Many were surprised last week when the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced its support for ordinances, which were approved unanimously by the Salt Lake City Council, that prohibit discrimination against gays in housing and employment. The action marked the first time that the Mormon Church had supported gay rights legislation.
While church spokesman Michael Otterson was careful to point out that the ordinances "do not do violence to the institution of marriage," nonetheless the church's decision to throw its considerable weight behind them helped ensure their passage. It's no secret that the majority of elected officials in Utah are Mormon and that the church exerts tremendous control over public policy.
In his comments before the city council, Otterson said, "Like most of America, our community in Salt Lake City is comprised of citizens of different faiths and values, different races and cultures, different political views, and divergent demographics."
According to a statement on the church's Web site, Otterson said, "In drafting these ordinances, the city has granted common-sense rights that should be available to everyone, while safeguarding the crucial rights of religious organizations...."
The Associated Press reported that the ordinances contain exceptions that allow churches to maintain, without penalty, religious principles and religion-based codes of conduct or rules.
But it is obvious from recent developments that the Mormons realized that they had a severe image problem due to their deep involvement in the Proposition 8 campaign last year. Much of the funding for Yes on 8 came from Mormons, and the church worked closely with San Francisco Catholic Archbishop George Niederauer to pass it. Since then, the Mormons have faced a fierce backlash, not only from the LGBT community but even from members of their own faith.
After the election last year, Equality Utah, a statewide LGBT rights group, called on the church to publicly support the principle articulated by Mormon officials during the Prop 8 campaign: that the church supports non-marriage legal recognition of same-sex relationships. Equality Utah developed what it called the "Common Ground" initiative that would have included a domestic partner registry and measures similar to those passed by the Salt Lake City Council last week. However, Common Ground went nowhere with legislators, leading many to speculate that the church didn't mean what it said.
The Mormon Church received another black eye in July when two gay men were arrested after kissing on a Mormon-owned plaza. The men were cited for trespassing, although the charges were dropped. The incident sparked outrage in the gay community and among our allies, inspiring numerous kiss-ins across the country in support of the pair.
All of these episodes helped to lay the foundation for last week's passage of the employment and housing non-discrimination ordinances, which the mayor signed Tuesday. And it is a big deal, because until last week's city council vote LGBTs in Salt Lake City were not legally protected from discrimination.
We know that church leadership is not close to changing its stance on same-sex marriage; but this recent support for non-discrimination laws is a great first step and helps gays and lesbians secure some rights in a city that is dominated by the Mormon Church. It also gives church members a lesson in acceptance for now that might lead to more robust support for the LGBT community in the future.