56
(2 votes, average 5.00 out of 5)
Written by Lisa Neff, WiG Staff Writer
Nov 18, 2009
SALT LAKE CITY — Pioneering Mormon activists, like their Mormon elders so many years ago, hauled a handcart into Salt Lake City Nov. 4.
The old wooden cart held a trunk containing petitions circulated by the Foundation for Reconciliation and bearing the signatures of 2,000 people who want the LDS church to examine how “official statements, rhetoric, policy and practice have been injurious to gays and lesbians and their families and friends; have caused unnecessary pain and suffering, rejection, psychological and spiritual damage and even death.”
The church has a long history of opposing LGBT equality and heavily funding initiatives against same-sex marriage rights — from the first battle over same-sex marriage in Hawaii in the mid-1990s to last year’s Prop 8 battle in California.
Activists — some former church members and some still members — walked about two hours to the church headquarters on the anniversary of the Prop 8 defeat. They described the event as a “rescue mission.”
A week later, the church announced its support for a pair of Salt Lake City anti-discrimination ordinances banning bias based on gender identity and sexual orientation.
The ordinances, which the city council unanimously passed, contain exemptions for religious organizations.
A church spokesman said, “The church supports this ordinance because it is fair and reasonable and does not do violence to the institution of marriage. It is also entirely consistent with the church’s prior position on these matters.”
This content has been locked. You can no longer post any comment.
