Mormon Church Clarifies Position After LGBT Ban Sparks Outrage

Hundreds of Mormons resigned their membership in the church Saturday in protest of the policy.

The rules issued last week are created to protect kids, following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ’s “tender love of children”, officials with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said in a news release Friday.

Member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Anna Fonnesbeck holds her daughter Lily Kr …

“We don’t want to see anyone leave the Church, especially people who have been struggling with any aspect of their life”, Eric Hawkins, a spokesman for the church, said in an email. “A lot of conservative members of the church … are deeply disturbed by this”, he said.

He will deliver the letters to the church headquarters in Salt Lake City on Monday. If children of same-sex couples wish to join the church as a member on their own, they will have to wait until they are 18 years old and have moved out of their parents’ house.

The policies were laid out in a publication called Handbook 1, which a church spokesperson said was meant as a guideline to restate its positions on same-sex marriage.

Those who wanted to resign from the church presented their letters to Attorney Mark Naugle on Saturday, which he plans to bring in on Monday.

Lindford stated that two of his brothers had already left the church for similar reasons and that he had yet to tell his parents he was quitting too, adding “it’s only them now”.

“When a child living with such a same-gender couple has already been baptized and is actively participating in the Church the provisions of Section 16.13 don not require that his or her membership activities or priesthood privileges be curtailed.”

According to media reports, as many as 1,000 people pledged to resign en masse from the Mormon Church.

“We want this event to make a statement to the church today that its treatment of those we love has led us to this moment”, event organizer Lauren McNamara said.

“We would like to let folks understand there is a life after leaving Mormonism”, Swallow said. I haven’t been active for 17 years.

Gay Mormons feel pushed further away from their faith, said Mansfield, who once had a same-sex relationship and is now married to a woman. They seem, by all accounts, to be because of a US Supreme Court deciding that made gay marriage legitimate across the nation in June.

“If you disagree with one of the fundamental principles of the gospel, the only reason you would remain a member of the church is to be actively trying to get headlines to get the church to change policies”, Atkin said.