Affirmation: Gay & Lesbian Mormons

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LDS Rhetoric on Homosexuality

Racism and Homophobia in the Church

Déjà Vu: Two First Presidency Statements, 1969 and 2004

Note: For a comprehensive comparison between past LDS discrimination against blacks and the current discrimination against homosexuals, see "Prelude to the National 'Defense of Marriage' Campaign: Civil Discrimination Against Feared or Despised Minorities."

"We feel nothing but love, compassion, and the deepest appreciation for the rich talents, endowments, and the earnest strivings of our Negro brothers and sisters...

But we believe that this work is directed by God and that the conferring of the priesthood [to black men] must await His revelation. To do otherwise would be to deny the very premise on which the Church is established."

--The First Presidency, 15 December 1969 (Source: Church News, 10 January 1970, p. 12).

"We of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints reach out with understanding and respect for individuals who are attracted to those of the same gender. We realize there may be great loneliness in their lives but there must also be recognition of what is right before the Lord.

"As a doctrinal principle, based on sacred scripture, we affirm that marriage between a man and a woman is essential to the Creator's plan for the eternal destiny of His children. The powers of procreation are to be exercised only between a man and a woman lawfully wedded as husband and wife.

"Any other sexual relations, including those between persons of the same gender, undermine the divinely created institution of the family. The Church accordingly favors measures that define marriage as the union of a man and a woman and that do not confer legal status on any other sexual relationship."