Connell O'Donovan

{{short description|American historian of LGBTQ and Mormon history (born 1961)}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Connell O'Donovan

| image =

| alt =

| caption =

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1961}}

| birth_place = Syracuse, Utah, US

| occupation = {{hlist | Historian | Biographer | Genealogist }}

| years_active =

| era =

| organization =

| known_for =

| boards =

| spouse =

| awards =

| website = {{URL|http://www.connellodonovan.com/}}

| signature =

| signature_alt =

}}

Connell O'Donovan (born in 1961) is an American historian, biographer, and professional genealogist.{{Cite web |title=The University of Utah's Queer History, 1920–1992 |url=https://diversity.utah.edu/event/the-university-of-utahs-queer-history-1920-1992/ |access-date=2023-05-21 |website=University of Utah}} He was born in Utah, but spent much of his adult life in Santa Cruz, California.{{Cite magazine |last=Williams |first=Ben |date=2011-03-03 |title=Last of the gay historians |url=https://www.qsaltlake.com/news/2011/03/03/the-last-of-the-gay-historians/ |magazine=QSaltLake|location=Salt Lake City, Utah, USA}} He has written on the history of LGBTQ Mormons,{{Cite journal |title=Queer Mormon Histories and the Politics of a Usable Past |url= https://www.dialoguejournal.com/articles/queer-mormon-histories-and-the-politics-of-a-usable-past/ |journal=Dialogue |volume=54 |issue=1 |page=6 |last=Griffin |first=Alexandria}}{{Cite journal |last=O’Donovan |first=Connell |date=2020-01-01 |title=Public History: Gathering a Community's History: The Utah Queer Historical Society |url=https://scholarlypublishingcollective.org/uip/uhq/article/88/1/77/202434/Public-History-Gathering-a-Community-s-History-The |journal=Utah Historical Quarterly |volume=88 |issue=1 |page=77 |doi=10.5406/utahhistquar.88.1.0077 |s2cid=219470382 |issn=0042-143X |via=Duke University Press|url-access=subscription}} and Black Mormon history.{{Cite journal |date=11 Sep 2006 |title=Biography of early black Mormon honored |url=https://currents.ucsc.edu/06-07/09-11/biography.asp |journal=UC Santa Cruz Currents |volume=11 |issue=6| publisher=University of California, Santa Cruz}}{{Cite journal |last=O'Donovan |first=Connell |date=2006 |title=The Mormon Priesthood Ban and Elder Q. Walker Lewis: 'An example for his more whiter brethren to follow' |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43200236 |journal=John Whitmer Historical Association Journal |volume=26 |pages=48–100 |jstor=43200236 |issn=0739-7852 }}

Early life and education

He was raised in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), and as a young man was subjected to a hypnotherapy form of sexual orientation change effort as recommended by his LDS church leaders in attempts to change his gay attractions.{{cite news |last1=James |first1=Susan |title=Mormon 'Gay Cure' Study Used Electric Shocks Against Homosexual Feelings |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Health/mormon-gay-cures-reparative-therapies-shock-today/story?id=13240700 |access-date=18 January 2023 |work=ABC News |date=28 March 2011}}{{cite web|last1=Weakland| first1=Sean|title=Legacies |url=http://brbl-dl.library.yale.edu/vufind/Record/4192006|publisher=Yale University| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170505150007/http://brbl-dl.library.yale.edu/vufind/Record/4192006|access-date=September 29, 2016| archive-date=May 5, 2017}}{{Cite web |date=1996-06-29 |title=Legacies |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0402338/ |access-date=2023-05-21 |website=IMDb}} He served a two-year mission in Brazil,{{Cite web |title=Connell Hill O'Donovan |url=https://lgbtqreligiousarchives.org/profiles/connell-hill-odonovan |access-date=2023-05-21 |website=LGBTQ Religious Archives Network}} was married in the Salt Lake Temple but later divorced,{{Cite news |last=Dobner |first=Jennifer |date=2007-06-02 |title=Support group for gay and lesbian Mormons marks 30 years |newspaper=Seattle Times |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/news/support-group-for-gay-and-lesbian-mormons-marks-30-years/ |access-date=2023-05-21}}{{Cite news |last=Johnston |first=Kim |date=October 25, 2019 |title=Letter: Parents do not have the right to harm their children |work=Salt Lake Tribune |url=https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/letters/2019/10/25/letter-parents-do-not/ |access-date=2023-05-21}} and was excommunicated from the LDS Church in 1991.{{Cite journal |date=2006 |title=About the Authors of this Volume |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43200255 |journal=John Whitmer Historical Association Journal |volume=26 |pages=340–343 |jstor=43200255 |issn=0739-7852 }} He studied history at the University of Utah.{{Cite web |title=Reframing the Conversation: 'Queering Utah Legacies' |url=https://attheu.utah.edu/facultystaff/reframing-the-conversation-queering-utah-legacies/ |date=2 Nov 2020 |publisher=University of Utah}}

Advocacy

In 1990 he organized the first LGBTQ pride march in Salt Lake City, Utah.{{Cite magazine |last=Lyons |first=Kelan |date=2019-05-29 |title=A Proud History: Tracing the Utah Pride Festival back to its origins. |url=https://www.cityweekly.net/utah/pride/Content?oid=13795808 |magazine=Salt Lake City Weekly |access-date=2023-05-20}} He has also advocated for Ugandan LGBTQ refugees in Utah.{{Cite web |last=Hobday |first=Tony |date=2017-12-01 |title=Help Connell O'Donovan make it better for Kenya refugees |url=https://www.qsaltlake.com/news/2017/12/01/help-connell-odonovan-make-better-kenya-refugees/ |access-date=2023-05-21 |website=QSaltLake}}{{Cite magazine |last=Danae |first=Kaya |date=December 2017 |title=Connell O'Donovan: making life better for local LGBT refugees and those still waiting in African camps |url=https://issuu.com/qsaltlake/docs/qsl1712e |magazine=QSaltLake |page=24 |access-date=2023-05-20}} He has been outspoken against conversion therapy. He has published information on the LDS Church and LGBTQ people.{{cite book|editor-last=Corcoran|editor-first=Brent|last=O'Donovan|first=Connell |chapter='The Abominable and Detestable Crime against Nature': A Brief History of Homosexuality and Mormonism, 1840–1980|url= https://www.signaturebooks.com/books/p/multiply-and-replenish |title= Multiply and Replenish: Mormon Essays on Sex and Family|date=1994|publisher=Signature Books|location=Salt Lake City, Utah|isbn=978-1560850502|chapter-url= http://signaturebookslibrary.org/the-abominable-and-detestable-crime-against-nature/|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220327031212/http://signaturebookslibrary.org/the-abominable-and-detestable-crime-against-nature/ |archive-date=March 27, 2022 |via =Internet Archive|url-status=dead|access-date=February 27, 2023}}{{cite speech|title=Private pain, public purges: a history of homosexuality at Brigham Young University |first=Connell| last=O'Donovan |location= University of California Santa Cruz|date=April 28, 1997|url= https://catalog.churchofjesuschrist.org/record/e850a6fa-20ab-4095-83ea-9bf1a8d78183/0?view=summary&lang=eng |access-date=9 May 2023|url-access=limited|via=Church History Library}}{{cite web| last1=O'Donovan| first1=Connell| title=Private Pain, Public Purges: A History of Homosexuality at Brigham Young University|url=http://exmormon.org/d6/drupal/byuhis|access-date=9 May 2023|via=Exmormon Foundation}} In the 1980s he was involved with the Gay and Lesbian Community Council of Utah (GLCCU),{{Cite web |date=16 October 2020 |title=A generational layer cake: queering Utah legacies |url=https://diversity.utah.edu/queering-utah-legacies/ |access-date=2023-05-21 |website=University of Utah}} and was later the founding director of the Lesbian and Gay Historical Society of Utah.