David Nielson of the group Affirmation addresses the media during a press conference Monday in Salt Lake City. Affirmation had previously planned to meet with officials of the LDS Church but that meeting was postponed. -- Monday, August 11, 2008. Photo by Geoffrey McAllister/Deseret News- - -
Had a gay LDS support group met with LDS Church representatives Monday morning as scheduled, it would have asked the church to affirm its recent statements on homosexuality in the upcoming general conference.
Though church leaders have stated that being attracted to a member of the same sex is not a sin, rank-and-file members — particularly bishops who counsel with gay and lesbian members — have not "absorbed" the message, said Olin Thomas, executive director of Affirmation: Gay and Lesbian Mormons. Consequently, he said, gay members continue to encounter threatening, even hostile, church environments... (Read more of the related article: Gay support group outlines requests to LDS Church)
