Although not the only religious group opposing same-gender marriage, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) has received a great deal of attention concerning their active opposition to marriages for same gender couples. This website (http://GayMormon.net) seeks to help people understand the Church’s stand on this subject, and on marriage in general.

Marriage was ordained by God from the very beginning of time. He created two people, a man named Adam and a woman named Eve. They were married by Him, not just during this lifetime, but forever. Together, they were told to begin a family and raise their children together. From the first days of the earth, God set the pattern for family life—a man and a woman, and, if possible, children. This basic family structure creates an appropriate foundation for all other units of society and for an eternal life.

Mormons teach that gender is an essential part of who we are, and that it was determined long before birth. However, they do not teach that having homosexual inclinations is a sin. Only the practice of homosexuality is a sin. Feelings are not sinful; practice of inappropriate feelings can be.

Members of the church with homosexual inclinations who choose not to act on them or advocate for the acceptance of such actions can be members of the church in full standing. They may hold any role in the church that may be held by any other unmarried person of his or her gender, which means that most positions are open to them.

The church teaches its members to love and to respect those with homosexual inclinations, just as they do anyone else, and make it clear that mistreatment is not tolerated. However, this does not mean they feel inappropriate behavior must be condoned. Churches are, by nature, in the business of defining right and wrong. If they refuse to do so, to remind people of God’s teachings on any given moral subject, and to stand for something, they have no real reason to exist.

With this in mind, the Mormons, as representatives of God, must take a firm stand on anything that affects the sanctity and well-being of the family, one of God’s most sacred creations. This site will help you understand more about this eternally critical subject.

In order to entirely understand why Mormons object to changing the legal definition of marriage, one must understand a number of critical doctrines of the church. With a complete understanding of these doctrines, while you might still disagree, you will better be able to understand why we feel obligated to fight for the traditional family. Please follow the following path of articles to help you build a foundation for your study.

Child of God—Mormons know that what you consider to be your defining characteristic has a powerful impact on your life. Mormons with homosexual feelings do not consider same gender attraction to be what defines them. They consider the primary defining factor to be that they are a child of God.

Gender was determined prior to birth. What this means to Mormons struggling with same-gender attraction.

Gay Mormons: A summary of what the church believes about homosexuality

Attitude Toward Trials

Mormons and Marriage: How Mormons view marriage and why they don’t want the legal definition of marriage changed.

Mormons and the Same Sex Marriage Battle

Can Churches Participate in the Political Process?

Is Polygamy a Valid Gay Marriage Argument?

The remaining articles on the site ( http://GayMormon.net ) are about basic beliefs of Mormons, for those who want to know more, and they may be read in any order.

The following chart shows the amounts of cash contributed by both in-state and out-of-state individuals and groups to each side.
In-State Donations Out-of-State Donations Total Donations
For Proposition 8 $25.4 million $10.7 million $36.1 million
Against Proposition 8 $26.5 $12.0 $38.4
Totals $51.9 $22.7 $74.5
Source: Tracking the money, Los Angeles Times

Note that out-of-state contributions to the "No" side were over $1.3 million higher than the out-of-state contributions to the "Yes" side. Another claim is that Churches violated their tax-exempt status by participating in the “Yes on 8" campaign. According to IRS rules, a tax-exempt organization may not support particular candidates or parties. However, the churches did not participate in or intervene in any of the political campaigns for any of the candidates running in the 2008 election. The IRS does, however, permit a Church to take positions on issues.

Focus on the Family donated $657,000 in money and services to ProtectMarriage.com, a California coalition that supported Proposition 8,
including $448,406 in cash contributions.
The data also indicate the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints donated $189,000 to support Proposition 8, all of which was non-cash time or logistical support.