Mormon and gay: Church says you n be both | CNN

Contents:

• RISG NUMBERS OF YOUNG ADULT MORMONS THE US ARE GAY, LBIAN OR BISEXUAL
• MORMON AND GAY: CHURCH SAYS YOU N BE BOTH
• GAY MORMONS
• THE MORMON CHURCH ANNOUNC PRO-HOMOSEXUALY POLICY — BUT GAY PARISHNERS SLAM AS NOT ENOUGH
• MORMON CHURCH AND GAY RIGHTS
• MORMON AND GAY: CHURCH SAYS YOU N BE BOTH, BUT ACTIVISTS SAY ISN'T ENOUGH
• CHURCH UPDAT OFFICIAL ‘MORMON AND GAY’ WEBSE
• MORMON AND GAY: HOW IT’S GOG
• UPDATE — JANA RIS: THERE ARE MORE YOUNG LBIAN, GAY OR BISEXUAL LATTER-DAY SATS THAN PREVLY BELIEVED

RISG NUMBERS OF YOUNG ADULT MORMONS THE US ARE GAY, LBIAN OR BISEXUAL

As public opn – and scientific unrstandg – on sexualy has shifted wh remarkable speed, many nomatns, cludg Mormon lears, have had to grapple wh a difficult qutn: How do they mata tradnal doctre that homosexual acts are sful, while acceptg and misterg to gay and lbian Mormons who scerely wish to rema part of their church? Fulmer, who self-intifi as a gay Mormon and is featured on the new webse, said the new materials “give a steppg stone to have more open munitn about this and to te others on how to help and how to rpond to somebody who is gay. Prr to 1950Homosexualy regard by church as “s that dare not speak s name” 1952“Homosexualy” is ed publicly by a senr church lear for the first time, lled an “abomatn” parable to masturbatn and btialy1969Homosexualy regard as “curable” by a senr church lear; beg “forced” to heterosexual relatnships is enuraged 1976Church-sponsored Brigham Young Universy nducts electroshock therapy for 14 gay Mormons1978-81Church fac public backlash for opposg Equal Rights Amendment, argug uld extend legal protectn to “lbian and homosexual marriag” 1990sLears beg referrg to homosexualy as same-genr attractn, acknowledgg the realy of sexual attractn while nmng the s of actg on those feelgs 2008-09Church attempts to balance “relig liberty and nondiscrimatn” polil advocy, mpaigng agast legalizatn of gay marriage California and supportg a nondiscrimatn ordance Salt Lake Cy2012Church “gay” for the first time public munitns.

MORMON AND GAY: CHURCH SAYS YOU N BE BOTH

In a seri of vios on “Mormons and Gays, ” lears ask members to “fd mon ground” while “beg te to relig beliefs”2015“Handbook of Instctn” for church lears is updated wh a new policy barrg children of same-sex upl om church baby blsgs and baptism. Same-sex marriage is regard as apostasy and grounds for exmunitn2016Church lnch new “Mormon and Gay” sectn on s official webse, which Mormon lears ll for creased dialogue about homosexualy, and gay Mormons share their experienc as active, celibate church members.

GAY MORMONS

But none of the top church lears ordaed to the hight level of the prithood have mented on the new materials, somethg Mayne said is ditive of a wars towards a perceived “gay agenda” at the hight levels of the church.

He hop the church’s top learship will speak wh homosexual married upl to unrstand that “a gay uple is really two Mormon people hopg to e as close as possible to everythg that we value and hold ar as a relign: fai, mted relatnships, lovg one another.

THE MORMON CHURCH ANNOUNC PRO-HOMOSEXUALY POLICY — BUT GAY PARISHNERS SLAM AS NOT ENOUGH

Gay Mormons should not feel any shame for their feelgs, but they should turn to the Savr for His help and strength to overe all temptatns—whether those temptatns are related to homosexualy or not—and have fah that He will help them overe.

Mormons n be homosexual, acknowledge the existence of transsexuals and still stay te to their relign, the Church of J Christ of Latter-day Sats (LDS) announced Tuday — but gay parishners immediately pounced on the new stance, slammg the church for not dog a vio posted on a brand-new webse lled "Mormon and Gay, " LDS lear L. The effort appears a stark reversal om the church's passg of unambiguoly anti-gay polici last year, which clud not allowg children of gay parents to be spe apparent acceptance, the church has not amend s stance on marriage, which matas is a sacred bond between a male and a of J Christ of Latter-day Sats Elr L. ()That is not stg right wh some LGBTQ Mormons, who are urgg their elrs to nsir also changg the church's stance on marriage orr to pletely plement s newfound msage of Pack, a transgenr woman active the church, lled the new stance "a step forward, albe a very small step forward" an terview wh The might superficially be preachg acceptance, Pack argued that the church still impli that homosexuals and transsexuals should rema the shadows, or keep their sexuali to themselv.

(Gee Frey/Getty Imag)"They should be clud and weled, not jt the people who choose to be celibate, " she Peterson, 39, intifi as gay but has been married to a straight man for 12 years what she f as a "mixed orientatn marriage. "Peterson was ially gog to be featured one of the vios on the "Mormon and Gay" webse but backed out after beme clear to her that the church is still holdg on to the same stance on effort appears a stark reversal om the church's passg of unambiguoly anti-gay polici last year, which clud not allowg children of gay parents to be baptized.

MORMON CHURCH AND GAY RIGHTS

The Church of J Christ of Latter-day Sats oppos same-sex marriage and has anti-trans polici that puts members who receive genr-affirmg medil re at risk of 2007, Brigham Young Universy, the world’s largt Mormon llege, banned gay stunts om attendance outright. “We speculate this is the rult of self-selectn, that red-state Utah may jt be a more challengg place for sexual mori to live, at least outsi of Salt Lake Cy, ” Ris says, referencg the state’s pal cy, which often appears on lists of the gayt ci the untry.

Jt two years ago, the church received much public praise for rcdg a 2015 policy, ntroversial among Mormons at the time, that clared the mor children of gay people uld not be baptized to or jo the church as members—at least not until they were 18 years old, and only then if they would nounce their parents’ marriage and nmn their sexualy. Given how ntent the qutn of gay rights has been among Mormons sce the church threw s whole weight behd California’s anti-gay-marriage Proposn 8 2008, the post-2019 perd has been one of wele relative quiet om the church.

Mormonism is now facg a world which not only the majory of outsirs, but also a signifint portn of their own membership—cludg s own universy’s faculty—seem to regnize that doctre for what is: a list of proposns phrased as irrefutable tths, issued by a group of men who grew up wh homophobia suffg every stutn their liv. The same day Holland issued his revanchist addrs to the faculty, BYU’s admistratn was openg and publicizg s new Office of Belongg, a long-sought-for refuge not only for BYU’s growg number of openly gay stunts, but also s relig and racial mori, who are reported to face wispread bias and prejudice on mp, acrdg to a report issued by an ternal Commtee on Race, Equy, and Belongg. Still, today, the church funnels members who nfs to feelg “same-sex attractn” to support groups that enurage members to enter heterosexual marriag, wh promis that the gay feelgs will be overe after sufficient fahfulns, or at least, ath.

MORMON AND GAY: CHURCH SAYS YOU N BE BOTH, BUT ACTIVISTS SAY ISN'T ENOUGH

The Church had often fought agast the risg ti of marriage equaly; s members were major fancial backers of 2008's Prop 8 California, which briefly banned same-sex marriage the state before beg more progrsive Church members voiced strong disapproval, Garett, like many Mormons, believed the spirual lears were warmg to gay rights. Its official policy toward homosexualy is that "actg" on one's sire is a s and that same-sex marriage is agast God's, twenty-six, and Garett, twenty-four, have had a long, plited relatnship wh the relign to which they were born. Garett uld only assume that his parents believed they had one gay son who stayed celibate orr to bt serve his fah, and another who abandoned relign to have a meangful has never wished to be seen as the good gay son.

Over time, they've renciled their fay wh their fah by viewg the policy as a clarifitn of a posn on homosexualy the Church already says sometim people ask her how she n be part of a Church that don't accept her sons. "Ey BerlSteve, seventy-one, and Lrel, sixty-eight, are matter-of-fact when speakg about the Church and homosexualy, which they nsir to be sometim at odds wh each other whout terferg wh the profound love they have for their son. To many gay Mormons, this was spirually cshg: Polici are guil, but revelatns are Church Elr Rsell NelsonGee Frey/GettyMormons believe fai are eternal, and when someone leav the Church by personal rignatn or through Church disciple, the future of their relatnships is lled to qutn, here on earth and otherwise.

Kyle's parents will vis om Colombia, and he thks all of his siblgs will e, but 's unclear if they will brg their are worried about ra, but not for the reason you would expect—Kyle says he don't want anyone thkg means God's cryg on their weddg day, a sign of dive thg is fe: "It's gog to be a lot of people's first gay weddg, " says BerlKyle and Garett now both intify as agnostic and are uncerta whether an afterlife exists, but they say they will work the Mormon ncept of "for time and eterny" to their marriage vows.

CHURCH UPDAT OFFICIAL ‘MORMON AND GAY’ WEBSE

The Mormon church said on Tuday that members of the fah n be gay and acknowledged the existence of transgenr people, but LGBT advot said the statement showed that there was still a long way to go to end Church of J Christ of Latter-day Sats (LDS) published a new webse lled Mormon and Gay, featurg vio mentary om LDS lear L Whney Clayton, sayg, “I now speak directly to church members who experience same-sex attractn or intify as gay, lbian or bisexual. ”The se, which featur ttimonials and summari of church teachgs, marks a parture om the prev page lled Mormons and Gays, wh the subtle swch om plural to sgular servg as an apparent regnn that there are people who intify as both gay and spe the shift msagg, there have been no chang policy, wh the se reeratg that marriage is “between a man and a woman”, meang members of the church should not be same-sex se was unveiled a year after LDS lears passed an explicly anti-gay policy barrg children of married LGBT upl om beg baptized, promptg wispread outrage and reports of a mass exod om the Mormon church. The le was adopted after the US legalized same-sex marriage and said that Mormon children of gay parents would have to nounce same-sex habatn and leave their fay’s hoe when they turned 18 if they wanted to be web page offers stori om Mormons who intify as gay and acknowledge that havg same-sex attractns is not a choice.

MORMON AND GAY: HOW IT’S GOG

But the vios also discs the ways which gay relatnships ntradict church teachgs, such as the story of Josh, a “gay Mormon” who served a full-time missn and said he has chosen to be se was unveiled a year after LDS lears passed an explicly anti-gay policy barrg children of married LGBT upl om beg baptized, promptg wispread outrage and reports of a mass exod om the Mormon church. ”Jena Peterson, a 39-year-old Mormon woman who intifi as gay, said she was ially gog to be featured on the webse but ultimately backed out bee she feared the vio might misreprent her and send a damagg msage to LGBT people.

Mormons Buildg Bridg is a muny of Latter-day Sats dited to nveyg love and acceptance to all those who intify as LGBTQI and those who experience same-sex attractn or genr Fay Fellowship is a service and support group for Mormons wh gay and lbian fay members. Views about homosexualy18-2930-4950-6465+Sample sizeShould be accepted22%44%22%12%222Should be disuraged23%37%22%18%380Sample siz and margs of error vary om subgroup to subgroup, om year to year and om state to state. Views about homosexualyYounger MillennialOlr MillennialGeneratn XBaby BoomerSilentGreattSample sizeShould be accepted13%19%34%27%8%< 1%222Should be disuraged15%18%28%25%13%1%380Sample siz and margs of error vary om subgroup to subgroup, om year to year and om state to state.

Views about homosexualyWheBlackAsianLatoOther/MixedSample sizeShould be accepted81%< 1%1%12%5%223Should be disuraged87%1%2%6%5%382Sample siz and margs of error vary om subgroup to subgroup, om year to year and om state to state.

UPDATE — JANA RIS: THERE ARE MORE YOUNG LBIAN, GAY OR BISEXUAL LATTER-DAY SATS THAN PREVLY BELIEVED

Views about homosexualyImmigrantsSend generatnThird generatn or higherSample sizeShould be accepted11%8%81%224Should be disuraged6%6%89%382Sample siz and margs of error vary om subgroup to subgroup, om year to year and om state to state. Views about homosexualyLs than $30, 000$30, 000-$49, 999$50, 000-$99, 999$100, 000 or moreSample sizeShould be accepted27%24%33%17%214Should be disuraged29%18%33%21%339Sample siz and margs of error vary om subgroup to subgroup, om year to year and om state to state.

Views about homosexualyHigh school or lsSome llegeCollegePost-graduate greeSample sizeShould be accepted37%36%18%9%224Should be disuraged21%42%26%10%386Sample siz and margs of error vary om subgroup to subgroup, om year to year and om state to state.

Views about homosexualyMarriedLivg wh a partnerDivorced/separatedWidowedNever marriedSample sizeShould be accepted64%6%9%3%18%225Should be disuraged67%2%7%6%19%383Sample siz and margs of error vary om subgroup to subgroup, om year to year and om state to state. Views about homosexualyBelieve God; absolutely certaBelieve God; fairly certaBelieve God; not too/not at all certaBelieve God; don't knowDo not believe GodOther/don't know if they believe GodSample sizeShould be accepted76%18%5%< 1%1%1%225Should be disuraged92%7%< 1%< 1%< 1%< 1%386Sample siz and margs of error vary om subgroup to subgroup, om year to year and om state to state. Views about homosexualyVery importantSomewhat importantNot too importantNot at all importantDon't knowSample sizeShould be accepted67%23%8%2%< 1%225Should be disuraged94%6%1%< 1%< 1%386Sample siz and margs of error vary om subgroup to subgroup, om year to year and om state to state.