(RNS) — Mormons have broaned their support for LGBTQ rights three key areas, though they still lag the natn supportg the right of gay upl to get married — or to walk to any bakery the untry and buy themselv a weddg ke.
Contents:
- MORMON CHURCH AND GAY RIGHTS
- OPN YOUNG MORMONS AREN’T FOOLED BY CHURCH SUPPORT FOR A GAY MARRIAGE BILL
- LONSBERRY: ARE MORMONS BIGOTED AGAST GAYS?
- CHURCH UPDAT OFFICIAL ‘MORMON AND GAY’ WEBSE
- LGBT RIGHTS AI: WILL KENYA BE THE LATT TO PASS ANTI-GAY LAW?
- NEW POLICY ON GAY COUPL AND THEIR CHILDREN ROILS MORMON CHURCH
- MORMON AND GAY: HOW IT’S GOG
- MORMON CHURCH VOIC SUPPORT FOR SENATE BILL TO PROTECT GAY MARRIAGE
MORMON CHURCH AND GAY RIGHTS
Although the Church has taken a stance on Gay Marriage and Abortn, the church ultimately do not get volved church feels that Homosexual Marriage and Activy is sful, so we do not support Homosexual Behavr. One very mon misnceptn about Mormons is that bee we are agast Gay Marriage that we are "Homophob" and hate Gay people. This is terribly wrong.Bee the Church of J Christ of Latter-day Sats (The Mormon Church) is a Christian relign, we do not support hate crim agast gay people, and we believe treatg Homosexuals wh equal bee we hate the s, do not mean we hate the sner. As a Mormon and an dividual I would hire or fellowship a Homosexual; their sexual preference has no effect on how I might rpect or view them.Homosexuals are Children of God jt like the rt of . * are mormons against gays *
Instead, the immoral nduct heterosexual or homosexual relatnships will be treated the same way.
But, by no longer nsirg same-sex marriag “apostasy, ” the church has sentially lifted the threat of exmunitn for gay upl, church experts said. "The Church distguish between same-sex attractn and homosexual behavr. People who experience same-sex attractn or intify as gay, lbian, or bisexual n make and keep venants wh God and fully and worthily participate the Church.
Intifyg as gay, lbian, or bisexual or experiencg same-sex attractn is not a s and do not prohib one om participatg the Church, holdg llgs, or attendg the temple. ” In Salt Lake Cy, for example, the Church supported ordanc to protect gay rints om discrimatn hog and employment. "The Church’s affirmatn of marriage as beg between a man and a woman “neher nstut nor ndon any kd of hostily toward gays and lbians.
OPN YOUNG MORMONS AREN’T FOOLED BY CHURCH SUPPORT FOR A GAY MARRIAGE BILL
How much, if anythg, has changed the way lol lears the Mormon Church are advised to addrs homosexualy and unsel gay and lbian members? * are mormons against gays *
They may exprs genue love and kdns toward a gay or lbian fay member, iend, or other person whout ndong any refn of marriage. Although the Church has taken a stance on Gay Marriage and Abortn, the church ultimately do not get volved church feels that Homosexual Marriage and Activy is sful, so we do not support Homosexual Behavr. One very mon misnceptn about Mormons is that bee we are agast Gay Marriage that we are "Homophob" and hate Gay people.
Bee the Church of J Christ of Latter-day Sats (The Mormon Church) is a Christian relign, we do not support hate crim agast gay people, and we believe treatg Homosexuals wh equal bee we hate the s, do not mean we hate the sner. As a Mormon and an dividual I would hire or fellowship a Homosexual; their sexual preference has no effect on how I might rpect or view them. Such attus and polici surroundg issu of sexual inty are fuelg a fah crisis among many Mormons of my 2008, when the Church of J Christ of Latter-day Sats backed California’s Proposn 8 to ban same-sex marriage, the church has been tryg to live down a homophobic reputatn.
LONSBERRY: ARE MORMONS BIGOTED AGAST GAYS?
Fdg that outright opposn to the gay agenda earned a lot more hassle than wanted, the Utah-based Church of J Christ of Latter-day Sats has worked hard to bee gay iendly whout abandong s doctral view that gay sex is a s. * are mormons against gays *
My first week on mp, a proment church lear lled out a BYU valedictorian for “manerg” a microphone that was “tend to reprent everyone” bee, durg his graduatn speech, he had e out as gay.
Some gay stunts at BYU say they have felt more acceptance at school than wh their fai.
A majory of Utah Mormons support same-sex marriage rights; support is strongt among young Mormons who have grown up wh openly gay iends, classmat and fay members. On December 12, 2017, Mormon Leaks released a 1981 gui for lol LDS prithood lears on how to addrs homosexualy among members of the Church.
CHURCH UPDAT OFFICIAL ‘MORMON AND GAY’ WEBSE
provis misterial materials for members * are mormons against gays *
Dpe the fact that the Church today has explicly renounced some of the posns found the gui (such as that homosexualy is a learned behavr or a sful choice and n be cured), those beliefs are still monplace among LDS Church lears and members. “Homosexualy is erotic or physil ntact or attractns between members of the same-sex”, the 1981 gui rmed lears.
LGBT RIGHTS AI: WILL KENYA BE THE LATT TO PASS ANTI-GAY LAW?
Mormon lears do not speak of a gay or lbian sexual orientatn, though they now fully acknowledge that many people 'stggle wh same-genr attractn.' * are mormons against gays *
” Here we see that at the time this gui was produced, the Church did not distguish homosexual thoughts om homosexual actns.
When the gui ntu rmg lears that “homosexualy is a s”, that “any ratnalizatn of homosexualy is wrong, ” no distctn is ma between attractn and actg on that attractn. Here we have perhaps the most signifint change how the Church unrstands and stcts lears on homosexualy between 1981 and today.
Today, the LDS Church is reful to make the distctn between homosexualy, or same-sex attractn, and actg on that attractn.
NEW POLICY ON GAY COUPL AND THEIR CHILDREN ROILS MORMON CHURCH
A backlash is growg over l that bar children of same-sex parents om baptisms and clar members gay unns apostat subject to exmunitn. * are mormons against gays *
” In effect, the LDS Church havg this statement on a webse they created was rmg the world that their unrstandg of homosexualy now clud a distctn between attractn and actn. Today, the church’s webse, Mormon and Gay, stat that “feelgs of same-sex attractn are not a s. Before briefly discsg what the Mormon Church viewed as the of homosexualy 1981, I thk is important to be remd of what the medil muny viewed as the of homosexualy around this time.
Until 1973, homosexualy was viewed as a mental disorr by the Amerin Psychiatric Associatn. The World Health Organizatn did not classify homosexualy as a mental disorr until 1990.
MORMON AND GAY: HOW IT’S GOG
Beg gay and mormon is a unique experience. Growg up wh the church's teachgs on the LGBTQ+ muny is tough for LGBTQ+ mormons. * are mormons against gays *
The church’s view of homosexualy and s were closely aligned to the general unrstandg of homosexualy the medil muny and public. The 1981 gui rms lears that homosexualy was ed by a “disturbed fay background, ” “poor relatnship wh peers, ” “unhealthy sexual attus, ” and “early homosexual experience” cludg “early masturbatn experienc” or beg “troduced to homosexual experience by someone his own age or a few years olr. “The entire premise of this pamphlet is that homosexuals are broken and at odds wh God, ” shared Affirmatn Board Member Ron Rayn.
MORMON CHURCH VOIC SUPPORT FOR SENATE BILL TO PROTECT GAY MARRIAGE
LGB people aren’t broken and are “sons and dghters of God, ” acrdg to Mormon and Gay: Church Teachgs. Rsell Ballard shared his belief that gay and lbian members of the church, “have a place the kgdom and regnize that sometim may be difficult for you to see where you f the Lord’s Church, but you do. If the medil muny at the time was the midst of transng away om nsirg homosexualy as a mental disorr, they were also transng away om nsirg homosexualy as somethg that uld be treated and possibily cured.
Not surprisgly, the church stcted lol lears that homosexualy was somethg that uld be changed.
The person mt repent of his homosexual behavr and ntrol by learng other ways of life. Prithood lears were enuraged to unsel homosexuals partly by helpg them to set spirual, social, physil, and self-disciple goals.