Gay Mormons Want To Be Recognized And Accepted

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The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or more commonly and simply referred to as the Mormons are holding their annual General Conference. The Leaders of Affirmation which is a gay support group for Mormons wants the conference leaders to strongly urge Mormon families to teach their children that homosexuality and lesbianism aren't sins or a disease. They also want the notion that mothers cause this to be rejected too.

The Leaders of Affirmation group also wants the Mormon Church to recognize the fact that a person can be gay and still serve the church in leadership capacities. The gay support group was scheduled to meet Monday with two LDS officials from the church's social services division but the church postponed the meeting last month and hasn't rescheduled it.

Dave Melson is The Leaders of Affirmation assistant executive director. He stated recently at the Sunstone Symposium, which is an independent forum for Mormons, that many gay Mormons are ostracized from their families and end up committing suicide.

The gay Mormon support group initially requested the meeting in February. Melson hoped to get the ball rolling with the new president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Thomas S. Monson. The Salt Lake Tribune reports what transpired: ''The group received a reply from Fred Riley, LDS Family Services commissioner, saying Monson had authorized him and former commissioner Harold Brown to set up the meeting. Riley has since left his position, which was the reason given for the postponement.''

The Sunstone Symposium seminar also included four gentlemen that are tied with the issue of getting the Mormon Church to recognize and accept their gay members: Micah Bisson, who is Affirmation's youth director; George Cole, the young adults chairman; David Nielson, who is the president of Reconciliation which has links to Affirmation and Olin Thomas, Affirmation's executive director.

Cole told The Salt Lake Tribune what happened to him when he wanted to serve as a full-time missionary for the Mormon Church: ''I wanted to serve a mission in a bad way but I came out [as gay], moved to Portland, told my story to the 'home teacher' and a few months later I was excommunicated.''

Nielson almost decided to commit suicide when he was denied missionary work by the Mormon Church. Melson and Nielson are hopeful that an actual meeting with Monson will occur in the future.