Younger Mormons Are More Open To The Idea Of Same-Sex Marriage – Study

Younger members of the Church of the Latter Day Saints are increasingly more tolerant and are open to the idea of same-sex marriage, according to a poll released in June by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI). The PRRI study surveyed 4,ooo religious people from all sects, including 700 members of the Church of the Latter Day Saints.

According to the PRRI report, 45 percent of the Mormon people they surveyed are in favor of same-sex marriage, while the remaining 55 percent oppose the idea. Nearly a third of the 45 percent are Mormons under the age of 30.

This is in contrast to the prevailing attitude of some members of the Mormon church, who opposed the idea of same-sex marriage in their church, even lobbying for the passage of the Proposition 8 in June of 2008. Proposition 8 sought to temporarily ban gay marriage in California.

Two years after the lobbying stage and a lengthy discussion about the proposition, Judge Vaughn Walker ruled that the voter-initiated Proposition 8 was deemed to be unconstitutional. He argued that the proposition violates the equal protection clause in the Constitution of the United States by denying members of the LGBTQ community the right to marry a member of the same sex.

Proposition 8 supporters, meanwhile, claimed that Judge Walker’s decision was biased since he did not disclose during the entire duration of the trial that he was gay. But as per the Court of Appeals, Judge Walker need not to make such disclosure because it was not required.

With the conclusion of the PRRI study, there seems to be a huge discrepancy in the belief of some members of the Mormon church regarding same-sex marriage. The late homophobe and church leader Thomas Monson refused to let women become pastors and even excommunicated some Mormon families who happen to be LGBT supporters. Rumors said that Monson will be replaced by an even more homophobic leader.

John Dehlin was also excommunicated after he raised valid and legitimate questions about Mormonism on his podcast for those members who are already delusional of their faith in the church. His podcast discussed that some LGBT Mormons feel like outsiders in their own church due to the church’s treatment to them.

Dehlin’s podcast once featured Diane Oviatt, who has a gay son. Diane had been an activist inside the Mormon church, trying to change the attitudes of her fellow Mormons toward the LGBT group. She said one does not leave Mormonism easily because they are shunned after such move. She instead tries to persuade Mormons to be more compassionate to their fellow Mormons, who happened to be members of the LGBT.