another student, Gary Hummel, a closeted gay at the time, said his efforts to speak in class were punctuated by shouts of 'Atta Girl' from Romney."

("'Atta Girl': Romney Says Sorry for Bullying Gay Cranbrook Schoolmate," by Bloomberg, reprinted in "Metro" [New York, New York], 10 May 2012, at: http://www.metro.us/newyork/national/article/1142742--atta-girl-romney-s...)

The "Washington Post" now reports that Romney has apologized for his actions but insists that not only were they not anti-gay, he claims he also can't remember them and, in any case, even if he did it, it's no-big-deal ancient history.

Let his spin begin.

*Mitt's lackluster apology:

“'Back in high school, I did some dumb things, and if anybody was hurt by that or offended, obviously I apologize for that,' Romney said in a live radio interview with Fox News Channel personality Brian Kilmeade. Romney added: 'I participated in a lot of hijinks and pranks during high school, and some might have gone too far, and for that I apologize.'

*Mitt's poor memory:

"Romney said the incident involving cutting the hair of John Lauber, whom some students suspected was gay, occurred 'a long time ago.'

“'I don’t remember that incident,' Romney said, laughing. 'I certainly don’t believe that I thought the fellow was homosexual. That was the furthest thing from our minds back in the 1960s, so that was not the case.'

"Asked specifically about having interrupted a closeted gay student in English class, Gary Hummel, by shouting, 'Atta girl!' Romney said, 'I really can’t remember that.'"

*Mitt's denial that any of his actions were anti-gay:

“'As this person indicated, he was closeted,' Romney said. 'I had no idea that he was gay and can’t speak to that even today. But as to the teasing or the taunts that go on in high school, that’s a long time ago. For me, that’s about 48 years ago. Again, if there’s anything I said that is offensive to someone, I certainly am sorry for that, very deeply sorry for that.'"

*Mitt's claim that he's a reformed man:

"Romney said that after marrying his high school sweetheart, Ann, and going on a Mormon mission to France, he is 'a very different person.'

“'I’m a very different person than I was in high school, of course, but I’m glad that I learned as much as I did during those high school years,' Romney said, adding: 'I’m quite a different guy now. I’m married, have five sons, five daughters-in-law, and now 18 grandchildren.'"

*Mitt's final blow-off:

“'There’s going to be some that want to talk about high school,' Romney said. 'Well, if you really think that’s important, be my guest.'"

("Mitt Romney Apologizes for High School Pranks That ‘Might Have Gone Too Far,’" by Philip Rucker, in "Washington Post,"
10 may 2012, at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/mitt-romney-apologizes-for-high-s...)

*****

OK, Mitt, since you're running for President of the United States as representing all the people and this is part of the vetting process, we will be your guest.

Summarizing, let Packer speak for Packer, and let Romney speak for Romney.

*From Packer:

"'But I floored him [the gay missioanry companion],' he [the other missionary] said [to Packer].

“After learning a little more, my {Packer's] response was 'Well, thanks. Somebody had to do it, and it wouldn't be well for a General Authority to solve the problem that way.'

“I am not recommending that course to you, but I am not omitting it. You must protect yourself.'

*From Romney:

“'He can’t look like that. That’s wrong. Just look at him! [Romney's gay classmate]' an incensed Romney told Matthew Friedemann, his close friend in the Stevens Hall dorm, according to Friedemann’s recollection. Mitt, the teenaged son of Michigan Gov. George Romney, kept complaining about Lauber’s look, Friedemann recalled.

Yes, indeed, Packer would have been so proud.

Two peas in the same god pod.

steve benson
Packer speaks for Packer, Romney speaks for Romney . . .
“I am not recommending that course to you, but I am not omitting it. You must protect yourself."

--Packer
_____

--Romney
_____

Two peas out of the same pod.

yours_truly
Re: Packer speaks for Packer, Romney speaks for Romney . . .
People who don't know themselves when they are talking for their 'Lord' or as man, and do not take the opportunity (as talking both as man in behalf of their God) in 180+ years to stand up and fight for something really worthwhile (like child abuse, anti-racism, etc.), should hardly be seen as good men. And since they are not good men, they rarely become wise, either.

apikoros
"The Law Is For Protection of the People ..."
"The law is for protection of the people.
Rules are rules, and any fool can see
We don't need no hairy-headed hippies
Scaring decent folk like you and me -
No sirree!"

Thank you, Kris Kristofferson ...

Mia
Re: Young Mormon Male Mitt Romney Gang-Assaults a Gay Classmate in Ways that Would Make Gay-Bashing, Bullying, Violence-Justifying LDS Church Apostle Boyd K. Packer Burst with Pride--
It makes Clinton look like a choir boy for admitting to smoking pot while in college.

deco
Re: Young Mormon Male Mitt Romney Gang-Assaults a Gay Classmate in Ways that Would Make Gay-Bashing, Bullying, Violence-Justifying LDS Church Apostle Boyd K. Packer Burst with Pride--
It is only a matter of time before the whole 'for young men only' becomes publicized.

It will be interesting to see how LDS Inc is going to attempt to spin that, in particular BKP encouraging the physical assault of young gay men.

steve benson
It'll indeed be interesting

munchybotaz
--and then, as an adult, lies about it in blatant, quintessentially Mormon fashion.
Is this the incident he claimed not to remember, or just the other one? I know he said something like he's sure he didn't believe the kid was gay, because that was the farthest thing from "our" minds at the time. Puhleez. Does anyone not know that's a lie? I mean besides my kooky mo-mom, who insists things were so much nicer in the forties and fifties, before all this gross gay stuff started happening. Even she would probably say it started in the sixties.

"We just didn't think like that" is one of Munchymomom's signature lines.

I'd have more respect for Mitt if he just admitted what he did. Instead, he lies. The Mormon church I grew up in taught that that's wrong and you're supposed to take responsibility for your actions.

deco
Re: Young Mormon Male Mitt Romney Gang-Assaults a Gay Classmate in Ways that Would Make Gay-Bashing, Bullying, Violence-Justifying LDS Church Apostle Boyd K. Packer Burst with Pride--
Also a very suave move for the Obama campaign to have Biden make a planned gaff, with Obama coming out in support of gay marriage undoubtedly with knowledge this story was about to break.

Obama locked in the next four years with this.

sdee
Re: Young Mormon Male Mitt Romney Gang-Assaults a Gay Classmate in Ways that Would Make Gay-Bashing, Bullying, Violence-Justifying LDS Church Apostle Boyd K. Packer Burst with Pride--
<“Now a warning! I am hesitant to even mention it, for it is not pleasant. It must be labeled as major transgression. But I will speak plainly. There are some circumstances in which young men may be tempted to handle one another, to have contact with one another physically in unusual ways. Latter-day Saint young men are not to do this.

Sounds like a personal experience to me. If that isn't a good show of how Packer is somewhere on the homosexual continuum, I don't know what is.

honestone
Re: Young Mormon Male Mitt Romney Gang-Assaults a Gay Classmate in Ways that Would Make Gay-Bashing, Bullying, Violence-Justifying LDS Church Apostle Boyd K. Packer Burst with Pride--
OMG...I had no idea this was encouraged by Packer. Good 'ole Mitt was just doing as asked was he? Sickening.

summer
Re: Young Mormon Male Mitt Romney Gang-Assaults a Gay Classmate in Ways that Would Make Gay-Bashing, Bullying, Violence-Justifying LDS Church Apostle Boyd K. Packer Burst with Pride--
You made a good connection, Steve. Your Mormon upbringing and unique family background helps you to understand Mitt in ways that most news sources simply can't.

bookratt
Re: Young Mormon Male Mitt Romney Gang-Assaults a Gay Classmate in Ways that Would Make Gay-Bashing, Bullying, Violence-Justifying LDS Church Apostle Boyd K. Packer Burst with Pride--
Homosexuality was not on his mind, when going after a smaller, quieter, "different" classmate with long hair, huh ? It was the 60s. So maybe the cutting of the hair was "just" anti-hippie sentiment, John Birch type stuff, filtered down thru his "elders"?

Either way, I don't buy what Mitt's selling.

steve benson
Mitt, who mocked another gay in class with calls of "Atta girl"? Let's not give him decency and credit he doesn't deserve.

Tupperwhere
Re: Young Mormon Male Mitt Romney Gang-Assaults a Gay Classmate in Ways that Would Make Gay-Bashing, Bullying, Violence-Justifying LDS Church Apostle Boyd K. Packer Burst with Pride--
"That is a malicious and destructive lie."

ya exactly, just like TSCC. I have to chime in and say I would respect Mittens 1,000 times over if he would just admit to being the @sshat that he is! Is he guilty of animal abuse? Is he deeply afraid of being strictly dickly? Everyone makes mistakes. I don't like what he's done or who he is but if he would just own up to it or take responsibility JUST ONCE I could say "well, at least he has morals and the balls to stand up for his beliefs" But he doesn't! He is as transparent and artificial as the "Church."

a nonny mouse
calling bullying what it is
“'I certainly don’t believe that I thought the fellow was homosexual,' he said of Lauber. 'That was the furthest thing from our minds back in the 1960s, so that was not the case.'”

It is possible that Mittens didn't REALLY think or know for a fact that the young man was an actual factual homosexual, but he absolutely targeted his gender nonconformity and other nonconforming boys, so what's the difference? Even straight kids are taunted for being gay if they don't conform, and it's just as damaging. This was not "hijinks" or "pranks". Hijinks are running Chinese fire drills at a stop light. Pranks are pulling jokes on close friends, who then slap you on the back and say "good one!" and get you back later in similar fashion, and these are later recalled as such fun times. If this man is still upset 40 years later, this wasn't a prank. And calling it bullying is really too easy. We still think of bullying as a rite of passage for childhood. The same things when done to adults are called intimidation, harassment, and assault. Mittens and his more appropriately mortified friends assaulted that boy. Period.

sdee
Re: Young Mormon Male Mitt Romney Gang-Assaults a Gay Classmate in Ways that Would Make Gay-Bashing, Bullying, Violence-Justifying LDS Church Apostle Boyd K. Packer Burst with Pride--
For the record, Mitt wasn't exactly doing what he was told. The information Benson provided from Packer wasn't disseminated until the mid 70s - this event took place in the 60s.

Regardless, good information.

xyz
Steve Benson, thank you for posting this.
It is unfortunate, if not tragic, that the Mormons are able to maintain such a clean whitewashed facade over the ugliness of their hatred for humans that represent Other. This episode, and Romney's bland denials, are just one more example of Mormons Getting Away With Murder when it comes to their treatment of LGBTs or people they perceive to be so.

It is also, of course, one more example (hopefully in the shape of another nail for his political coffin) showing just what a lying pig Mitt Romney really is.

sd
Re: Mitt's gay bashing....
is terrible but no one is asking the question about his obvious cowardice. Why did he need a posse to help him attack a defenseless gay student? Mitt's a coward. We can't have him leading the country. By contrast, O'bama's classmates in Indonesia described him as kind and thoughtful. Not to go all political but help me out here. Isn't the choice obvious?

Exmo Mom
Re: Young Mormon Male Mitt Romney
'I’m a very different person than I was in high school"

Why does this not surprise me in the least?

I have a wealthy TBM sibling, who is wealthy only due to her spouse's hard work.

She was a total bully while we were growing up, but is trying to perpetuate the image that she's a wonderful woman, a changed person, etc. I *don't * think * so. Bullies usually have that at the core of their personality.

He/she may feel sorry for past actions, but ONLY WHEN CAUGHT. I think if nobody had ever mentioned these incidents that occurred with Mitt in HS, he would not have gone on the record to apologize, or ever likely even thought about it.

He was by the sounds of it so super entitled from such a young age, that he thought nothing of "fixing" another kids' hair. I can't stand people like that. Boy does he ever fit in well with Mormonism - no wonder he's never left it. He's shallow just like the top brass.

sexismyreligion
It's disturbing.
It's a good indication of his real character. And he expects people to think it's not a big deal because he laughs about it and says it was a long time ago, and he's had kids and grandkids since then? He never would have apologized at all for assaulting another student if he wasn't running for president.

notamomo
Re: Young Mormon Male Mitt Romney Gang-Assaults a Gay Classmate in Ways that Would Make Gay-Bashing, Bullying, Violence-Justifying LDS Church Apostle Boyd K. Packer Burst with Pride--
Absouletly sickening. I hope it gets a good run in the press.

Raptor Jesus
"It was the furthest thing from our minds in the 60's"
Bull. @#$%&.

I went to High School in the 90's and it was very forefront.

Anyone strong enough to come out of the closet got no end to @#$%& for it.

Everyone kept in the closet. And anyone who looked like they might be in the closet got no end of @#$%& for it either.

When I grew my hair out, guess who gave me the most @#$%&?

The adults. The baby boomers. The ones who would have been in high school during the 60's.

xyz
Re: "It was the furthest thing from our minds in the 60's"
Agreed, R.J.

I was in high school in the early 70s, and had long hair. Who gave me total $#!t for it? The Mormons I went to church with every week. Oe old Mormon f**k even grabbed me by my hair from behind and demanded to know "when are you going to get all this GIRLY-HAIR cut off?" Who else did $#!t like that? Nobody else.

guynoirprivateeye
Re: Young Mormon Male Mitt Romney Gang-Assaults a Gay Classmate in Ways that Would Make Gay-Bashing, Bullying, Violence-Justifying LDS Church Apostle Boyd K. Packer Burst with Pride--
Worst part of this for Mittney:

It seems to be congruent with the rest of his 'personality' / persona (rather aloof than empathetic).

this may not be a Huge minus for-to him, but it definitely isn't a Plus.

imaworkinonit
+1 Mitt's actions weren't influenced by Packer's speech given over a decade later
But if he really behaved in this manner and it was completely forgettable to him, that speaks to his character/empathy or lack thereof.

If it bothered the other guys involved so much, why didn't it bother him?

Re
Re: Young Mormon Male Mitt Romney Gang-Assaults a Gay Classmate in Ways that Would Make Gay-Bashing, Bullying, Violence-Justifying LDS Church Apostle Boyd K. Packer Burst with Pride--
Mitt happens over and over. "GAY BARBER"

blueorchid
Re: Young Mormon Male Mitt Romney Gang-Assaults a Gay Classmate in Ways that Would Make Gay-Bashing, Bullying, Violence-Justifying LDS Church Apostle Boyd K. Packer Burst with Pride--
I know the hell that boy went through. Mitt trying to deny or at least minimize the bullying to prank status is despicable and represents what bullying becomes with aging--more nuanced, more under the radar, more obfuscated.

I can imagine a whole team of people in a room right now strategizing how to put the correct spin on this. The only thing worse than a regular bully is a rich one.

I was that age in the sixties and let me tell you, Raptor is right. It was an issue and gay people or even people who were perceived to be gay were the prime target.

Dave the Atheist
A leopard doesn't change its spots.

Surrender Dorothy
...and groups of men committing such assaults
against the Amish in October 2011 were arraigned for hate crimes in April 2012. ...but, yeah! Mitt was just having a little Mittmo prep school fun at the expense of a wussy classmate deemed not worthy to breathe the air or walk the halls with the God-in-embryo, even Willard Mitt Romney.

Mitt claims not to remember it while those he recruited to help carry out this pre-meditated assault remember it vividly and with regret. Mitt either regularly terrorized the marginalized to a degree that this assault was just a fleck of history that wasn't notable enough to create a long-term memory, or he's lying. Next we'll hear it's just folklore.

Mormons stating in comments that people should just get over it because it happened in the 1960's don't realize the utter hypocrisy of their complaints of persecution as a result of events that happened in the 19th century.

So remember...

Mittmo plotting and executing an assault on a boy who did nothing to instigate the attack (unless you count a non-BYU 'do as a crime) = Fleck-of-history hijinks. Get over it. Stop talking about it. Not important!

Mormons getting a retaliatory comeuppance over 100 years ago for threats and acts of violence against their non-Mormon neighbors in Missouri = Woe-is-me-so-the-church-must-be-true persecution complex that continues ad nauseam to be a topic in talks at General Conference and "Worship Services" (nee Sacrament Meeting) and in Sunday School, Relief Society, Priesthood, YM/YW, and Primary lessons.

Mittmo cruelly taunting a visually-impaired teacher = An all-in-good-fun boyish prank. Get over it. Stop making a big deal out of nothing. Not important!

A Democratic strategist taunting Mittmo's wife for her out-of-touch perspective on what the world is like for mothers who work outside the home (in addition to raising their children) = Persecution of poor, picked-on Ann that warranted a sincere, posthaste apology.

That Mittmo...what a prat(t)!

http://abcnews.go.com/US/16-amish-arraigned-hair-cutting-hate-crimes/sto...

slatheredtwice
Adult language - Sorry, but I'm angry
I am a gay man and proud of being such. I am a fiscal conservative and a social liberal. I have my cannabis card. Over and over again I have been forced to vote for the "lesser of two evils." I cannot in good conscience vote for Obama, but now cannot betray myself and my fellow gay men and women and choke down a vote for mitt (lower case because he is not worthy of a capital.) I am beyond marrying and there is no one in my life. I have been sealed to two companions who are dead (what's that worth?). I understand why some gays and lesbians would want to marry, and I believe it will come in time. Our community has made slow progress in gaining our place in the sun and I will not and cannot vote for a mormon ... sucker (not the fun kind, the bad kind) who despises who I am. I fear that if mitt makes it, conversion therapy will become the law of the land and we will lose every gain our Brothers and Sisters have marched, fought and died for.

I've got to stop before I get on a total rant. F--- mitt and his GD cult!

Uncle Dale
Re: Young Mormon Male Mitt Romney Gang-Assaults a Gay Classmate in Ways that Would Make Gay-Bashing, Bullying, Violence-Justifying LDS Church Apostle Boyd K. Packer Burst with Pride--
http://205.186.130.43/images/bullies_for_romney/bullies4romney.jpg

shannon
Excellent post Steve
Great journalism.

Makes me hate Mitt Romney even more.

;o)

Mateo Pastor
Re: Young Mormon Male Mitt Romney Gang-Assaults a Gay Classmate in Ways that Would Make Gay-Bashing, Bullying, Violence-Justifying LDS Church Apostle Boyd K. Packer Burst with Pride--
I've never quite understood why boys think they prove their heterosexuality by physically assaulting a homosexual, immobilizing his body with their body, and holding him in a tight grip with their legs and arms around him!

"Recovery from Mormonism - www.exmormon.org"

Recovery from Mormonism

Young Mormon Male Mitt Romney Gang-Assaults a Gay Classmate Violence-Justifying LDS Church Apostle Boyd K. Packer Burst with Pride

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