Seth R. Payne has posted Mormonism and Same-Sex Marriage: Towards a Mormon Theology of Gender. Payne’s article chronicles the theological tenets that make acceptance of same-sex marriage in the present-day Mormon Church a virtual impossibility—yet he also suggests that there is reason to believe this position, at least in theory, could change. The piece adds additional context to my post on the recent book, LDS in the USA, which can be viewed here.
Most people know that Mormons and the institutionalized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints played an integral role in the passage of Proposition 8, which overturned the ruling of the California Supreme Court’s decision in In re Marriage Cases, 183 P.3d 384 (Cal. 2008) that prohibiting same-sex marriage was a violation of the California and United States’ constitutions. See Jesse McKinley & Kirk Johnson, Mormons Tipped Scale in Ban on Gay Marriage, N.Y. Times, Nov. 15, 2008, at A1. Donations by Mormons were instrumental in mobilizing the forces that supported Proposition 8’s passage. In certain respects, Payne articulates exactly why such donations were crucial to Mormon theological integrity.
For more on Payne’s exposition of these tenets of the Mormon Church, please follow the jump.