Nomad
On Friday night, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints posted a revised statement on LGBTQ Discrimination to the Churches official website: 
“Church leaders recognize the existence and difficulty of same gender attraction and acknowledge the difference between having same-sex attraction and acting on it. They censure only the latter, and leaders strongly advocate for understanding, inclusion, and kindness toward people of all gender orientations. The Church website mormonsandgays.org details sincere outreach by the Church within the gay community, including support in Utah for nondiscrimination protections of employment and housing. There is room for compassion, common ground, and shared humanity among people who disagree, and Church leaders eagerly pursue these ideals, both inside and outside the Church.”
This is a big step forward for the LDS Church, known for it’s very conservative social positions. As an evangelical christian who is also deeply involved in LGBTQ activism, I applaud this move of the Mormon Church.
For far too long, those bearing Christ’s name have upheld legislation that would allow for LGBTQ people to fired from their jobs or be refused service based on their sexual orientation. This position is simply unacceptable for a follower of Christ. Now that the LDS Church has taken a huge stride forward to help end discrimination of LGBTQ people, I pray that Evangelicals would follow suit.
In a majority of Southern states, laws that permit discrimination of LGBTQ people based on their orientation persist. A majority of these laws are being upheld in large part by Evangelical Christians. But discrimination of any group of people for any reason is a violation of Scripture and a grave sin against God and our neighbor. Evangelicals, people of “Good News”, need to raise our voices against discrimination and begin to advocate for equal rights and protections of every human being in our country and around the world. This is the only acceptable stance for a follower of Christ.
He says, “How long will you stand up for those who aren’t fair to others?
How long will you show mercy to sinful people?
Stand up for the weak and for children whose fathers have died.
Protect the rights of people who are poor or treated badly.
Save those who are weak and needy.
Save them from the power of sinful people.
Psalm 82:2-3 NIRV
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