SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4 News) – The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced large changes Thursday morning to how the church will minister to LGBTQ individuals, but some members of the LGBTQ community say these changes come with too little detail and are lacking in remorse.
Weston Clark is a board member at Equality Utah.
“Of course my thoughts go to all of the people that our community the LGBT community has lost. Since it’s inception and I have to think there’s a connection. You know, you can’t plant weeds in your own backyard and then pick them and expect everybody to congratulate you for doing so,” said Clark.
The release Thursday includes changes to how members of the LGBTQ community will be disciplined for violating the church’s law of chastity, saying that homosexual relationships will no longer constitute apostacy and require excommunication. But the announcement provides very little information about when local clergy will be trained on these changes.
Jordan Sgro with Encircle made it clear that many feel these changes don’t go far enough. “Here at Encircle we’ve seen countless lives lost, families fallen apart because of the November 2015 policy. So we are happy with this one small step however there are many many steps that still need to be taken for LGBTQ individuals to be lovingly and fully accepted within the Church.
Encircle is an LGBTQ community support facility with two locations; one in Provo and one in Salt Lake City. Sgro says they will be open this weekend to support their members during the church’s annual General Conference.
