LGBTQ rights and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

[2]: 1  Leaders have stated that it will become involved in political matters if it perceives that there is a moral issue at stake and wields considerable influence on a national level.

[2]: 36–37  Since the first recorded mentions of homosexuality by general LDS Church leaders, teachings and policies around the topics of the nature, etiology, mutability, and identity around same-sex romantic and physical attractions have seen many changes through the decades,[26]: 46 [27]: 45–46 [28][29]: 13–21  including a softening in rhetoric over time.

[30][21]: 169–170 [31] In February 2003, the LDS Church said it did not oppose a hate-crimes bill, which included sexual orientation, then under consideration in the Utah state legislature.

[42][41]: 20  In a 2007 US poll, only 24% of Mormons agreed that "homosexuality is a way of life that should be accepted," less than any other major religious group in the survey except for Jehovah's Witnesses, and 2 out of 3 (68%) latter-day saints said it should be discouraged.

[44] Additionally, 69% of adherents supported laws that protect LGBT Americans against discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations, but 53% believed small private business should be able to deny products and services to gay or lesbian people for religious reasons.

[51][52] A Church employee described how his stake president denied his temple recommend resulting in him getting fired simply because of his friendship with other gay men and his involvement in a charity bingo for Utah Pride in a 2011 article.

[56] In 1993, the Supreme Court of Hawaii held that discrimination against same-sex couples in the granting of marriage licenses violated the Hawaiian constitution.

In response, the church's First Presidency issued a statement on February 13, 1994, declaring their opposition to same-sex marriage, and urging members to support efforts to outlaw it.

[2]: 70  The same year in Nebraska, church members collected about half of the 160,000 signatures gathered to place Initiative 416 on the ballot in order to ban same-sex marriage there.

[2]: 71 In 2004, the church officially endorsed a federal amendment to the United States Constitution as well as Utah Constitutional Amendment 3 banning any marriages not between one man and one woman and announced its opposition to political measures that "confer legal status on any other sexual relationship" than "a man and a woman lawfully wedded as husband and wife.

This political involvement elicited the criticism of California Senator Mark Leno who questioned whether the church's tax-exempt status should be revoked.

[66][67] The whistleblower Fred Karger went on to found the organization Mormon Tips seeking information on further political involvement that may violate the LDS church's tax-exempt status.

"[73] Russell M. Nelson had previously characterized the 2015 policy as direction from God in 2016, stating "Each of us during that sacred moment felt a spiritual confirmation.

[14][15][16] A 2003 nationwide Pew Research Center survey of over 1,000 LGBT Americans found that 83% of them said the LDS church was "generally unfriendly towards lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people" surpassed only by "the Muslim religion" at 84%.

This includes the 2010 documentary film 8: The Mormon Proposition, the play "8" and the following protests: Below is a timeline of events and publications around LDS Church political involvement around LGBT rights.

The LDS Church has held notable political influence on laws around LGBT individuals in the United States, especially in the state of Utah.
"The Family: A Proclamation to the World" is a 1995 LDS church statement used as a legal document in several court case amicus briefs opposing same-sex marriage. [ 17 ]
The church distributed hundreds of thousands of these Protect Marriage Coalition lawn signs during their involvement with the pro- Prop 8 campaign. [ 54 ]
Protesters in front of the Newport Beach California Temple voicing their opposition to the church's support of Prop 8
A Prop 8 protester with a sign referencing the LDS Church's polygamous history .
Brigham Young oversaw the creation of the new Utah Territory law banning sex between men. This portrait is from 1853.
Sergeant Matlovich, was awarded a Bronze Star Medal for heroic service in the Vietnam War, but was discharged from the military and excommunicated from the LDS church for being gay.
Anita Bryant's anti-gay campaign visit to Salt Lake City, applauded by LDS church leaders, [ 95 ] : 150 sparked the first public protest by Utah's LGBTQ community. [ 140 ]
The church opposed the ERA in part from believing it would lead to same-sex marriage and parenting. [ 150 ]
Gay Mormons at the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights on 14 October 1979
"The Family: A Proclamation to the World" is a 1995 LDS church statement used as a legal document in several court case amicus briefs opposing same-sex marriage. [ 17 ]
In 1996 a Salt Lake City high school became a focal point of tension between LGBT individuals and a largely LDS city administration and population.
A yard sign distributed to church members
After much controversy LGBTQ marchers including some from the LGBT-Mormon organizations Encircle and Mormons Building Bridges were allowed to openly march in Provo's 4th of July parade for the first time.