The Church of Latter-Day Saints (aka. the Mormon Church) has filed a lawsuit against a podcast whose host interviews LGBTQ+ Mormons. The church is accusing the podcasters of trademark infringement, claiming that the branding around the podcast Mormon Stories deliberately misleads people into thinking the podcast and its content are affiliated with the church. The podcaster says that’s not true.
“Defendants’ use of Church trademarks and copyrighted materials has caused and will continue to cause individuals to be confused and access Defendants’ content mistakenly believing it comes from or is affiliated with or endorsed by the Church,” the church claimed in their lawsuit.
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“This is not by accident. Defendants adopted a blue MORMON STORIES logo with a light-rays design prominently used by the Church, showing Defendants’ intent to capitalize on and increase confusion. Defendants’ logo was calculated to imitate the Church’s logos by using confusingly similar color, font, and other design elements.”
Mormon Stories is a podcast hosted by John Dehlin, a psychologist who was once part of the church. The long-form episodes include interviews with ex-members of the church, people who converted to the faith from around the world, and experts on religion and the church.
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Dehlin was a member of the Church of the Latter-Day Saints in the late ’80s and worked as a missionary in Guatemala. While still active in the church, Dehlin launched the Mormon Stories podcast in 2005, when his concerns with the church deepened.
During his missionary time, he had felt some of the baptism practices were deceptive. In the early 2000s, he became concerned about the well-being of some LGBTQ+ members of the church and how their membership was affecting their mental health and contemplation of suicide.
In 2015, Dehlin was excommunicated for apostacy (criticizing the church publicly), but he believes the real reasons had more to do with his advocacy for same-sex marriage and women’s equality in the church.
While the church insists that the lawsuit is all about audience confusion and Dehlin giving the impression that Mormon Stories has a relationship with the church, others have suggested that this is about attacking a critic and trying to silence Dehlin.
During mediation ahead of the filing, the Church acknowledged that the podcaster “agreed to make some changes but ultimately would not agree to take basic actions necessary to lessen the confusion caused by Defendants’ infringements.”
According to a recent podcast episode from Dehlin, those changes included changing the logo color, removing aspects of the design, including a sketch of Christ. The church also wanted a disclaimer added to his platforms that reads, “Mormon Stories is not affiliated with, endorsed, or sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”
Where Dehlin put his foot down was with changing the name of the podcast, with suggestions such as Ex-Mormon Stories With Dr. John Dehlin or Post-Mormon Stories With Dr. John Dehlin being floated. They also wanted him to discontinue use of the word “Mormon” in future projects.
However, back in 2018, even the Church of Latter-Day Saints stopped using the word “Mormon,” leaving it unclear as to how that name would make the podcast appear to be associated with the church.
As Slate points out, the quotes that the lawsuit uses to support their claim that people are being misled by the podcast don’t hold up to scrutiny. Even when someone didn’t realize what it was from the beginning, they say it became clear quickly: “I stumbled upon the Mormon Stories podcast, thinking it was church-affiliated. It was quickly evident how anti- it was.”
While Dehlin uses images of the church and its leadership for some video thumbnails, experts suggest that those, as well as the word “Mormon” would fall under the “fair use” part of copyright and trademark law. Rebecca Tushnet, a Harvard Law School professor, told Slate that “Mormon Stories seems to truthfully describe the contents of the show, even if there’s momentary confusion,” and is therefore likely allowable.
Ultimately, the church’s lawsuit is unlikely to go anywhere, but by filing it, they have unintentionally brought significant attention to one of their longest-standing critics.
While Mormon Stories’ YouTube videos usually get between 5,000 and 50,000 views, Dehlin’s episode about being sued by the church has already amassed over 140,000 views.
Dehlin has also set up a legal defense fund to help him fight the lawsuit. It’s unclear how much it has collected.
The fact that the Church of the Latter-Day Saints appears to be so concerned about this podcast now is likely tied to the church’s decline in growth, and a 2023 speech about the things that were drawing people away from the church, which included Dehlin’s name.
A 2023 poll showed that only 15% of Americans had a favorable view of the church. This new lawsuit against a podcaster just makes it easier for the church to be cast as the villains in the story.
A 2024 survey by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) found that 9% of Latter Day Saints are LGBTQ+-identified, 75% of all Latter Day Saints support LGBTQ+ anti-discrimination protections, 53% support same-sex marriage, but only 14% oppose allowing religious small business owners to refuse services to gay or lesbian people on the basis of their faith, and only 16% oppose restricting gender-affirming medical care for minors.
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