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Elizabeth smarts dad6/25/2023 Smart’s decision was all-the-more challenging considering it went against his Mormon faith. And, needless to say that coming out for anyone is not an easy experience - he recently filed for divorce and left the Church of Jesus Christ of Letter-day Saints at 64-years-old. Getting his daughter back was a miracle to Smart - a word that he doesn’t take lightly as a man who has been deeply religious most of his life. In a powerful Twitter thread, human rights attorney Kate Kelly explained, “If coming out as gay is worse than having your daughter kidnapped - it shows how little Mormon men think of women & how horrific they think gay people are … even if *they themselves* are gay.” Perhaps what he meant to say was that coming out was more difficult for him than when he experienced the pain of his daughter’s abduction, but that isn’t what he said. In doing this, he insinuates that these experiences can even be compared to begin with, and that there’s a ranking system for difficult life events. But, in this particular instance, he seems to co-opt Elizabeth’s abduction and repeated rape for the purpose of talking about how his struggles are “worse” than her trauma - a trauma that Ed Smart never experienced. Smart’s feelings about the difficulty of going against a strong religious background to find a true identity for himself are no-doubt valid. It was something that I didn’t want,” Smart said of his late-in-life experience with accepting his sexuality. “In my situation, I felt like being gay was something that was not acceptable. During the conference, Smart choked back tears often, showing just how emotional it is for him to talk about. I deeply regret the excruciating pain this has caused her,' Ed stated. Lois has been a loyal wife, an extraordinary mother, who has had to endure an impossible part of this journey. His comments were an important statement on religion and sexuality, but he raised some eyebrows when he went on to compare his experience to his daughter’s trauma. Ed Smart and his wife Louis separated after he announced he was gay, and they officially divorced in December 2019. This weekend, he spoke about his journey at a conference in Lehi, Utah, calling the experience the “second miracle” of his life, the first being his daughter’s safe return. Nearly two decades after his daughter, Elizabeth Smart, escaped the kidnappers who held her for nine months, Ed Smart is having another emotional and very public experience - coming out as gay. Mitchell was sentenced to life for the kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart in 2002. SALT LAKE CITY, UT – MAY 25: Elizabeth Smart (L) and her father Ed Smart (R) walk away from federal court after the sentencing of Elizabeths kidnapper Brian David Mitchell in Salt Lake City, Utah.
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