Jan. 28--Underscoring the tension between pushes for gay rights and those for religious freedom, Mormon Church leaders on Tuesday voiced support for some housing and job protections for gays and lesbians as long as laws also shield the freedoms of religious people who have controversial views because of their faith.
In a news conference that included three members of the governing Twelve Apostles and one female church leader, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for the first time called for a "fairness for all" approach that would balance the two interests.
Details of how the policy change would play out in specific circumstances -- for example, whether a devout Mormon fertility specialist would have to provide in vitro fertilization for a lesbian couple -- have yet to be resolved.
"Exactly how this will work will depend on each legislature," church spokesman Eric Hawkins said. "What was offered today were the principles by which that legislation should be measured."
In an email, Hawkins said that those principles were clear. "We all agree on providing safeguards for all people in the areas of housing and employment -- that everyone has an unquestioned right to these things," he said. "But there are also rights of religious freedom that must be protected."
During the news conference, church Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said religious people must be able to choose "their profession or employment or [serve] in public office without intimidation, coercion or retaliation from another group." For example, he said, a pharmacist who declines to carry the "morning after" contraceptive should not "be pressured into violating his or her conscience by bullying or boycotting."
Elder Dallin H. Oaks condemned examples of what he called attacks on religious freedom. He mentioned pressure in 2011 for a Mormon gymnast to step down as an Olympics liaison after it was publicly revealed he had supported California's Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot measure that banned same-sex marriage. Oaks also cited last year's resignation of Mozilla Chief Executive Brendan Eich, whose appointment to the job days earlier had raised an outcry because he also had supported Proposition 8.
"When religious people are publicly intimidated, retaliated against, forced from employment or made to suffer personal loss because they have raised their voice in the public square, donated to a cause or participated in an election, our democracy is the loser," Oaks said.
The church itself had backed Proposition 8, calling on California Mormons to donate their time and money to the campaign. Church members gave millions of dollars, and the measure passed narrowly (though it has since been nullified by court rulings).
With Tuesday's announcement, the church has not changed its doctrine that marriage is only between one man and one woman, but the statement was "kind of an olive branch," said Patrick Mason, the Howard W. Hunter chair of Mormon Studies at Claremont Graduate University.
The church was surprised by the vehemently negative public reaction to its involvement in the campaign for Proposition 8 and accusations of discrimination, Mason said. "Ever since then," he said, "they have tried to be clear that with the exception of same-sex marriage, they support the full range of civil rights for all citizens."
------
FOR THE RECORD
Jan. 27, 1:57 p.m.: An earlier version of this post mentioned the Mormon Church's "involvement in the campaign against California's Proposition 8." The church was involved in the campaign for Proposition 8.
------
Mason said the church was still worried that Mormon clerics could be forced to perform same-sex marriages, but he said church leaders have conceded that, in the political and civil sphere, such marriages will continue.
Equality Utah, an advocacy group for gays and lesbians, lauded the Mormon Church's announcement Tuesday.
"Many within the LGBT community are themselves people of faith," Equality Utah Executive Director Troy Williams said in a statement. "We look forward soon to the day when all Utahans have the opportunity to live and work freely in the state we call home."
Other advocates, however, believed the church's stance still missed the mark.
"Symbolically, seeing the church leaders advocating so openly for these protections will no doubt be deeply meaningful to Mormon families with LGBT members and provide encouragement to LGBT youth in the church," said Sarah Warbelow, legal director of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest LGBT civil rights organization. "But as a matter of public policy, it appears deeply flawed.
"Nondiscrimination protections only function when they are applied equally," she said. "All Americans should have the right to be employed, receive housing and services in environments free of discrimination. We await the day the church embraces that fully, without any exceptions or exemptions."
Johnny Townsend, the Seattle-based author of more than 20 short story collections on being gay and Mormon, said he was excommunicated a generation ago over his sexual orientation.
"I only have one real problem" with the Tuesday announcement, he said. "That's wanting exemptions for religious objectors, not just in church schools or business but also, say, physicians who would not want to do artificial insemination for gay or lesbian couples.
"It's certainly a step forward for the church," he said, though he questions whether it will make much difference in how gays and lesbians are treated. "So many of the Mormons I know have very strong anti-gay feelings, and it will take more than this to soften them up."
Lorri L. Jean, chief executive of the Los Angeles LGBT Center, which organized one of the first rallies outside a Mormon temple to protest Proposition 8, called the move "an attempt by the Mormon Church to push forward religious exemptions so they and others can continue to discriminate against LGBT people.
"The exceptions they want are big enough to drive a truck through," she said. "No one should be fooled by this."
Meanwhile, in Utah, Republican state Sen. Stephen Urquhart is sponsoring a proposal in the state Legislature that would add sexual orientation and gender identity to the state's antidiscrimination statutes. In previous years, similar legislation has failed to pass.
And in Idaho, LGBT advocates have pushed for nine years to have the state Legislature even consider whether to add "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" to a state law barring discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations.
On Monday more than 600 people signed up to testify at the House State Affairs Committee's first hearing on the controversial subject in Idaho, also a deeply Mormon state. Speakers, whose testimony is expected to stretch over three days, were evenly split on whether to add protections for LGBT people to the Idaho Human Rights Act.
The announcement by the Mormon Church came on the second day of testimony. Mistie Tolman, a spokeswoman for advocacy group Add the Words who was raised Mormon, said it was "really timely to have them come out and issue support to the gay and transgender community. We're hoping that their support will go a long way in helping our legislature advance their own support as well for this legislation."
"What is important about the announcement is that it is likely to put pressure on a most unprogressive state legislature to actually pass the legislation that has been bottled in committee," said Robert Rees, visiting professor of Mormonism at UC Berkeley and the Graduate Theological Union.
"While there isn't much hope that the church's announcement will influence most states -- including [those in] the South, which uniformly has no state-level protections for LGBT individuals," he said, "hopefully, it might influence other states in the Intermountain area, including Idaho, where there are significant numbers of Latter-day Saints."
Jerry Garns, one of the eight top Mormon leaders in California, said he didn't expect much reaction from members over the church's announcement. "There's no real change with the doctrine, but finding a way forward that is harmonious is what we all want," he said. "I think the members will be pleased."
Times staff writers Hailey Branson-Potts and Jeff Gottlieb contributed to this report.
Follow @kurtisalee and @raablauren on Twitter.
UPDATES
5:11 p.m.: This post has been updated throughout.
2:19 p.m.: This post has been updated with comments from author Johnny Townsend and information about a proposed law in Idaho.
2 p.m.: This post has been updated with comments from California Mormon leader Jerry Garns.
1:32 p.m.: This post has been updated with comments from Lorri L. Jean, chief executive of the Los Angeles LGBT Center.
1:26 p.m.: This post has been updated with comments from Patrick Mason, the Howard H. Hunter chair of Mormon Studies at Claremont Graduate University.
1:10 p.m.: This post has been updated with comments from Human Rights Campaign legal director Sarah Warbelow and James Esseks, director of the ACLU Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender AIDS Project.
12:20 p.m.: This post was updated with comments from Utah state lawmakers.
10:40 a.m.: This post was updated to include comments from the LGBT community.
The first version of this post was published at 10:12 a.m.
