Given the California Supreme Court’s decision in favor of same-sex marriage on Thursday, it might be a good time to remind readers of what the Church’s position is on this issue. If you go to the Church web site, one of the few issues on which the Church has taken a strong public stand is the issue of “same-gender attraction.” If you go to that issue, you will be taken to a Church public affairs interview with Elders Oaks and Wickman. If you read this excellent and inspired interview, you will encounter the following statement:
For openers, marriage is neither a matter of politics, nor is it a matter of social policy. Marriage is defined by the Lord Himself. It’s the one institution that is ceremoniously performed by priesthood authority in the temple [and] transcends this world. It is of such profound importance… such a core doctrine of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, of the very purpose of the creation of this earth. One hardly can get past the first page of Genesis without seeing that very clearly. It is not an institution to be tampered with by mankind, and certainly not to be tampered with by those who are doing so simply for their own purposes. There is no such thing in the Lord’s eyes as something called same-gender marriage. Homosexual behavior is and will always remain before the Lord an abominable sin. Calling it something else by virtue of some political definition does not change that reality.