In a lengthy 4 hour Priesthood Leadership meeting, March 28th in Pasadena California, Elder Robert D. Hales of the Quorum of the Twelve gave a presentation where he shared his views on homosexuality. He outlined in detail the thought processes that went into the writing of the Church's "Proclamation on the Family" and what was being said between the lines. Regarding the paragraph that proclaims that the powers of procreation are to used only between male and female he said, "Homosexuality is a learned behavior; end of story." There it was.

John L., an Affirmation member who was in attendance at the meeting commented: "How naive could I be, thinking that the GA's were making some progress on this issue. It was the equivalent of proclaiming that the sexual world was flat — described in only two dimensions: male and female. A further discussion was impossible; they had made up our minds."

Elder Hales attitude is disappointing in a world where we are learning more and more about human sexuality every day. Science and psychology is opening our eyes and the minds of those who haven't locked them shut to new understandings of what it means to be gay. At the very least, all of these new facts teach us that homosexuality is not a choice and to imply that it is simply a "learned behavior" conveys a profound misunderstanding of basic human sexuality.

Affirmation encourages all people gay or straight to learn more about human sexuality in all of its aspects so they can avoid making ignorant statements like Elder Hales that furthers the spread of homophobia and encourages intolerance.