LDS officials to meet with gay Mormon group
Discussion in August
Affirmation seeks change in 'attitude,' not doctrine, says higher-up
By Peggy Fletcher Stack
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 04/08/2008 12:59:20 AM MDT
After receiving repeated requests, LDS officials have agreed to
discuss church policies on homo***uality with representatives of
Affirmation, a sup****t group for gay Mormons.
Affirmation officially requested the meeting in February, shortly
after Thomas S. Monson became president of The Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints, said Dave Melson, Affirmation's assistant
executive director, who lives in Maryland.
Last week, the group received a reply from Fred Riley, LDS Family
Services commissioner, saying Monson had authorized him and former
commissioner Harold Brown to set up the meeting.
LDS spokesman Scott Trotter confirmed the meeting, but Riley and
Brown declined to be interviewed.
"We are not looking for doctrinal changes right now," Melson said
Monday. "What we would like is a change of attitude."
He pointed to what he sees as troubling problems for LDS gays who
are kicked out of their homes for divulging their orientation, told to
marry someone of the opposite *** as a solution to their "problem," or
expelled from Brigham Young University for kissing, holding hands or
going to gay clubs.
Melson also wants the LDS Church to stop describing homo***uality
"as a disease or a lifestyle choice," teaching "homophobia as a family
value," or sup****ting anti-gay policies, such as the Federal Marriage
Amendment.
"If we can counsel church members more effectively and reduce some
of the anti-gay rhetoric, it will be easier for gay men and women in
the church to live their lives and to make celestial choices," Melson
said. "And it will be easier for the church to get on with activities
it should be concentrating on."
Melson is "cautiously optimistic" about the meeting, which is
scheduled for early August and which does not yet include any Utah
Affirmation representatives.
Other Utah groups that sup****t gays praised the church's move.
"I'm pleased there's communication at any level with anybody about
this issue; I think that's helpful," said Bill Bradshaw, who, with his
wife, Marjorie, leads Family Fellow****p, a sup****t group for families
of LDS gays. "It's a topic we don't talk about openly. It's such a
personal thing for families involved and an uncomfortable subject for
many other Latter-day Saints."
Yana Walton of the Utah Pride Center believes the meeting will be
historic.
"I see this as the beginning of a dialogue," Walton said. "I hope
both parties come to the table with open hearts and minds. I hope they
can do the best for LDS gays."
The center has not been invited to the meeting, she said, but
would welcome the "chance to participate in that conversation."
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