LDS Church Agrees to Meet with Gay Advocates

Apr 07, 2008 by Elizabeth Ziegler

(KCPW News) Disenfranchised gay and lesbian Latter-Day Saints will have an opportunity this summer to have their concerns heard by LDS Church leaders. It's a a historic meeting, says David Melson, the assistant senior executive director for the group Affirmation, which represents gay and lesbian Mormons.

"The church has gone from ignoring us to occasionally answering back to editorial responses," Melson says. "This is the first time the church has agreed to meet with us."

Melson says the LDS church is starting to change, though he doesn't necessarily attribute that to new Church President Thomas Monson. In recent years, he says the church has tried to reach out to gay and lesbian members, like himself. Because church leaders aren't familiar with the community, Melson says these attempts have turned out to be more insulting than helpful. He hopes the meeting this August will move the Church one step closer to understanding how to reach out to gay members.

"I firmly believe that within my lifetime the church will welcome gay brothers and sisters as full members in the church. I don't think that will happen today or tomorrow, but it will eventually happen," Melson says. "For right now, what we're seeking  more than anything else is just a change in attitude. Anytime that we teach homophobia as a family value, it means we are missing the mark and not doing the job that we should be doing as a people, as a church."

Melson estimates the number of gay LDS members is similar to the nation's average between 7 and 16 percent. With a worldwide membership of 13 million, this means a low estimate of 910,000 gay Mormons. Melson says these Mormons either hide their sexual orientation or suffer the consequences, including excommunication, homelessness and suicide.

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