Liberal activists are targeting The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after officials there issued updated policies regarding gay and transgender members and their role within the church.
The Church Updated Policy Officials said the 2024 “General Handbook” was “created to help Latter-day Saints follow the example of service through love of Jesus Christ.”
The guidelines confirm past practice of defining gender as the biological sex assigned at birth and appear to discourage Mormons from undergoing sex-reassignment surgery. “Upstanding individuals who do not surgically, medically, or socially change their gender from their biological sex assigned at birth will enjoy the full privileges of Church membership,” the handbook states, warning members not to “surgically, medically, or socially change their gender from their biological sex assigned at birth.”
The policy adds that people who pursue gender reassignment will be barred from many church positions, including ordination and other official church roles.
The revised policy also states that transvestites cannot be baptized, and while the policy allows for exceptions, it still prohibits transvestites from ordaining.
Additionally, transgender people and cross-dressers cannot participate in coeducational activities in youth programs. The policy prohibits cross-dressers and transgender members from “performing gender-specific roles, working as teachers, or working with children or adolescents.”
The new policy warns transgender people that they must use the church bathroom that corresponds to their birth sex or a private restroom. The policy said transgender people could use the restroom of their choice as long as a “trusted person” stood guard to make sure no one else was using it.
The handbook emphasizes that people who identify as transgender “should be treated with compassion, kindness, compassion and Christ-like love. Every person is a child of God and has divine worth.”
Similar language is scattered throughout handbooks dealing with sexual issues, including sexual assault.
Despite all this, the handbook ultimately points out that transgender people will not be rejected outright by the church.
On the other hand, believers who have abandoned previous gender reassignment procedures and re-embraced their birth sex (also known as detransitioners) can regain their status within the church if they can demonstrate “worthiness and diligence in keeping God's commandments.”
Not surprisingly, the revised handbook has come under attack from gay activists.
The Utah-based gay activist group LGBTQ Mormons, Family and Friends slammed the church, statement“We grieve with our transgender brothers and sisters as they grapple with the painful implications of the policy changes and guidelines recently announced by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”
“Rather than seeking to be more understanding, accepting and affirming of transgender people who are also Latter-day Saints, church leaders have chosen to further restrict the participation of these members,” the advocacy group said. “While these changes particularly affect people who have socially or medically transitioned, the messages conveyed in these policies that deny authentic experiences and identities affect everyone.”
Laurie Lee Hall, who transitioned to a woman and was excommunicated by the church in 2017, criticised the policy, saying the church viewed transgender people as a danger.
“It implies that transgender members are somehow a danger to others,” Lee said. saidAccording to Idaho State Journal“This is dehumanizing and too harmful for believers who are still coming to terms with their gender identity and faith to deal with.”
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