The Mormon missionary is one of gay culture's most recognized figures of desire. These two collages place him and other gay men at the temple of a church that accepts gay members but not gay relationships.
The church teaches that same-sex intimacy is a sin and classifies same-sex marriage as "a serious transgression." It declared members in same-sex marriages apostates in 2015 and reversed that in 2019. In 2022, it supported the federal Respect for Marriage Act without changing its doctrine. At church-owned BYU, heterosexual couples may hold hands and kiss, and gay couples may not. Since October 2025, the church president has been Dallin H. Oaks, a leading opponent of same-sex marriage.
Gay members leave. 4% of current members identify as LGBTQ, compared with 18% of former members. About 23% of Gen Z Latter-day Saint adults identify as something other than heterosexual, and support for legal same-sex marriage among members reached 46% in 2021.
Gay adult film adopted the missionary as a recurring subject in 2010. Most of the genre's directors and performers are former members. Earlier, the film Latter Days (2003), by former missionary C. Jay Cox, paired a closeted elder with his openly gay neighbor.
The appeal comes from the structure of the mission. Missionaries are young men serving two years away from home, living in assigned pairs under a strict chastity code. Their uniform of white shirt, dark tie and name tag is recognized everywhere, and they come to the door. The genre makes the subtext of the mission its content.
In both collages, the temples are paint-by-number paintings, in which every shape and color is assigned in advance. In the first, two men embrace in front of the Manti Utah Temple while two missionaries lean together in the corner. In the second, young men, some in missionary dress, gather in front of the Salt Lake Temple. In each, the Blue Moon, longing, and the Jupiter 3, freedom and escape, are overhead.