Mormons soften language on gays

(RNS) A newly published compilation of guidelines used worldwide by
leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has softened
the language about gay Mormons.

The book, known as the Church Handbook of Instructions, lays out
Mormon policies on everything from baptism to running a worship service
to counseling troubled marriages.

The updated reference book, scheduled to be presented to thousands
of Mormon leaders in a giant televised training session Saturday (Nov.
13), will set the tone for church interactions for years to come.

The new handbook makes a clear distinction between same-sex
orientation and behavior. It eliminates the suggestion, mentioned in a
2006 edition, that same-sex relationships "distort loving relationships"
and that gays should repent of their "homosexual thoughts or feelings."

It also says that celibate gay Mormons who are "worthy and qualified
in every other way" should be allowed to have "callings," or church
assignments, and to participate fully in temple rituals.

The handbook simply repeats what top LDS leaders have been trying to
say, but in more explicit terms that many members will understand, said
David Pruden, president of Evergreen International, a support group that
helps gay Mormons live by church standards.

Sometimes in the past, when a gay Mormon told his bishop he was
struggling with same-sex feelings, the local leader would immediately
call a "disciplinary council," Pruden said. "They didn't understand
something that was foreign to them."

These members were trying to be faithful to the church and looking
for help, he said. Instead they were hurt and punished. The new tweaks,
Pruden said, "will bless people by making it easier for them to come
forward."

The changes are "baby steps in the right direction," said Mitch
Mayne, an openly gay and active Mormon in the Bay Area. "At least the
handbook takes the damning terminology out of it."

But as long as the church makes homosexuality into a "subversive,
taboo thing," Mormon gays will have sex in parks and truck stops, he
said. "We wrap being gay in so much shame, and shame brings acting-out
behavior."