Mormons walking in Gay pride parade in SLC

[pooter1]

What is up with this?I saw this on the news and on youtube.Are we ok with the gay lifestyle now? Anyone know anything about this? Do you think they were saying love the sinner not the sin? I don't know.Anyone?

[applepansy]

What is up with this?

We all have our agency.

I saw this on the news and on youtube .Are we ok with the gay lifestyle now?

Who is we? Nothing wrong with being gay. Everything wrong with sex outside of marriage which is defined by Heavenly Father.

Anyone know anything about this? Do you think they were saying love the sinner not the sin? I don't know.Anyone?

I only know what I think. I don't presume to know or understand what others think.

Are you asking if the church has an official stance on members in the parade? They don't.

[annewandering]

There's always going to be some who disagree. I hope they were saying hate sin love sinner. Problem I see is that the media is going to make a lot more of it that was intended by most.

[NeuroTypical]

Church teachings on the issue:

Same-Gender Attraction

God Loveth His Children Manual

The Family - A Proclamation to the World

[Vort]

What is up with this?I saw this on the news and on youtube.Are we ok with the gay lifestyle now? Anyone know anything about this? Do you think they were saying love the sinner not the sin? I don't know.Anyone?

Charitable interpretation: These sincere but misguided souls, in an effort to exercise sincere Christ-like love, blundered into a situation where they lent their names to supporting sin without meaning to do so.

Slightly cynical interpretation: These people want to live the gospel while being praised by the world. They thought they had found a clever way to eat their cake and have it, too.

Yet more cynical interpretation: Plain and simple, these folks are working to undermine the Church's teachings by lending support and sympathy to a group that works in open opposition to the commandments and to larger societal good.

Listed in order of increasing cynicism and probability.

[JesusParadox]

Charitable interpretation: These sincere but misguided souls, in an effort to exercise sincere Christ-like love, blundered into a situation where they lent their names to supporting sin without meaning to do so.

Slightly cynical interpretation: These people want to live the gospel while being praised by the world. They thought they had found a clever way to eat their cake and have it, too.

Yet more cynical interpretation: Plain and simple, these folks are working to undermine the Church's teachings by lending support and sympathy to a group that works in open opposition to the commandments and to larger societal good.

Listed in order of increasing cynicism and probability.

Maybe they just wanted to do as Christ taught, "love thy neighbor." A Latter-day Saint attending a gay pride parade does not undermine church teachings. It actually helps show the world that we are a church of love. I highly doubt people will think The Church supports gay marriage over members attending the parade. The church has done enough to show it doesn't where any worry is misplaced.

[Vort]

Maybe they just wanted to do as Christ taught, "love thy neighbor."

Driving your neighbor's pregnant teenage daughter to the abortatorium, helping the guy down the street get a "medical" wink-wink marijuana prescription, or marching in a "Pride in Homosexuality" parade is not what the Lord meant by loving your neighbor.

Would these Latter-day Saints have attended an Bestiality Pride Parade, which extols the virtues of sex with their dogs and horses? I mean, such people are our neighbors, so we should love them. Right? If they define themselves by their sexuality and run a parade through town, why shouldn't everyone go support them in their quest for equal treatment and in their taking pride in their natural, God-given desires?

A Latter-day Saint attending a gay pride parade does not undermine church teachings.

Of course it does. It clearly says that we support people's attempt to take pride in their homosexual proclivities.

It actually helps show the world that we are a church of love.

As I demonstrated above, supporting sinful behavior is not love.

[pam]

I was invited to go to the parade. I was unable to due to a prior commitment. I would have liked to have gone. I have many friends who are gay and also a family member.

Do I think I would have been undermining the church' teaching? No. What I do feel is that I would have been showing to them that while I don't condone the choice of lifestyle, I can still love them. Which I do.

[Vort]

I was invited to go to the parade. I was unable to due to a prior commitment. I would have liked to have gone. I have many friends who are gay and also a family member.

Do I think I would have been undermining the church' teaching? No. What I do feel is that I would have been showing to them that while I don't condone the choice of lifestyle, I can still love them. Which I do.

Would you also attend the Bestiality Pride Parade?

[pam]

Would you also attend the Bestiality Pride Parade?

I do have my limits Vort.

[Vort]

I do have my limits Vort.

I'm sure my comment offended, for which I apologize. But regardless of my lack of tact, the fundamental principle seems to me to be: Do we "love" people by publicly supporting (and thus condoning) sinful behavior? "Gay Pride" means exactly that: Taking pride in homosexual behavior.

I have nothing but sympathy for those who struggle with homosexuality. But participating in a "Gay Pride Parade" doesn't seem to be struggling very hard. Can you see the Lord standing on the street at a Gay Pride Parade, cheering on the participants? I cannot.

[Leah]

I was invited to go to the parade. I was unable to due to a prior commitment. I would have liked to have gone. I have many friends who are gay and also a family member.

Do I think I would have been undermining the church' teaching? No. What I do feel is that I would have been showing to them that while I don't condone the choice of lifestyle, I can still love them. Which I do.

But the whole point of gay pride parades is to celebrate the gay 'lifestyle'. The whole point of such parades is to say that there is absolutely no difference between homosexuality (and homosexual sex) and heterosexuality. There is no way one can march in such a parade and not be perceived as putting their stamp of approval on gay sex. No one who sees someone marching in the parade is going to make a distinction between your intention and the intention of the parade.

[Dravin]

I must say I'm on Vort's side of the line on this one (this probably doesn't surprise anyone). If we were talking about a "Stop violence against homosexuals" parade I can see participating, as the message is a good one. However a "Gay Pride" parade is about standing up and unabashedly proclaiming there is nothing wrong with the behavior. And while there is a distinction to be made between being homosexual and engaging in homosexual sexual relations, I don't see it as a distinction that is made in such a parade.

Edited June 6, 2012 by Dravin

[annewandering]

Worse, I suspect it would be more inclined to be used as saying, "See the members of the LDS church do not support the leaders, especially the prophet". The problem there is that it sets up the expectation, by nonmembers and even some members of the church that we can force the church to give in and say gay is good. gay is fine.

[EarlJibbs]

I was invited to go to the parade. I was unable to due to a prior commitment. I would have liked to have gone. I have many friends who are gay and also a family member.

Do I think I would have been undermining the church' teaching? No. What I do feel is that I would have been showing to them that while I don't condone the choice of lifestyle, I can still love them. Which I do.

I have friends and family that are gay. They know I love and support them, not their actions. So what would going to a parade prove?

Also, would this fall in line with ....do you support or affiliate with any group or organization that opposes church teachings... ?? Personally I do. You may be doing so unintentionally, but the parade isnt about helping people. Although not all of the agenda is bad, it has an agenda that morally we do not support. Such as condoning the sexual lifestyle.

My family member knows that they can bring their partner to any event, we do not exclude them. We have them over for dinner, and treat them like any other family. My children adore his partner, but they know what we feel about sexual purity. That is how we support.

[Guest]

One of my oldest friends is actively fighting the church on gay marriage (as in, participating in and putting out podcasts, doing public appearances and writings, and using social media to that end). I don't know what his standing is or whether he has faced or will face church discipline, but I won't be surprised to see him abandon the church totally. At any rate, this parade is one of the things he's pushing, and specifically flying in from out of state to participate in.

I'm with Vort on this one. It's ranging from misguided Christian goodwill to outright apostacy.

[pam]

I'm sure my comment offended, for which I apologize. But regardless of my lack of tact, the fundamental principle seems to me to be: Do we "love" people by publicly supporting (and thus condoning) sinful behavior? "Gay Pride" means exactly that: Taking pride in homosexual behavior.

I have nothing but sympathy for those who struggle with homosexuality. But participating in a "Gay Pride Parade" doesn't seem to be struggling very hard. Can you see the Lord standing on the street at a Gay Pride Parade, cheering on the participants? I cannot.

People are going to be seeing this differently. I respect your take on it and understand where you are coming from. And believe me I agree with much of what you have said.

However, I am looking at it from a personal perspective. As a mom watching her own son moving into this lifestyle it's heart wrenching. It's certainly not the lifestyle that I would have wanted for my own son. But it is who he is.

So do I shun all activities that have the word "Gay" in them because I might be putting out the perception that I am condoning or endorsing it? Or do I try and find some middle ground? I find myself at one end of that proverbial pole with him at the other end. At some point there has to be a joining at the middle. There has to be a mutual understanding of all parties. I can love but yet not condone. I can be supportive yet not condone.

While some may look at "Gay Pride" as just a means for the gay community to flaunt their choices, for some it's a way of being embraced by a community that understands many of the same struggles they many are going through. To feel some pride in themselves while being shunned by so many. That is how it was explained to me by my son and others who are gay.

So that is my perspective.

[pooter1]

There were mormons WALKING in the parade not just going to watch the parade.I have a lot of gay friends also.I also have friends that drink.They know I do not support them and will not support them but they do know i still love them.I will put the link up.

[pam]

There were mormons WALKING in the parade not just going to watch the parade.I have a lot of gay friends also.I also have friends that drink.They know I do not support them and will not support them but they do know i still love them.I will put the link up.

Ummmm there are many Mormons who are gay.

[annewandering]

It is a very hard battle to fall into when a child chooses that life. Family loyalty is torn badly. I would not go to a parade supporting gay pride even if it was explained to me, by an admittedly biased, son that it does not mean you think gay 'lifestyle' is ok. Even if that is not your intent that is the message being sent. You are NOT choosing between a child and the church which is what many parents have been pushed into feeling they have to do.

By the way that phrase "gay lifestyle" is getting to annoy me. It makes it sound like they are picking out furniture and have chosen an nontraditional choice but that would be fine because its just a style,nothing important, really.

[pooter1]

Over 300 Mormons Join Utah Gay Pride Parade - ABC News

Here it is.

[pam]

It is a very hard battle to fall into when a child chooses that life. Family loyalty is torn badly. I would not go to a parade supporting gay pride even if it was explained to me, by an admittedly biased, son that it does not mean you think gay 'lifestyle' is ok. Even if that is not your intent that is the message being sent. You are NOT choosing between a child and the church which is what many parents have been pushed into feeling they have to do.

By the way that phrase "gay lifestyle" is getting to annoy me. It makes it sound like they are picking out furniture and have chosen an nontraditional choice but that would be fine because its just a style,nothing important, really.

Actually I don't feel like I'm having to choose. My son knows very well where I stand and he respects it.

I've given my perspective and my thoughts and I stand by what I have said. I realize that many if not most will disagree with me but it is my perspective and opinion.

For those that have not had to go through this with one of their own children, it's easy to stand back and tell those parents that have, how or what they should be feeling or what their intent may or may not be showing.

[annewandering]

For those that have not had to go through this with one of their own children, it's easy to stand back and tell those parents that have, how or what they should be feeling or what their intent may or may not be showing.

I agree. I do not short you in any way for good intent, faith in the church, love for your child, or any such thing.

My concern is limited to people losing their way, thinking the church is going to change the stance on same sex marriage because of, perceived, growing pressure within the church. One day God may tell the prophet same sex marriage is great and they need to be sealed in the temple. I strongly doubt that since it is hard to see how that would fit into the Plan of Salvation but if God says it then ok with me. :)

[JesusParadox]

When Jesus Taught love they neighbor, he knew not all of our neighbors would agree with our standards. I would even venture to guess he said it for that very purpose, to love those who don't agree with us. It is not condoning their behavior or saying we are glad they make those choices. It is recognizing that they are our neighbors and we are a tolerant people. A good part about participating in these parades is it does soften their hearts toward us. Lets be honest with ourselves, we don't need anyone hating us.

[Leah]

When Jesus Taught love they neighbor, he knew not all of our neighbors would agree with our standards. I would even venture to guess he said it for that very purpose, to love those who don't agree with us. It is not condoning their behavior or saying we are glad they make those choices. It is recognizing that they are our neighbors and we are a tolerant people. A good part about participating in these parades is it does soften their hearts toward us. Lets be honest with ourselves, we don't need anyone hating us.

Just because there are those who choose not to march in gay pride parades, does not mean they 'love their neighbor' one iota less than those who do march. That's not a judgment we can make.