Architect, Activist, Author: An Interview with Laurie Lee Hall
Interviewed by Millie Tullis
In your remarkable memoir, Dictates of Conscience: From Mormon High Priest to My New Life as a Woman (Signature Books, 2024), you describe art as an essential creative outlet for you as a youth struggling with gender identity. This love of art and talent for it led you to pursue a career in architecture. You were a very successful architect, working for the Church for many years, and even designing temples. Can you talk about that experience?
Yes, as a young person, I was fortunate to discover my identity as an artist during a period when much of my sense of gendered self was chaotic and unsettled. I held onto my art and those who supported me in it as my social lifeline, and I was determined from an early age to become an architect. This resolve gave me the purpose to navigate all those uncertainties.
Looking back, though, I realize that I benefited from privilege only ever afforded to males in the past. It was far less common in the 1980s for young women to progress within the field of architecture. We also know that women in the Church were intentionally taught from the pulpit that it was their duty to remain at home and raise their children, rather than pursue outside interests. Regarding my professional career, and particularly in my subsequent assignments leading the architecture of the church from its headquarters, I’m aware of no woman who the Church would have given the opportunities that I received during those years.
But I did it with my woman’s mind, creativity, heart, spirit, and soul. Yes, I was undercover as I did so. But it was me. And if I could and did, so can many other women be entirely qualified to contribute in the same ways, professionally and ecclesiastically, with strength and authority.
In addition to your architectural career, you’ve now written this groundbreaking book, using your own life as artistic material. Can you discuss the role art and creativity have played throughout your life?
I’ve always been driven by a passion to create and solve complex problems. Over time, my mind and heart tuned into inspiration and insights that guided everything I did. That became the familiar intuition that made me so effective in my work and service. An example that I didn’t include in Dictates of Conscience was the conceptual design for the Paris Temple complex. The community of Le Chesnay imposed many complex regulations on the property we intended to develop. A standard temple design was not viable there. One morning, while preparing for work, I studied in my mind what to do in Paris, and the whole layout of the temple and all its ancillary functions appeared clearly in my mind’s eye — to such an extent that when I arrived at the office, I was able to prepare a detailed plan to share with my colleagues, which is what stands in France today.
The same tools I used throughout my life became crucial as I started writing the memoir Dictates of Conscience. It was a sacred act of creation that I first envisioned and then deeply committed to bringing into being. As a first-time author with only technical writing experience, I had to rely on the strengths I possessed and seek help from my dear editor, Barbara Jones Brown, and my constant reader, Nancy Beaman, to fill in the gaps.
One moment that stood out to me in Dictates of Conscience was when your long-time assistant revealed she knew you were transgender years before you came out and left your position working for the Church, and that she had supported you wholeheartedly. While many people supported you throughout your transition, other close family and friends struggled or failed to accept you. After the book’s release, what reactions have surprised you from readers? Which supportive responses stand out and why?
Speaking of my long-time assistant, whom I called Susan in the book, just a month after the release of my memoir, she experienced a severe health decline. When I spoke with her daughter, we agreed to get her a copy of the book so she could read it to her mother, which she did before Susan passed away in January. My love and deep appreciation for how Susan anonymously supported me during my transition, while still employed at church headquarters, was a tender gift to share with her.
Overall, I have been humbled and overjoyed by the responses from readers about Dictates of Conscience. Many people from all walks of life, facing various trials, have seen themselves in my story and found the courage or resilience to face their challenges. I never imagined that my story would resonate with such a broad audience.
I am especially touched that the most frequent replies have come from the mothers of transgender youth or young adults. Many have shared how my descriptions have helped them better understand their child’s experience. Often, these moms find hope that their loved ones can navigate the world safely, and they gain optimism, as I have seen, bringing them comfort and hope in their journey.
One young man expressed his deep gratitude for the safety I offered our stake by shielding members from the harsh noise surrounding the 2008 Proposition 8. Years later, he came out as gay and married his husband in a beautiful ceremony. I was happy that my inspiration to ignore those who pushed me to use our pulpits to spread hatred never damaged his tender spirit.
You discuss your relationship with the story of Esther beautifully in Dictates of Conscience. Esther’s story is so much about the importance of listening. Can you discuss your connection to this story and what we can learn from listening?
I awoke early one morning while vacationing with my family to a strong prompting to reread the book of Esther. This occurred during my struggles with coming out in the summer of 2012 and was an incredible tender mercy. I heard the words of the prompting clearly, recognized their source, and immediately took action. That’s a pattern that has consistently brought blessings. I opened my heart, searching for why I needed to read that book of scripture at that moment, and the meaning became clear. I had come to the kingdom at that time to go forth and “save” my people. The experience gave me courage and a sense of purpose beyond myself to meet senior church leaders face to face, on equal footing, and testify to what I knew was true about gender identity and the conditions of transgender church members.
Those meetings with church leaders did occur, and we exchanged several letters. Sadly, though, the chance to gain understanding of the “transgender situation” was missed at that time. Now, through my memoir and interviews, my voice has been expanded to much larger audiences.
Can you tell us a bit about your work as an activist? How long were you Vice President of Affirmation, and what work are you particularly proud of from that time?
I served as Vice President of Affirmation LGBTQ Mormons Families and Friends for three years. It was a great privilege to be part of the oldest and largest queer-led LGBTQ organization for Mormon and Mormon-adjacent individuals. During those years, we navigated the pandemic and expanded Affirmation’s reach to become a worldwide organization, providing LGBTQ people with a place to land, heal, share, and serve.
Since that time, I have spoken extensively about transgender rights and the challenges facing our community, both politically and within our spiritual homes, across many venues and podcasts. I see it as a sacred responsibility to raise my voice and share my story to foster understanding, equity, and compassion for all gender-variant souls who may follow. My book serves as a primary source of transgender LDS history, standing as a testament to this time and struggle.
How would you like to see the Church change to better support LGBTQIA people, particularly trans folks?
The path to better supporting and including transgender people in the Church, before the law, and in the public square is straightforward. Accept that gender identity is real. Believe the transperson who describes their gender identity as truly who they know themselves to be. We say that “Gender is an essential characteristic of… eternal identity and purpose.” We should trust what that states and stop conflating gender with the nonspecific definition of “biological sex assigned at birth.” Transgender people should enjoy all the rights, privileges, and opportunities given to all members of the Church or society, exactly as who they are.
Laurie Lee Hall is an architect and gender activist living in Crestwood, Kentucky with her partner Nancy Beaman (@laurieleehall).
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