Put off by the cancellation of a meeting with Latter Day Saints church leaders, the gay Mormon group Affirmation yesterday held a press conference in its place, where they addressed a few of the requests they had planned to ask for in the meeting:
“Affirmation wants a female church leader to address mothers to let them know they're not responsible for their children's sexuality. Melson said guilt is a ‘huge problem' for mothers of gay children. The group also wants to meet with a member of the First Presidency or the Quorum of the Twelve and to invite a general authority to speak at its 2009 conference. Affirmation wants to work with the church to develop resource materials for bishops to better and more consistently deal with gay and lesbian members who seek counseling. The group also intended to give a letter to President Monson concerning future discussions, for which he could give as much or as little publicity as he preferred.”
LDS leaders responded quickly, and were critical of the group's actions:
“The issues surrounding same-gender attraction deserve careful attention, not public posturing. It has always been the intent of the church to engage in an open and honest discussion with Affirmation leaders to listen to their concerns. When the church was originally approached by Affirmation, church officials offered a much earlier meeting date. The meeting was put on hold until August at Affirmation's request. The church asked for the same courtesy as it hires a new director of Family Services, a position crucial to this conversation…It appears from Affirmation's actions today that it has opted for a public rather than private exchange.”
Gay support group lists requests to LDS Church [deseret news]
