“Policies on Ordinances for Children of a Parent Living in a Same-Gender Relationship: The following additions to Handbook 1 have been approved by the Council of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for immediate implementation… A new section in Handbook 1, 16.13 will be added as follows: Children of a Parent Living in a Same-Gender Relationship. A natural or adopted child of a parent living in a same-gender relationship, whether the couple is married or cohabiting, may not receive a name and a blessing. In order for that child to get an exception from that rule? The child must accept and commit to live the teachings and doctrine of the Church, and specifically disavows the practice of same-gender cohabitation and marriage. 2. The child is of legal age and does not live with a parent who has lived or currently lives in a same-gender cohabitation relationship or marriage.”I shouldn’t be surprised that the Mormon Church is vindictively damning my kids and those in all LGBT families and encouraging them to “disavow” their parents. The church has been one of the most publicly anti-gay forces in fighting against LGBT rights. Not only did they bankroll a huge portion of the Proposition 8 campaign in California, they encouraged their followers to take mortgage loans out on their homes and do the same. Even though the proposition won at the time, it was a poor investment in the long term. Karma is a bitch, and it seemed to play out when, after the Supreme Court overturned Proposition 8 and DOMA, Utah — the epicenter of the Mormon church — was one of the first states where a federal court ruled they had to accept same sex marriage post-DOMA. That had to be a bitter pill for the Latter-Day Saints to swallow. Many of the people in the Mormon fold reacted poorly. One writer threatened to starve himself to death if same-sex marriage was not abolished. Another saw the LGBT agenda coming in all directions, including hidden messages in the movie Frozen. Some gay Mormons saw themselves as anti-LGBT rights prototypes who forced themselves into straight marriages so they could declare that legalized same sex marriage somehow violated their choices. As strange as all those arguments and actions were, none approached the naked vitriol of this current move.
Dear Mormon Church, I cannot at this moment call you “saints” at all. Far from it. It is one of the biggest ironies for LGBT people: for many years, we were warned of the detriments our prospective children would face if we decided to have them. We were told we were inadequate, incomplete, possibly depraved — and that our children would be persecuted. Only that last prediction is proving to be true. It’s proving to be true because the people who made the prediction are making it happen.