Peter Harrison was rushing to class Tuesday morning when he noticed a flurry of activity on his Facebook feed.
Senior leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had just announced support for legislation that protects lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people from discrimination — and Harrison’s LDS friends were giddily reposting the news.
As a gay Mormon from Logan, Utah, Harrison couldn’t help but share their enthusiasm. But he took the announcement with a grain of salt.
“I try to be an optimist,” the 20-year-old Utah State University student told The Huffington Post. “But I’m careful about prematurely celebrating this day.”
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In his email, Dehlin said church leaders have restricted members from supporting both LGBT rights and the ordination of women:
Oaks’ words ring somewhat hollow to me in this context … Given today’s celebration of LDS/LGBT “progress,” it is my hope that the LDS Church will make it clear if public support for same-sex marriage and/or Ordain Women by LDS Church members are grounds for church discipline (informal or formal). It is also my hope that the LDS Church will cease to discriminate against and punish its members who support same-sex marriage and/or Ordain Women, which they often do (ironically) as matters of religious conscience (i.e., religious freedom?).
The back-and-forth between church leadership and dissenters on the topic of LGBT rights is personal for Harrison, the college student in Utah. While his family has been supportive, he worries about what will happen when he graduates from school and enters a world where a landlord or an employer could turn him out for being gay.
“Utah is home for me, but how can I have a life when people in my state and my religion are allowed to discriminate based on sexual orientation, for housing or for a job?” he said. “These are basic human rights.”
