Less than a year after the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints appeared to soften its stance toward the LGBT community, Mormon leaders are clarifying the church’s position: same-sex marriage is wrong.
“Marriage between a man and a woman is fundamental to the Lord’s doctrine and crucial to God’s eternal plan,” Apostle Russell M. Nelson said on Sunday at the LDS Church’s Semiannual General Conference.
He added that marriage was part of “God’s pattern for a fullness of life on Earth and in heaven,” and that that pattern should not be misconstrued.
Apostle Dallin H. Oaks also weighed in on same-sex marriage at the conference, blaming “political and societal pressures” for changing laws to contradict God’s will—though same-sex marriage wasn’t illegal in the country until 1973, when Maryland became the first state to legally define marriage as being between one man and one woman.
The LDS Church’s opposition to same-sex marriage comes with little surprise: following the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Defense of Marriage Act in June, the LDS Church released a statement that reaffirmed its commitment to “strengthening traditional marriage between a man and a woman.”
Same-sex marriage continues to be a critical fight in religious communities in America. A newQuinnipiac poll revealed that 54% of American Catholics support same-sex marriage, and want Pope Francis to move the Catholic Church in a more progressive direction. Pope Francis has already reaffirmed the Catholic Church’s teaching that homosexual acts are a sin, but said in July that the LGBT community should not be ostracized.