Today\u2019s guest post is written by Mette Ivie Harrison.\u00a0Opinions shared on guest posts may not completely reflect the positions of the blog\u2019s author.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n April 4, 2019 leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints<\/a> walked back much of the November 5, 2015 policy that called for excommunication of same-sex married couples and the exclusion of their children from the saving ordinance of baptism and full inclusion in the church. D. Todd Christofferson, member of the Quorum of the Twelve, claimed the policy was meant to be \u201cloving\u201d and to help avoid situations where children were taught differing messages at home and at church., Following the policy rollout, the current church president, then apostle Russell M. Nelson, declared the policy to be direct revelation from God.<\/p>\n In the time since the policy was released, youth suicides in Utah have reached an all-time high that some residents believe is directly related to this policy, and many, many members have resigned in protest over what appeared to be a deliberate move to punish parents through their children, marking these families as different from others in the church. In particular, to those LGBTQ Mormons who had tried desperately to follow church counsel in previous years, to enter into mixed-orientation marriages that produced children but ultimately ended in divorce, the policy seemed designed to further hurt those who were trying to build healthy relationships based on their true sexuality and gender identity. It also caused enormous collateral damage that could be expounded on in depth if we had time to tell individual stories.<\/p>\n We are all pleased that this policy has been changed. We are also pleased that there are many allies working from within the church who are trying to explain to church leaders why more needs to be done. We need to help reduce youth and adult suicides in Utah. We need to be more inclusive and Christlike in our teachings and culture. We need to think of heaven as God more inclusively, and to show this in our iconography, our temples, and our songs and stories.<\/p>\n We hope that church leaders will start acting more inclusively with regard to transgender, intersex, non-binary, and asexual individuals. But we must call out the rescinding of this policy out as the hypocrisy that it is. To say only three and a half years ago that President Nelson and the other church leaders were inspired by God to institute this policy, and now to take it away without a hint of admission that it was wrong, is bad doctrine and bad policy. To rescind this policy without acknowledging that it caused terrible harm and hopelessness, to point the finger at God rather than at themselves as the people who made this decision and got this wrong, is poor leadership.<\/p>\n We call on the leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to admit past mistakes and to stop hiding behind the idea that God wanted things done this way. We call on members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to look to their own conscience and stop following church policies that are harmful. We know that doing so often leads to exclusion, social discrimination, and possible excommunication. But if Mormons want to be thought of as Christians within the full community of the body of Christ, we must all do this.<\/p>\n Mette Ivie Harrison<\/p>\n Sam Harrison<\/p>\n Joanna J. Smith<\/p>\n Chloe Patton<\/p>\n Morgen Nadine<\/p>\n Joanna Brooks<\/p>\n Erin Olds<\/p>\n Chris Wei<\/p>\n Birgitta Mattson<\/p>\n Dixie Tiffany Pierce<\/p>\n Kim Sandberg Turner<\/p>\n Mike Hansen<\/p>\n Zina Peterson<\/p>\n Leah Lewis Young<\/p>\n Samantha McKenzie Ellsworth<\/p>\n Sue Bergin<\/p>\n Allison Henriksen<\/p>\n Allan Mount<\/p>\n Heidi Moses<\/p>\n Karin Josefina Berg<\/p>\n Twila Newey<\/p>\n Jennifer Harker Limones<\/p>\n Shandi Hill<\/p>\n Dayna Kidd Patterson<\/p>\n Terina Maldonado<\/p>\n Rebecca Killpack<\/p>\n Cherie Pedersen<\/p>\n JoAnn Tyndall Larsen<\/p>\n Jessica Smith Jackson<\/p>\n Glenda Crump<\/p>\n Jody England Hansen<\/p>\n Conor Hilton<\/p>\n Jimmy Bridges<\/p>\n Holly Welker<\/p>\n Ben Hopkin<\/p>\n Mary Gwynn Longorio<\/p>\n Gary Longorio<\/p>\n Kennon Smith<\/p>\n Susan Van Patten Snider<\/p>\n Sara Vranes<\/p>\n Natasha Helfer Parker<\/p>\n Anthony D. Miller<\/p>\n Courtney Hill Edwards<\/p>\n Lori Bolland Embree<\/p>\n Kerri Harris-Bigler<\/p>\n Natalie Lewis Driggs<\/p>\n David G. Pace<\/p>\n Jessica Tatum<\/p>\n Max Cox<\/p>\n Ryan Tatum<\/p>\n Kelly McAffee<\/p>\n Lesley Butterfield Harrop<\/p>\n Boyd Jay Peterson<\/p>\n Nancy Ross<\/p>\n Sara Hughes-Zabawa<\/p>\n Lisa Warburton-Glad<\/p>\n Betsy Schow<\/p>\n Walt Eddy<\/p>\n Lisa Ward Linton<\/p>\n Sonia Groesbeck<\/p>\n Mary Lynn Hutchinson<\/p>\n Yvette Barus Zobell<\/p>\n Maya Kimberly Collinwood<\/p>\n Summer Spence<\/p>\n Blaire Ostler<\/p>\n Janna Fox<\/p>\n Jolene Perry<\/p>\n Bryce Cook<\/p>\n Heather Harris-Bergevin<\/p>\n Shauna Croft<\/p>\n Taylor Mefford<\/p>\n Lauren Neaves<\/p>\n Evelyn Horbarger<\/p>\n Jennifer Earl<\/p>\n Jack Waters<\/p>\n Tresa Brown-Edmunds<\/p>\n Colin S. Smith<\/p>\n Crew Ostler<\/p>\n Lori Anderson Leetham<\/p>\n Steve Florman<\/p>\n Rick and Elisa Stoneman<\/p>\n Rosalyn Collings Eves<\/p>\n Eric Canfield<\/p>\n Lisa Kaiser<\/p>\n Ashley Thalman<\/p>\n Amber Sorensen<\/p>\n Peter Brownstein<\/p>\n Ellie Brownstein<\/p>\n Matthew Peterson<\/p>\n Rebecca Sachiko Burton<\/p>\n Jessie Jo Lundell<\/p>\n Ronald C. Benson<\/p>\n Diane Holindrake Benson<\/p>\n Michael Austin<\/p>\n Laura Dickey<\/p>\n Kris A. Irvin<\/p>\n Lara Machin Canen<\/p>\n Sara Burlingame<\/p>\n Amanda Elizabeth<\/p>\n Kimberly Anderson<\/p>\n Kathy Carlston<\/p>\n Kelly Lake<\/p>\n Eric Morley<\/p>\n Rachel Ellsworth<\/p>\n Kerry Clift Spencer<\/p>\n Kelly Whited Jones<\/p>\n Kate Lloyd Martell<\/p>\n Heather Moore-Farley<\/p>\n Margaret Jones Tonks<\/p>\n Malena Crockett<\/p>\n Eric Lacey<\/p>\n Dynette Reynolds<\/p>\n Amy M. Hughes<\/p>\n Alisa Jane Taylor Hancock<\/p>\n Justin Brian Carter<\/p>\n Judith Dushku<\/p>\n Jill Templeton<\/p>\n Emily Davis Harris<\/p>\n Monica Peterson<\/p>\n Josh Weed<\/p>\n Brad Kramer<\/p>\n Cindi Christensen James<\/p>\n Carolyn Homer<\/p>\n Suzy Benson Gillies<\/p>\n Crystal Escobar<\/p>\n Mary Harrison<\/p>\n Keli Byers Money<\/p>\n Wagner R. Ferreira<\/p>\n Julie Hawkins Smith<\/p>\n Bill Shunn<\/p>\n Ana Leyendo<\/p>\n Amy Benson Hirano<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Natasha Helfer Parker, LCMFT, CST can be reached at\u00a0natashaparker.org<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0runs an online practice,\u00a0Symmetry Solutions<\/strong><\/em><\/a>, which focuses on helping families and individuals with faith concerns, sexuality and mental health. She hosts the\u00a0Mormon Mental Health<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Mormon Sex Info<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0Podcasts, is the current past-president of the\u00a0Mormon Mental Health Association<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0and runs a sex education program,\u00a0Sex Talk with Natasha<\/strong><\/a>. She has over 20 years of experience working with primarily an LDS\/Mormon clientele.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Mette Harrison put effort in gathering names to support this important position statement she drafted which is posted on Medium. I have her permission to share here as well. If you would like to add your name to the list please email Mette at\u00a0ironmomm@gmail.com. Today\u2019s guest post is written by Mette Ivie Harrison.\u00a0Opinions shared on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":766,"featured_media":4804,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57,214,138,75],"tags":[34,33,68,104,46,101,29,47,32,115,8,31],"class_list":["post-4795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faith-crisisfaith-transition","category-lgbtq-2","category-mindfulness","category-relationships","tag-adolescents-2","tag-children-2","tag-general-conference","tag-latter-day-saint","tag-lds","tag-lgbt","tag-mormon","tag-mormonism","tag-parenting-2","tag-relationships","tag-suicide","tag-temple"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/153\/2019\/04\/56744663_2256604347694521_877754542068858880_n-279x213.jpg\")
<\/em>Mette Ivie Harrison<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0writes The Bishop\u2019s Wife mystery series for SoHo Press and was a frequent blogger for Huffington and RNS about Mormonism<\/a>.\u00a0 She also publishes the Vampires and Mormons<\/a> series and The Book of Laman series for By Common Consent Press.\u00a0 She is an All-American triathlete, Princeton PhD and mother of 5.<\/em><\/p>\nRescinding Mormon Gay Policy Without Apology is Bad Leadership<\/a><\/span><\/h1>\n
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