Change: After suicides, Mormon leader rants against gays

email: mail@change.org
7.10.10

Stand up to Mormon leaders who spread LGBT intolerance

Dear Member,

The recent suicides of several gay teenagers have made national headlines. Yet this is the moment – of all moments – that a top Mormon leader decides to broadcast a verbal rampage against gays to millions of viewers.

Boyd K. Packer, the second-highest leader in the Mormon Church, said in a sermon broadcast to millions this week that same-sex attraction is "impure and unnatural" and can be overcome, and that same-sex unions are morally wrong.

Do we need more proof than the suicides of teens as young as 13 that words like these can do unimaginable damage?

We cannot stay silent. By speaking out together, we can show the Mormon Church hierarchy that it has literally risked the lives of children by inciting their tormentors. And we can ensure that the young people who heard this sermon know that it is scientifically wrong and profoundly misguided.

We can’t let Mr. Packer’s statements stand uncontested. Add your name to the open letter to Boyd Packer and let him know his lies carry real consequences.

Speaking before 20,000 people and broadcasting to millions more, Packer said same-sex unions are "against God's law and nature" – and that the church hierarchy would continue to support marriage bans like Proposition 8 (which was funded largely by Mormons).

Comments like these are exactly what makes young LGBT kids think there's no way out but suicide – that their parents will reject them, that their communities will shun them, and that living openly will bring pain or violence – that even God looks on their very identity as a sin to be "overcome."

And these lies fuel the bullying, harassment, and violence that plague our schools.

Packer's lies have been disproven over and over again by science and by the spiritual experience of Americans who know their LGBT neighbors and care about them. We know sexual orientation cannot and should not be changed and that two people falling in love is beautiful, not evil.

Help us speak out so young people understand the truth – and so that Mormon leaders know that spreading this poison puts lives at risk.

Thank you for helping take a stand for the truth.

- The Change.org Team