The Mormon Church maintains its opposition to same-sex marriage, taking its stance to the next level by announcing a new policy in its handbook, stating that Mormons who enter same-sex unions will be considered apostates, and the children of such unions will be barred from baptism and blessing rituals without approval from the faith's highest leaders, the First Presidency.
The policy change, which are part of "Handbook 1," was first leaked to the public via social media Thursday by excommunicated Mormon blogger and podcaster John Dehlin, reported the Salt Lake Tribune. The posted documents elicited strong, sometimes angry responses, from those who saw them including words like "outrageous," "repulsive" and "anti-family."
They were particularly shocking to Dehlin, since the new rules appeared to backtrack from previous efforts made by the church to build bridges between it and the LBGT community.
"It's just totally surprising," he said. "This is a level of retrenchment that I don't think anybody could have envisioned."
The veracity of the documents were later confirmed the same day by church spokesman Eric Hawkins.
"Church handbooks are policy and procedural guides for lay leaders who must administer the church in many varied circumstances throughout the world," Hawkins said in a statement, according to The Washington Post. "The church has long been on record as opposing same-sex marriages. While it respects the law of the land, and acknowledges the right of others to think and act differently, it does not perform or accept same-sex marriage within its membership."
The Mormon Church, otherwise known as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that marriage is an institution created by God for one man and one woman. Before the policy change, the church's view was that same-sex marriage may require discipline. Following SCOTUS' ruling that stated same-sex marriage was legal throughout the country, the church decided to identify those in a same-sex marriage as apostates, or people who renounce their faith.
Mormon children are normally blessed as infants and entered into the LDS Church records. Most Mormon children are baptized around age 8, however the new policy makes it so that a natural or adopted child of a parent living in a same-gender relationship may not receive a name or blessing.
Once they reach 18, they can be baptized, thus officially recognized by the church, if they stop living with their parents and take a position opposing such relationships, reported Advocate. However, even if they follow those steps, their admittance into the church would still need to be approved by the First Presidency.
Mormons are matched only by Jehovah's Witnesses in their disapproval of same-sex marriage. A 2014 Landscape Study conducted by Pew Research Center found that about 70 percent of Mormons oppose same-sex marriage, while 26 percent favor it.
This announcement comes as Salt Lake City, where the LDS headquarters are based, elected Jackie Biskupski as the city's first openly gay mayor this week.
