Mormon church publicly backs gay rights laws

The Mormon church took a big step in supporting gay rights laws in Salt Lake City for the first time.

According to USA Today, the church backed two laws forbidding the discrimination of gay individuals regarding housing and employment, which led to a unanimous vote Tuesday night to pass the legislation. Read full article here.

“What happened here tonight I do believe is a historic event,” said Brandie Balken, director of Equality Utah.

This political decision puts Salt Lake City on the map as the first Utah community to ban removal from a job or place of residence based on a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. In spite of this, the church still openly opposes gay marriage.

Michael Otterson, the director of public affairs for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said the Mormon view of homosexuality has not changed because the new laws do not damage its institution of marriage. He said the Mormon church “remains unequivocally committed to defending the bedrock foundation of marriage between a man and a woman.”

The article stated Mormons believe gays can be involved in the church; however, they must remain celibate in order to become a full-time member and maintain church responsibilities.

Part of the reason for the church’s support of gay rights is what Otterson called “common-sense rights that should be available to everyone” and the way the laws were drafted. The legislation allowed churches to continually uphold their rights, beliefs and traditions regarding the homosexual lifestyle without receiving any form of punishment.

Last year as California was voting on Proposition 8, the Mormon church took an active role in favor of the legislation, much to the chagrin of gay rights supporters nationwide.

The USA Today article said many of those supporters protested outside temples and blamed the Mormon Church for limiting the rights of gay couples.

Gay rights supporters like Valerie Larabee, executive director of the Utah Pride Center, have since changed to quieter forms of debate and discussion with the church.

Larabee said engaging in conversations with Mormon church leaders will help both sides garner understanding and possibly incur a better relationship between the two.

Balken said the passage of the gay rights legislation is a step in a positive direction.

“I think it establishes that we can stand together on common ground that we don’t have to agree on everything, but there are a lot of things that we can work on and be allies,” she said.

The article specified this is the first “public endorsement” from the church, but not the only instance of its gay rights support. In August 2008, the church made a statement about its support of gay rights for hospitalization, employment and medical care “as long as they ‘do not infringe on the integrity of the traditional family or the constitutional rights of churches.’”

Otterson said his church stands for treating others with respect even when beliefs differ, according to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Web site. Read more here.

On the Deseret News Web site, the laws go into effect after the 2010 legislative session and will create a way for people to file discrimination complaints concerning their residence or their workplace. The city will review the complaints and if one is valid, the two parties will meet outside of court to reach an agreement. If no agreement is made, the complaint would go on to the city attorney. Read full article here.

The site stated the penalty for breaking the laws would be $500 fines for small companies and up to $1,000 for larger companies.