The Utah-based faith’s doctrine “relating to marriage between one man and one woman is widely known and will remain unchanged,” the church said in a news release. “We are grateful for the continued efforts of those working to ensure that the Respect for Marriage Act includes appropriate religious freedom protections, while respecting the law and preserving the rights of our LGBTQ brothers and sisters.” The church’s statements come after the law’s sponsors added an amendment to the House-passed bill that exempts religious organizations, including faith-based universities, from providing “services, accommodations, benefits, facilities, goods or privileges for the celebration or the celebration of a wedding. ” Nor could the act be used to change the tax-exempt status of any organization. The amendment also clarified that the measure did not extend to polygamous marriages. “We believe this approach is the way forward,” the church’s statement said. “As we work together to preserve the principles and practices of religious freedom along with the rights of LGBTQ people, much can be accomplished to heal relationships and foster understanding.” Troy Williams, executive director of Equality Utah, was “thrilled to see The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints publicly take this stand today.” (Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Troy Williams, executive director of Equality Utah, projected in 2021, welcomed the church’s announcement. He added: “Despite our differences, we can always find common ground on policies and laws that support strengthening all families.” Williams also emphasized that while the latest version of the act “clearly recognizes and protects the diversity of American religious and other beliefs, it does not do so at the expense” of its goal “to preserve marriage equality.”
“A dramatic twist”
(Courtesy photo) Taylor Petrey, religion teacher. Taylor Petrey, professor of religion at Michigan’s Kalamazoo College and author of “Tabernacles of Clay: Sexuality and Gender in Modern Mormonism,” called the church’s statement “a dramatic reversal of past teachings.” Dating back to the 1970s, he said, the faith has fought efforts to legalize same-sex marriage, which he called “a threat to children, churches and the nation as a whole.” Those efforts reached a crescendo 14 years ago, when the church put its members and money directly behind California’s Proposition 8 to oppose same-sex marriage. The Supreme Court ruling legalizing these unions came seven years later. Since then, Latter-day Saint leaders appear to have largely moved away from messaging about opposition to legalizing same-sex marriage and instead emphasized their interest in protecting religious freedom. In 2019, for example, the church opposed the Equality Act, arguing that it did not provide such protections. Instead, he passed the Fairness for All Act, which adds religious safeguards. If the church was to reverse course, Petrey said, now would be the time. “This summer, when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade,” he said, “some conservatives suggested that overturning Obergefell, the 2015 decision that granted same-sex marriage rights, was next on the block.” The Respect for Marriage Act was drafted as a direct response to this threat. “That the Latter-day Saints chose to support the Democrat-backed law in this environment when some conservatives are preparing to revive this fight,” Petrey said, “marks a major break with other members of the religious right.” The professor noted that this apparent change is consistent with other examples of “development and adaptation of church teachings” used by Latter-day Saint leaders in response to changing social norms, including issues of race, birth control, women in the workforce and more.
Compliance with the law of the land
(Jeremy Harmon | The Salt Lake Tribune) Scholar Patrick Mason, speaking in 2019, says the church recognizes that it is “part of a pluralistic society.” Patrick Mason, head of Mormon history and culture at Utah State University, takes a more moderate approach to interpreting the church’s approval of the bill. “This seems completely consistent with where they’ve been going since 2015,” Mason said in an interview. “…What they always wanted was that they shouldn’t have same-sex weddings in temples. But apparently they seem satisfied” which will not happen with the new bill. Mason told The Associated Press, meanwhile, that the move is “part of the overall theology of the church that basically upholds the law of the land, recognizing that what they dictate and impose on their members in terms of their behavior is different than what they it means being part of a pluralistic society.” In 2015, for example, when a Kentucky county clerk, citing her Christian faith, refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, Apostle Dallin H. Oaks, a former Utah Supreme Court justice, spoke out against her decision. Public servants, he said at the time, “are not free to apply personal beliefs — religious or otherwise — in lieu of the prescribed responsibilities of their public office.” The church’s latest announcement is also in line with the spirit of the so-called Utah Compromise, which protects LGBTQ people from discrimination in housing and the workplace while protecting certain religious rights.
Utah politicians weigh in
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Sen. Mike Lee, celebrating re-election this week, has reservations about the updated Respect for Marriage Act. Sen. Mitt Romney supported the latest version of the Respect for Marriage Act, telling The Hill “if this [religious freedom] amendment is attached to the bill, I will vote for it.” Senator Mike Lee, by contrast, remains convinced the changes go far enough to protect the rights of institutions that might oppose same-sex marriage. “Any potential threat to religious freedom must be met with a thorough and thoughtful defense,” he said through a spokesman. “Current legislation, combined with the Respect for Marriage Act, leaves certain religious organisations, educational institutions and the individual exercise of religious beliefs more vulnerable to attack. I am actively working with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support these vulnerabilities.” However, Lee’s vote may not be necessary. According to CNN, key senators leading the effort believe they have the votes needed to pass and are calling on the chamber’s Democratic leadership to bring it up for a vote as soon as possible. Utah’s four House representatives — all Republicans and all Latter-day Saints — voted for the act in the summer before the recent amendment and its exemptions for religious organizations were added. Representative John Curtis said at the time that he did not believe the Supreme Court had any intention of reversing any rulings on the right to marry. “That said, I also understand how important codifying these protections is to many Utahns,” he said. “I don’t believe the federal government should be interfering with a person’s decision about who they want to marry.” State Sen. Derek Kitchen, D-Salt Lake City and Utah’s only openly queer lawmaker, also issued a statement, saying the church’s announcement was “long overdue” and “I applaud their progress on this issue.”
A “landmark” act.
(Courtesy) Nathan Kitchen, president of Affirmation, says LGBTQ members still face unwanted treatment with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Clifford Roskey, a professor at the University of Utah’s SJ Quinney College of Law who teaches sexuality and gender law, called the church’s endorsement “great news,” saying he was “thrilled to see both parties in Congress and people of all faiths come together to respect the right of every American to marry regardless of race or sex.” He called the act a “landmark” of bipartisan deal-making, made all the more impressive by the fact that it took place in such a polarized political climate. “It’s heartening,” he said, “to see both sides put down the weapons of the culture war and focus on what we agree on instead of what we disagree on.” Affirmation, a support group for LGTBTQ Latter-day Saints and their families and friends, “appreciates the work [the church] is doing with an outside LGBTQ group to secure housing and employment rights,” Nathan Kitchen, the group’s president, said Tuesday, “as well as its support for the codification of marriage equality in the United States.” However, “there is a great disconnect between the public sphere and the faith of LGBTQ people, where Latter-day Saint families are offered less protection and equality within the church for their LGBTQ children than is afforded them by the laws of the land. ” he said. “No success in religious liberty can compensate for failure in our spiritual home.”
Statement by the sponsors of the bill
Bipartisan sponsors of the act include Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisc. Susan Collins, R-Maine; Rob Portman, R-Ohio; Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz.; and Thom Tillis, RN.C. Together they released a statement saying “we have crafted common sense language to confirm that this legislation fully respects and protects the religious freedoms and diverse beliefs of Americans while leaving intact the legislation’s core mission of protecting marriage equality.” Tribune reporter Emily Anderson Stern contributed to this story.
