Members called themselves brother and sister; they looked upon themselves as monks and nuns; they lived communally in a large, rented San Diego County (CA) home which they called their monastery. Most members had little contact with their families of origin or with their neighbors. Many followed successful professional careers before entering the group. Some abandoned their children before joining. They were free to leave at any time. They dressed in unisex garments: shapeless black shirts with Mandarin collars, and black pants. They were required commit themselves to a celibate life. Eight of the male members, including Do, submitted to voluntary castration. This seems to have been a form of preparation for their next level of existence: in a life that would be free of gender, sexual identity and sexual activity.
The group supported themselves through a commercial effort called Higher Source which designed WWW pages for a profit. They also used the Internet as a recruitment tool; they have a site called Heaven's Gate. On their site, Applewhite (calling himself the "Present Representative") drew parallels between himself and the spirit from Heaven that occupied the body of Jesus Christ. Their main page says: "As was promised - the keys to Heaven's Gate are here again in Ti and Do (The UFO Two) as they were in Jesus and His Father, 2000 years ago". They discussed their task is "to work individually on our personal overcoming and change, in preparation for entering the Kingdom of Heaven." Their web site was taken over by the FBI, but some individuals were able to download the site files and create mirrors at various locations.
Marshall Herff Applewhite was gay. There are rumors that he had one or more affairs with male students when he was a music teacher. He is believed to have checked himself in to a hospital over two decades ago in order to overcome his homosexual feelings. This occurred when many therapists believed that a person's sexual orientation could be changed. Needless to say, the therapy was unsuccessful. One theory being proposed is that he was unable to accept his sexual orientation because of the homophobia that he had adsorbed during his youth. This motivated him to live an celibate life and to create a group which also suppressed their sexual behavior. Another theory is that among UFO groups, there is a widespread belief that extra-terrestrials have no vocal cords, an atrophied digestive system and no sexual organs. This is symbolic of three common religious disciplines: silence, fasting and celibacy. Perhaps Applewhite was attempting to emulate both the UFO inhabitants and ancient Christian tradition
space ships operated by extra-terrestrial beings who are attempting to bring humanity to a higher level of knowledge. However, they have a belief not shared by other UFO groups: that by committing suicide together at the correct time, they will leave their containers (bodies) behind. The soul goes to sleep until it is "replanted" in another container. Eventually, the soul will be grafted onto a representative of the "level above human." The latter will be on-board a UFO space ship such as the one that they believe is currently hidden behind the Hale-Bopp comet. A video tape taken shortly before their suicides showed them to be excited about the future. The timing of the suicide was apparently triggered by the arrival of Easter, and by the closest approach to earth of the comet, which they regarded as a celestial "marker". The timing was apparently unrelated to the Spring Equinox of MAR-20. They feared persecution, death, arrest, physical torture or psychological torture while they remained on earth. They felt that this persecution would come from outside their group - either from "some irate individual or from "the powers that control this world." There is one report that the group had a large cache of weapons and ammunition.