Mormon Church Backs Gay Rights Bill

Salt Lake City First in Utah to Ban Bias Based on Sexual Preference

(AP)  The Mormon church for the first time has announced its support of gay rights legislation, an endorsement that helped gain unanimous approval for Salt Lake City laws banning discrimination against gays in housing and employment.

The Utah-based church's support ahead of Tuesday night's vote came despite its steadfast opposition to gay marriage, reflected in the high-profile role it played last year in California's ballot measure that barred such unions.

"The church supports these ordinances because they are fair and reasonable and do not do violence to the institution of marriage," Michael Otterson, the director of public affairs for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said.

Passage made Salt Lake City the first Utah community to prohibit bias based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Under the two new ordinances, it is illegal to fire someone from their job or evict someone from their residence because they are lesbian, bisexual, gay or transgender.

Utah lawmakers tend to quickly fall in line when the influential church makes a rare foray into legislative politics. So Tuesday's action could have broad reaching effects in this highly conservative state where more than 80 per cent of lawmakers and the governor are church members.

"What happened here tonight I do believe is a historic event," said Brandie Balken, director of the gay rights advocacy group Equality Utah. "I think it establishes that we can stand together on common ground that we don't have to agree on everything, but there are lot of things that we can work on and be allies."

But the church has pointed out an inherent dispute it has with the gay lifestyle. Mormonism considers traditional marriages central to God's plan. Gays are welcome in church, but must remain celibate to retain church callings and full membership.

It's strong support for Proposition 8 in California last year drew a sharp reaction from gay rights supporters nationwide, with many protesting outside temples that singled out Mormons as the key culprits in restricting the rights of gay couples.

Since then, however, Utah's gay community has sought to engage church leaders in quiet conversations to help foster better understanding, said Valerie Larabee, executive director of the Utah Pride Center.

"I thought this conversation would never come to be while I was here in Salt Lake City," said Larabee, adding that the discussions have "shifted her perspective of what's possible" and could foreshadow a different relationship between the two sides.

But addressing the council on Tuesday, Otterson said the endorsement is not a shift in the church's position on gay rights and stressed it "remains unequivocally committed to defending the bedrock foundation of marriage between a man and a woman."

Church support for the ordinances is due in part to the way the legislation was drafted to protect those rights. Exceptions in the legislation allow churches to maintain, without penalty, religious principles and religion-based codes of conduct or rules.

"In drafting these ordinances, the city has granted common-sense rights that should be available to everyone, while safeguarding the crucial rights of religious organizations," Otterson said Tuesday.

Previous Utah legislation that sought statewide protections for the gay community did not contain those exceptions.

And although this was the church's first public endorsement of specific legislation, it is not the first time the church has voiced support for some gay rights. In August 2008 the church issued a statement saying it supports gay rights related to hospitalization, medical care, employment, housing or probate as long as they "do not infringe on the integrity of the traditional family or the constitutional rights of churches."

Last year, church leaders were silent on a package of gay rights bills known as the Common Ground Initiative, dooming them from the start.

[urazcorsy]

"But the church has pointed out an inherent dispute it has with the gay lifestyle. Mormonism considers traditional marriages central to God's plan. Gays are welcome in church, but must remain celibate to retain church callings and full membership."

To add clarity, anyone (including heterosexuals)having sexual relations outside the covenant of marriage would not receive a church calling if it were known and would not be allowed to enter sacred LDS temples which to some is the definition of full membership.

[urazcorsy]

"But the church has pointed out an inherent dispute it has with the gay lifestyle. Mormonism considers traditional marriages central to God's plan. Gays are welcome in church, but must remain celibate to retain church callings and full membership."

To add clarity, anyone (including heterosexuals)having sexual relations outside the covenant of marriage would not receive a church calling if it were known and would not be allowed to enter sacred LDS temples which to some is the definition of full membership.

[SS_433]

Sex is Evil. With our current technology, no one ever needs to have sex again to reproduce, not to mention for pleasure. I'm sure some way can be figured out so as to not need an orgasm to collect the sperms. That's right, NO MORE ORGASMS!

[SS_433]

(there goes the "sex is just for reproduction" argument)

[formrusmcsgt]

The Mormon church for the first time has announced its support of gay rights legislation...
---
These dogma drones can't make up their minds.

Just last year they bought and paid for Proposition 8 in CA.

[realamericanman]

I think is is sad that American people would put down the church because of standing up for and supporting the thing they belive. They are giving the gay people what they want without compromising there core beleifs .
Its called a compromise. This dose not mean they support homosexuality. It means They support human rights, and the United States Constitution Witch is a document written by men that were inspired by god to do so. Gay people are welcome in the church, as are all people. I have never been around people that have had such strong core belifes and stand up for them. We do not hate homosexuals, but we beleive there making a choice that goes against our core belive that marriage is between man and a woman and gods plan as described in the bible. If you belive what the bible says how can you say same sex marriage is ok . The catholic church agrees with us but nobody defiles there temples.

[far_point200]

Polygamy and homosexuality are just typical deviant social behaviors supported and endorsed by the Mormon Church (true heretics).

Hmmm... I wonder what drug Joseph Smith was using when he had his vision.

[millibug]

This is just another manifestation of the signs of the times we're
living in. More corruption breeding on top of corruption.

[Imlistening]

Yesterday Iranians were in the streets chanting "Death to no one". Islamic leaders are contemplating scapping jihad and the Mormons are willing to pass a gay anti-discrimination law. O.K. everybody SMILE...take a deep breath. Ssshhhh. If you are very quiet you can hear the sound of reason returning to the planet. Let's try not to drown it out.

[rwassel]

"Under the two new ordinances, it is illegal to fire someone from their job or evict someone from their residence because they are lesbian, bisexual, gay or transgender."

Wow. Good job. You really took a courageous step here. Congratulations on not being blatantly bigoted.

[thesevenveils]

And this is coming from a church which until less than 30 years considered "Negros and people of color unfit for membership" to their church. Remember their all white, all pure fundamentalist brethren in Texas.

The Mormon church if given the latitude, endorses a government similar to that of Iran. Theopolitical, run by church elders.

[mopar1956]

The Morman church will be around long after you are gone and why? because it is based on true principles. Something you obviously don't have.

[thesevenveils]

True principles of what? Something made up by a failed Sciefi writter like Ron Hubbard? Why was this kook driven out of the US proper into far away territories? Why again is the Mormon church the only church in the US to take up arms against the US? And why as soon as Utah was made a state did the Mormon church take over the government of the state as a theocracy instead of a democracy?

Perhaps the Moronban had better read the writting on the walls:
NO More Theopoliticaians!

[thesevenveils]

In other words, Mormon lawyers told the Mormon elders that if they opposed this bill they would violating the constitution and open themselves to litigation which could cost the church millions of dollars. This money could be better spent supporting their heaven's gene pool experiment headquarter in Texas.

[hungry1968-17]

by BryanW217b November 11, 2009 10:33 AM EST
Hungry, I've read your posts under 20 different names for over a year. Not once have I ever got the impression you support a single word in the Constitution. You're the worst of the worst on these forums. And you and your kind will be stopped,sooner or later.
We will see to that.







You're going to see to it that my First Amendment rights are stripped away, in upholding the constitution?

"Circular Firing Squad.... FIRE!!"



ROFL!! Too funny!

[skeetchamp]

they say they protect marriage while having multiple wives, most of them their 12 and 13 year old nieces or even daughters and divorcing at the same rate as the rest of the country -- 50% of the time. such hypocrisy should be illegal, but then you'd have to outlaw the republican party.

[endurorob_5]

Actually you would have to outlaw all politics, especially progressives.

[thesevenveils]

Truth be known, the first Mormons outlawed politics in favor of a theocratic government for Utah. The US told the new state this was unacceptable but the Mormon church built an army and attacked the US troops that came into the state to restore democracy. Now the US is doing the same thing to another fanatic religion in Afghanistan.

[endurorob_5]

alexei1917 November 11, 2009 11:33 AM EST
The history of religion and of specific religions or denominations shows that their prime responsibility to themselves is to survive and thrive.



That is the history of any group of people, religious or not.

[alexei1917]

True enough, but religions represent themselves as the one institution we can always depend on--the "rock" upon which rests eternal truth. That's why, when "eternal truth" turns out to be not quite so everlatingly unchanging as we have been led to believe, religions, churches, and denominations have so much explaining to do. The jobs thus created are the means by which theologians put their kids through college.

And it's not just the Mormons or the Roman Catholics who are adept at these troublesome but necessary excursions into moral, historic, and spiritual hypocrisy. In one way or another they all do it. There are several thriving denominations who have survived at least one, even several, hideously embarrassing incorrect predictions of "the end of the world," "the Last Judgment," "the second coming of Jesus," and the like. Jesus himself made it clear that he expected God to intervene spectacularly within his own lifetime. And St. Paul believed fervently that the Lord Jesus would return within a very short time. In nearly every century since, there have been similarly erroneous and disappointing "prophecies," providing virtually inexhaustible need for those who "explain" and "reinterpret" what went wrong.

Just wait for 2012--the need for theological apologists after that non-event may reduce unemployment measurably. This silly "prophecy" has already created a cottage industry for writers, documentary filmmakers, and various self-styled "experts" who know how to make a buck. Indeed, sometimes it seems the infamous "Nostradamus effect" is keeping the History Channel on the air singlehandedly. Economic downturns tend to produce a preoccupation with such "gloom and doom" and the redemptive assurance of the hope thus kindled. Not to worry--it has all happened before. And we're still here.

[alexei1917]

The history of religion and of specific religions or denominations shows that their prime responsibility to themselves is to survive and thrive. One quite successful strategy is to put a finger to the winds of society to determine their direction. The Mormons are brilliant in their application of this fundamental navigational and survival technique. When polygamy threatened the secular benefit of statehood for Utah, polygamy (at least officially) went out the window; when it became evident that civil rights was becoming a tidal wave throughout American society, Mormon President Spencer Kimball had a "revelation" in which God instructed him that henceforth blacks were to enjoy the full benefits of membership in the church, the fullness of priesthood, and equal status in heaven. How astoundingly convenient.

The same strategy is manifest in the slightly limited acceptance of the Salt Lake "gay rights" ordinance. Religions and denominations that fail to learn how to accommodate even their most cherished beliefs and moral precepts to changing social attitudes aren't around anymore.

Like the Mormons--Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and others have repeatedly "reinterpreted" their theologies when rigidity threatened to make their positions appear ludicrous, indeed untenable. Just as the Salt Lake Mormons are doing, a rationalization is offered and polished so that the change doesn't appear too embarrassingly contradictory. The Roman Catholic Church has had 2,000 years to perfect the technique--they will employ it ultimately to allow priests to marry and finally to ordain women (50% of Roman Catholic seminary students in America are women--DUH!)

In 50 to 100 years, perhaps sooner, gay Mormon couples will be allowed, even encouraged, to celebrate their marriages in the temple just as their straight counterparts do now. Over time, churches produce armies of theologians to "prove" that the apparent "180" in doctrine is in fact what they really "meant" to teach all the time--people just "misunderstood."

Religion was the inventor and remains the master of the most sophisticated and effective propaganda techniques. It was writing "revisionist history" eons before Orwell penned "1984." It has had thousands of years to perfect these arts. If religion were truly monolithic and unchanging, it would have disappeared long ago, but in fact it is amazingly resilient, superbly equipped to "turn on a dime" when necessary, and it is one of society's most adaptable instituions.

This has absolutely nothing to do with whether religion or any specific expression of it is "true." Its most powerful weapon is that, by definition, it is impervious to rational proof of "truth" or "falsity." It dwells in the realm of "faith," which is to say, "opinion."

Congratulations to the Salt Lake Mormons for having tested the winds of change and decided to modify their course just a bit. In due time, at least in matters of gay rights, they may find themselves sailing in the opposite direction from their current one. This is no embarrassment--entire religious fleets have already reversed course, and more will follow.

[lasvegastea1]

Mormon's finding a newfound tolerance for Gay Rights is a Red Herring. It is an attempt by the Mormon Church to divert public attention away from another developing story.
Recently convicted of sexually assaulting a minor, a member of the FLDS, Raymond Jeffs, is the issue they do not want you to remember.
This is the first of several trials to come involving sect members that will focus on polygamy and sexual exploitation within that fundamentalist?s sect. The question now is whether mainstream media will catch that herring and run with it.
If the mainstream Mormon Church has truly broken from this polygamist sect, why are they trying to divert attention away from its legal problems?

[endurorob_5]

It is amazing. the gay agenda gets a little suport from the Mormon church and all the lefties do is critisize the church. I guess with the libs it is all or nothing. No comrimising.

[curse914]

by endurorob_5 November 11, 2009 11:09 AM EST
It is amazing. the gay agenda gets a little suport from the Mormon church and all the lefties do is critisize the church. I guess with the libs it is all or nothing. No comrimising.

[][][][][][][][]

Religion appears fickle when it is struggling to survive.

[newz4me]

Mormon Church Backs Gay Rights Bill? ... as long as gays look a bit like them? How about this: Gays back the Mormon Church as long as Mormons look a bit like Gays? Sorry. Mormons are trying to define diversity.

[mswolfestock]

And they're doing a *p*i*s*s* poor job of it, too.

[jumkey]

They are simply reacting to the backlash against their bigoted views.

They will jettison their anti-gay beliefs (which is a part of their religion, BTW) to appeal to a larger crowd, take the heat off of them, curry political favor, etc., just like they did with their racist views.

Religions don't reflect god - they are at their heart political organizations. Since the entire Morman organization is based on nothing more than a 19th century con man's tall tale their beliefs are more malleable than those of the older more established religions.

Acceptance of gays in all areas of society is just around the corner (and the LDS church knows this as well) so they will adjust their theology like every other religion does. Of course they will then say they *always* believed in civil rights for gays and the hypocrisy will just become more entrenched in their culture.

[leeanna59]

Bitter are we?

[Skirt-Lifter]

""Since the entire Morman organization is based on nothing more than a 19th century con man's tall tale their beliefs are more malleable than those of the older more established religions.""

eh hum ... this happens to be completely true.

[mswolfestock]

He might be bitter, and rightfully so. But he is also DEAD ON TARGET. Jumkey, you nailed it. I lived among these whack-jobs for three of the longest years of my life. The state of Utah is a cultural waste land because the Mormon church runs it.

[maakahill]

Mormon Church didn't allow Blacks until the early 1970's, perhaps there is a chance for Gays..

Agree with JUMKEY, Mormon Church's beliefs are a not factual and its the greatest con job in American history. It's nothing more than a powerful and wealthly cult...

[Soulspeaks]

ALL RELIGIONS ARE MAN-MADE. Christianity is NOT a religion - it is a reality. If we claim to be a Christian we are taking upon us the name of Christ...therefore we should try to act in the ways of Christ. The ways of Christ are explained completely in the Bible, if one truly desires to know - then one needs to study the Word.

Since RELIGIONS are all man-made, then a lot of men's own thoughts and ideas go into forming that religion. Are we going to allow our eternal salvation to depend upon man's thoughts and ideas or are we going to search out God's Word ourselves and allow His Holy Spirit to help us make correct choices about this world we live in?

[hungry1968-17]

by endurorob_5 November 11, 2009 9:28 AM EST
So speeks the voice of prgressive tolerance.








"Heaven" forbid, that anyone should defend the constitution and the freedom and liberty it guarantees, right Rob?

[endurorob_5]

Considering your support of the progressive agenda I really doubt you support the constitution.

[endurorob_5]

By the way the post from skyk that I was responding to was skyk wanting to terminate those who he/she disagrees with. Thats hardly upholding the freedomsa dn liberties guaranteed by the constitution.

[Lawyers-Guns-n-Money-01]

Awww come on Hungry, it was funny.

[Dgunner]

I harbor no animosity against any gay or bisexual person.As long as they mind thier business i will live and let live.Every bible I have ever ead states it is a abomination to God .I am not God nor do i pretend to be holier than thou.Hate the sin not the sinner.perhaps. hate the shooter not the shooting. DON'T THINK SO.AS LONG AS THE GAY PEOPLE DON'T THREATEN ME OR MINE IM FINE.THE REFORMED HEALTH CARE FOR AIDS WILL DESTROY THIS COUNTRY.GAY PEOPLE WHO DON'T PRACTICE SAFE SEX , CAN'T DIE FAST ENOUGH FOR ME.

[briannorwood]

Ha! What will Romney do? Stick with the wacko right, or support his Mormon faith? Quite a conundrum!

[hangelle]

Agree. This is not good for Romney.

[thebob-bob]

Evangelicals were never comfortable with Romney. The golden tablet/magic glasses/underwear thing is too weird, even for them. Now that Romney's spiritual advisers have come out (no pun intended) in support of the "deviant, homosexual, anti-family agenda", they can let loose with their real feelings.

That leaves the Tonya Harding of politics, Sarah Palin, or Awe Shuckabee.