The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said Tuesday it would back proposed federal legislation to safeguard same-sex marriages, marking the latest show of support for the measure from conservative-leaning groups.
The nearly 17-million-member, Utah-based faith said in a statement that church doctrine would continue to consider same-sex relationships to be against God's commandments. Yet it said it would support rights for same-sex couples as long as they didn't infringe upon religious groups' right to believe as they choose.
“We believe this approach is the way forward. As we work together to preserve the principles and practices of religious freedom together with the rights of LGBTQ individuals much can be accomplished to heal relationships and foster greater understanding,” the church said in a statement posted on its website.
Support for the Respect for Marriage Act under consideration in Congress is the church's latest step to stake out a more welcoming stance toward the LGBTQ community while holding firm to its belief that same-sex relationships are sinful. Still, its stance toward LGBTQ people — including those who grow up in the church — remains painful for many.
Patrick Mason, a professor of religious studies at Utah State University, said the church's position was both a departure from and continuation of its past stances — respecting laws yet working to safeguard religious liberty and ensuring they won't be forced to perform same-sex marriages or grant them official church sanction.
“This is part of the church’s overall theology essentially sustaining the law of the land, recognizing that what they dictate and enforce for their members in terms of their behavior is different than what it means to be part of a pluralistic society,” he said.
The faith opposes same-sex marriage and sexual intimacy, but it has taken a more welcoming stance toward LGBTQ people in recent years. In 2016, it declared that same-sex attraction is not a sin while maintaining that acting on it was.
The bill, which has won support from Democrats and Republicans, is set for a test vote in the Senate Wednesday, with a final vote as soon as this week or later this month. It comes after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion, with Justice Clarence Thomas issuing a concurring opinion indicating that an earlier high court decision protecting same-sex marriage could come under threat.
The legislation would repeal the Clinton-era Defense of Marriage Act and require states to recognize all marriages that were legal where they were performed. It would also protect interracial marriages by requiring states to recognize legal marriages regardless of “sex, race, ethnicity, or national origin." It makes clear that the rights of private individuals and businesses wouldn’t be affected.
Utah’s four congressmen — who are all members of the church — each voiced support for the legislation earlier this year.
The church’s public stance is a stark contrast from 14 years ago when its members were among the largest campaign contributors in support of California’s Prop. 8, which defined marriage as between a man and a woman in response to cities such as San Francisco granting marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
Troy Williams, the executive director of Equality Utah, said it was “thrilling” to see the church part of the coalition in support of the legislation.
“Despite differences, we may have, we can always discover common ground on laws that support the strengthening of all families,” Williams, who grew up a church member, said.
The faith opposes laws that would make it illegal for churches to not allow to same-sex couples to marry on their property. But it has supported state-based efforts to pass laws that prohibit employment and housing discrimination as long as they clarify respect for religious freedom.
The Respect for Marriage Act neither fully codifies the U.S. Supreme Court decision that enshrined a federal right to same-sex marriage nor details all religious liberty concerns of those who object to it.
Faith groups see it as a vehicle for passing religious liberty protections they haven't been able to in the past, said Tim Schultz, the president of the 1st Amendment Partnership.
Schultz's organization is advocating for religious liberty on behalf of a coalition concerned with that subject — a coalition that includes The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
"Same-sex marriage has achieved broad appeal in our culture in significant part because it hasn’t trampled on people who believe in traditional marriage," he said.
In Arizona, reaction is coming in from former gay church members after the LDS Church recently decided to support legislation protecting gay marriage.
Miles Hunsaker grew up in Joseph City, small-town Arizona. As a member of the LDS church back in the 60 and 70s, he says being gay was seen as something...
"Equal to murder, pedophiles. It was just that kind of conversation, so you knew that wasn't a safe thing to even talk about. So I just boxed it all up for years and years," he said.
Hunsaker said he did everything he could to be a good church member, even getting married to a woman and having children, but he suffered internally.
"You had certain behaviors you just didn't show, just to fit in, and kind of go under the radar because bullies are bullies, and they'll pick you out," he said.
After battling deep depression and getting a divorce from his wife, Hunsaker reached a breaking point.
"I basically left the church because there's not a place in the church for a gay man," he said. "And that was the healthiest thing I could've done."
Hunsaker eventually met his partner Jim, also a former member of the LDS Church, and the two were legally married in Arizona in 2019.
"And I finally felt like 'this is who I am,'" he said.
But even on his wedding day, he couldn't escape the pain.
"My mom chose not to be at our wedding because of what she was taught, and not the way she loves," he said, emotions near tears.
Hunsaker was comforted by the fact that his kids supported him as did many of his husband's family members.
"They kind of overlapped, those two circles and they see our relationship as a valid loving relationship."
But there was a part of him that missed his old church.
"I missed the community in the beginning," Hunsaker said.
He did not miss, however, the painful rhetoric coming from the LDS Church and its strong anti-gay stance on issues in the late 90s and thereafter.
"For the most part I've found spirituality outside of Mormonism," he said.
And Hunsaker says he's skeptical about the church's recent decision to support legislation protecting gay marriage. He believes the church came to the decision out of fear rather than a real change of heart when it comes to the LGBTQ community.
"They want to sweep all of this under the rug and make it look like we've never done or said these things," he said.
"I think they're fearful of their tax-exemption being threatened. I feel like they're fearful that their property, like the temple for example, that they would be forced to perform same-sex marriages there."
Hunsaker says it would take an apology from the church for him to even consider coming back.
"I'm still viewed as a sinner. I don't really belong in those pews. We're invited, but we don't really belong there," he said.
Bryce Cook is the founder of allarizona.org, a support group for LGBTQ, and LDS members.
Unlike, Hunsaker, he does believe the LDS church's recent stance supporting gay marriage protections is a sincere step forward.
"I think it is," Cook said.
"I know personally that they are working with a number of great people in the LGBTQ community on legislation," he said.
But Cook says it's been a long journey to get to this point.
"I was homophobic," Cook admitted. "It was the culture I was raised in," he said.
But Cook says his outlook changed completely when two of his six children came out as gay.
"It immediately changed my heart, and I knew that everything that I thought I knew about gay people was wrong," he said.
Cook says he got strong push-back for starting the support group in 2012, and he and his wife even considered leaving LDS in 2015 when the church came out so strongly against gay marriage.
The two children who came out, however, left the church and have not returned.
"At that point we really kind of questions our membership because it felt like the church was attacking our family," he said.
But Cook says he's seen what he believes is a real change in tone from the church over the years.
"I think this is another step in demonstrating goodwill," he says.
"I met with state and local leaders to help pass legislation and ordinances that would prohibit discrimination, and just to be an ally and advocate wherever I could."
Cook hopes to make the change from within.
"As difficult as it was we've stayed in and try to be a voice for kindness and reason," he says.
Hunsaker says he too believes there is still good in the church.
"The members of the church, they're good people, they've been taught certain things that are inaccurate," he says.
But says he won't be going back any time soon.
"Someone asked me, 'If they allowed gay marriage in the temple would you do it?' I wouldn't do it. I feel like there's been too much damage," Hunsaker said.
"You can't go back and fix the damage. Yes, we can always look forward and I hope that things change, but there's been a lot of damage."
