File under: What can happen when you force two young men at the peak of their sexuality to be only with each other for two solid years.

Sexually Suggestive Photographs of LDS Missionaries Stir Controversy

A series of sexually suggestive photographs of two male Mormon missionaries is causing a furor at Salt Lake Community College.

Police were called to quell a shouting match that erupted Tuesday after an upset student began to take down the black and white photographs by Don Farmer, a graduate of Westminster College.

The photographs, part of an student-sponsored exhibition tied to Diversity Week by gay, lesbian, and transgender artists at the school’s South City campus, depict two young men in white shirts and dark pants, one of them wearing a missionary name tag.

In one shot, one of the youths unbuttons the other’s shirt; in another, one undoes the other’s belt as a book of scripture lies open nearby.

I went to the exhibit, and it’s really very good. The photographs are well-shot, and the Mormon element isn’t in-your-face, but it’s pleasantly obvious.

Patrick is actually friends with the photographer, who shot one of my favorite pictures of Patrick, a black and white of him lying on his stomach, his head cradled in his arms, one eye looking directly into the camera. It’s gorgeous. A print of it used to hang in my office at the TV station.

More media coverage about the silly controversy:
Salt Lake Tribune
Deseret News