During the past week, we have seen yet another example of the ever present “great divide” between the LDS Church and those who are not part of the dominant culture of this state. Many things have been said by both sides, but what the majority of those backing the LDS church fail to realize is that the church is going to have to make some very difficult, and very public, decisions over the coming years regarding the GLBT community. As of today it appears that the LDS church has won this dust-up regarding same sex relationships, but it does not mean that they will win in the end.
One of the reasons the “Main Street Kiss” received so much attention in the first place is that it seemed so contradictory to the Churches apparent tolerance of homosexuality as a lifestyle – even though they fully admit to not supporting gay marriage. The churches words of love and inclusion for gay couples were directly contradicted by its actions of detaining a couple for showing that lifestyle. Furthermore, we have seen many members of the Mormon faith openly hostile to the gay community over the years; this recent controversy served to support these prejudices, not dispel them.
Indeed, the Church must take advantage of these actions to start a dialogue between the GLBT and LDS communities if they do indeed care about seeing equal rights for all the people of this state, nation, and world.
For far to long the Church has attempted to play both sides of this issue, and they are beginning to pay the price for it. Soon the City Creek Center will open its doors to the citizens of Salt Lake City and this Church owned property will have a flood of people wishing to reside in the 20 acres of land it occupies. It is inevitable that a gay couple will wish to live in one of the 750 condominium units to be built. What then?
As of right now it is not illegal to deny housing to someone because they are gay. The Church would be well within its rights to say no to a couple on these grounds – just as they are well within their rights to expel a couple for expressing their love on Church grounds. But just because it is legal does not mean that it is right. The bad publicity the Church has received now and that it will receive when this unavoidable scenario takes place are undeniable – yet the Church still remains mostly silent. Furthermore, Salt Lake City or County will undoubtedly pass an equal rights ordinance that will force the Church to accept GLBT couples into the City Creek Center…or at the very least not deny them housing because of this fact, again placing the Church in a very public and harsh spotlight.
The Church can no longer afford to kowtow to both sides of the isle; it is obvious now, more than ever, that they are being ingenuous to both sides and that no one is happy with their words or actions. Therefore, I challenge the LDS church to come out with a strongly worded statement that either supports gay rights and accept the internal conflict associated with that or to state (what appears to be the obvious) that the LDS Church does not support homosexuality in any form and that they oppose the existence of those who have a different lifestyle from their own – accepting the inevitable blow back and bad publicity this Church has tried to avoid for years.
In many ways, the Church is a victim of its own success. Its efforts to become part of the mainstream means that they open themselves up to criticism they are not used to. Over the years the Church has evolved with the politics of this state and is, therefore, used to getting its way – now that they are fully entering the national and international stage, they must learn to adapt to the realities that they are not listened to and are not respected…indeed they are openly challenged and criticized. A statement now (along with actions) must take place to either support the growing public opinion that the GLBT community deserves equal rights if the Church wishes to grow outside of the Intermountain West.
And so, LDS Church, get ready. GLBT issues are going to be your defining moment for decades to come – what decision will you make?
Due to a firewall issue, David could not post the following – but I am happy to reprint his remarks (unedited, copied straight from email):
You are making the assumption that the church would deny housing to a gay couple in City Creek – I think you’re getting ahead of yourself. Even if there never were an equal rights ordinance passed by Salt Lake City or County I would not be surprised to find that the church never felt the need to deny housing to any gay couple that was not engaging
in behavior that would be grounds for denying any other potential resident the housing they seek (I don’t dare provide examples lest I be accused of suggesting that gays are any more likely than anyone else to engage in specific illegal behaviors).
I would be foolish to argue that there is no bigotry or homophobia to be found among faithful LDS members but I think you are holding a mistaken assumption that there is some monolithic, centrally controlled, official LDS position that is different from the public statements made by church leaders. (It’s a mistake that I have seen commonly held by LDS and non-LDS alike.) You mistake the actions of some groups of (allegedly LDS) people as being representative of the entire church and not just representative of their own segment of LDS society.
None of this should suggest that the church will sail through this issue unscathed, but I would not rest to heavily on the actions that you have assumed that the church will take in the future when declaring how this will play out.
[...] is exactly the same thought pattern that caused these tensions in the first place. As I discussed in an earlier post, the LDS Church and the GLBT community needed to use the heated debate surrounding these issues to [...]