COMING OUT

Mormon Church Announces Support for Same-Sex Marriage Bill

The Utah-based religious group, which counts nearly 17 million members in its congregation, hastened to clarify that its doctrine still counts same-sex relationships as sinful.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints abruptly said Tuesday that it would back a proposed federal law to codify same-sex marriages. The Utah-based religious group, which counts nearly 17 million members in its congregation, said in a statement that it would support the Respect for Marriage Act, referring to those protected under it as “our LGBTQ brothers and sisters.” However, the church was explicit about how far it was willing to go to signal acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community, with the first line of its statement reading: “The doctrine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints related to marriage between a man and a woman is well known and will remain unchanged.” The fresh perspective is a far cry from its stance in 2008, when the church leaned heavily into the effort to pass California’s Proposition 8, a state constitutional amendment that would have banned same-sex marriages. It comes just one day after a bipartisan group of the bill’s sponsors in the Senate added an amendment that would exempt religious groups from being required to provide goods or services “for the solemnization or celebration of a marriage,” essentially allowing them discretion. The House-passed bill faces a Senate vote later this week.