OPINION: When it comes to anti-discrimination the Church wants to have it's cake and eat it too

Written by Michael Dillman

In a rare and bizarre press conference last week at the church headquarters in Salt Lake City, Mormon leaders pledged to support a quasi anti-discrimination law for LGBTQ individuals so long as the law also integrates protection for “rights of religious groups.”

Dallin Oaks, who spoke at the conference, made it clear that he thinks religions ought to enjoy more influence than other institutions. He wants religious people, and the churches that they belong to, to receive special rights and privileges. The great irony in all of this of course is that he is demanding something LGBTQ individuals have long been accused of seeking: “special rights.”

Just hours after the church’s press conference, Orrin Hatch announced that he will work to “ensure that any legislation designed to promote equality includes robust religious exemptions and provisions.”

As a matter of public policy, this legislation appears deeply flawed to me. Landlords and business owners would still be allowed to discriminate so long as they’re able to articulate a religious warrant for doing so.

I’m certainly not the first person to point out that if you substituted the word ‘black’ or ‘Jewish’ or ‘Catholic’ or, say, ‘Mormon’ for LGBT in the statements made on Tuesday; everyone would be outraged, and rightly so.

The Utah chapter of the ACLU does express some concern over the limited scope of public accommodation protection supported by the LDS Church. “Equality means that gay and transgender people should have full protection in public accommodations on par with race, gender, religion and other categories,” said the ACLU.

While calling for LGBTQ people to be protected from those who discriminate against them for non-religious reasons (who are those people, anyway?), the church’s statements have systematically concealed the actual motivation behind this swift change in attitude, which is to legalize discrimination by anyone who claims their prejudice and oppressive behavior is endorsed by some good ‘ol faith. This announcement does not in any way purge the church of their responsibility for perpetuating a homophobic etiology.

“The new Mormon position is like that candy with a razor blade inside that your mom warned you about on Halloween, ” said Brook P. Hunter with the Huffington Post.

The church has long made it clear that they have a dogmatic ideological position on this particular issue.  During the early days of the church, when gay or lesbian intercourse was discovered, the accused were excommunicated, beginning with the first known case in 1841 involving alleged bisexuality by church leader John C. Bennett.

Then in 1959, in response to a series of local gay men being detained solely for the crime of being homosexual, the then church president, David O. McKay, assigned apostles to work on ‘curing gays’ within the church. He was adamant that it could be cured just like any other illness.

In 1992 the church produced a booklet for leaders entitled ‘Understanding and Helping Those With Homosexual Problems’. Which essentially declared that homosexuality isn’t exactly an illness, just a tendency that could be altered with a little help.

The church’s fierce backlash to Prop 8 caused chaos in the media, and despite their best efforts, the Mormon-backed referendum was later (THANK GOD) struck down in court. The gravity of this endorsement is difficult to overstate. The fact that the church’s resources are being consistently used for political advocacy ought to disqualify them from their tax-exempt status.

It’s not just the authorities, though. Two-thirds of Mormons say homosexuality should be discouraged by society, according to a 2012 survey conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

According to the Huffington Post Mr. Dallin Oaks was asked what a parent should say to their own gay child if asked, “Can I bring my partner to our home to visit?” Mr. Oaks said, “Don’t expect us to take you out and introduce you to our friends, or to deal with you in public situations that would imply our approval of your ‘partnership.”

Mr. Oaks is canonizing exclusionary attitudes within families. Ironic from an organization that so often claims to champion “the family”.

If LDS authorities genuinely cared about the LGBTQ community, they would hold a press conference today and thoroughly denounce their horrific track record. They would ask for forgiveness with heads bowed, solemnly remembering all of the LGBTQ Mormons who have taken their own lives as a result of the bigotry and exclusionary attitudes they’ve fostered and perpetuated. They would give a heartfelt apology to everyone for the hate, intolerant, and bigotry-filled landscape that they’ve created for LGBTQ individuals for at least 50 years. Finally, they would UNCONDITIONALLY endorse immediate legislation that protects LGBTQ individuals from discrimination, ESPECIALLY the kind that comes from oppressive institutions like their own.

Managing Partner of Collective Conscience, an issue-advocacy media organization, Conor Gaughan said, “It is the religious people in this country who demand special treatment, who receive special treatment, and it is profoundly inappropriate.”

Michael grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah. He currently attends Utah Valley University (International Relations Major), and is transferring to the University of Utah in the summer of 2015 to study Political Science and Anthropology. He’s a climber, an avid reader, and loves to write.