May 13, 2026 · 1 hr 7 min · 20 segments
Detroit native Alley Bird comes to Girlscamp to talk about her experience growing up as a Black Mormon girl, learning about the priesthood ban in seminary as a teenager, and later experiencing…
Before we begin, I always like to ask my guests, is there anything specific that draws you to sharing your story?
That's a good, good question, because years back when I was first deconstructing, I would listen to, like, different, um, deconstruction podcasts, and sometimes I would enjoy them, sometimes not, and I just kinda thought, like, "Would I ever share my story?" And I was kinda leaning towards no, I think just 'cause I hadn't really healed a lot from it at all.
And yeah, I just wasn't really sure if I wanted to, like, speak out against the church 'cause I didn't wanna be seen as, like, one of those angry ex-Mormons or, like, anti-Mormons or whatever.
But recently I've been becoming a little bit more comfortable talking about my story publicly, and I was actually talking with my aunt a couple months ago when I visited her for Thanksgiving, and I was just kinda telling her about my Mormon experience 'cause, um, she wasn't in the church.
And she was just saying, like, "You know, it might not be as fun to talk about your experience, but you definitely should because it can save somebody's life." So yeah, that's kind of why I want to, 'cause I think either a lot of people can benefit from it, or it might be a very small niche group of people who can benefit from it, but either way, it's very valuable to share, and I hope that somebody can, like, resonate with it and be able to grow from it and heal from it, and hopefully it can save someone's life.
Is talking about these unique stories, and I think you do have these really unique perspectives that I'm excited to get into.
... like, a good healing milestone when you feel like, "Wait, I actually might want to start talking about this more."
Before we begin, I always like to ask my guests, is there anything specific that draws you to sharing your story?
That's a good, good question, because years back when I was first deconstructing, I would listen to, like, different, um, deconstruction podcasts, and sometimes I would enjoy them, sometimes not, and I just kinda thought, like, "Would I ever share my story?" And I was kinda leaning towards no, I think just 'cause I hadn't really healed a lot from it at all.
And yeah, I just wasn't really sure if I wanted to, like, speak out against the church 'cause I didn't wanna be seen as, like, one of those angry ex-Mormons or, like, anti-Mormons or whatever.
But recently I've been becoming a little bit more comfortable talking about my story publicly, and I was actually talking with my aunt a couple months ago when I visited her for Thanksgiving, and I was just kinda telling her about my Mormon experience 'cause, um, she wasn't in the church.
And she was just saying, like, "You know, it might not be as fun to talk about your experience, but you definitely should because it can save somebody's life." So yeah, that's kind of why I want to, 'cause I think either a lot of people can benefit from it, or it might be a very small niche group of people who can benefit from it, but either way, it's very valuable to share, and I hope that somebody can, like, resonate with it and be able to grow from it and heal from it, and hopefully it can save someone's life.
Is talking about these unique stories, and I think you do have these really unique perspectives that I'm excited to get into.
... like, a good healing milestone when you feel like, "Wait, I actually might want to start talking about this more."
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3 of 9
The straw that broke everything
What finally pushed Ally to leave?
Blindsided in seminary
Her first encounter with painful history
Teaching a man in his bedroom
A boundary-crossing moment from Belize
+6 more clips · 10 min 26 sec of audio in all
7 of 25
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