Brian4Liberty
11-12-2009, 03:45 PM
http://news.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2BNews/World/Story/A1Story20091112-179387.html
US Mormons support gay rights bill
Thu, Nov 12, 2009
AFP
LOS ANGELES, US - The Mormon church supports gay-rights ordinances passed by Salt Lake City, Utah that ban discrimination against homosexuals, although the church said it continues to oppose gay marriage.
The decision by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) to support the measures in the city where it is headquartered follows its financial backing last year of an anti-gay-marriage referendum in California that overturned a state supreme court ruling allowing same-sex unions.
"The issue before you tonight is the right of people to have a roof over their heads and the right to work without being discriminated against," LDS spokesman Michael Otterson told a public hearing Tuesday ahead of a vote by the city legislative council.
"The church supports this ordinance because it is fair and reasonable and does not do violence to the institution of marriage," he added.
Otterson said LDS agreed "in essence" with the ordinance that Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker sponsored because it took a balanced approach to issues of religious freedom.
"The city has granted common-sense rights... while safeguarding the crucial rights of religious organizations, for example, in their hiring of people whose lives are in harmony with their tenets, or when providing housing for their university students and others that preserve religious requirements," he said.
However, he added, "the church remains unequivocally committed to defending the bedrock foundation of marriage between a man and a woman."
The Salt Lake Tribune said Wednesday the city legislative council passed the ordinances by vote late Tuesday.
They ban discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in the workplace and in renting or buying a home. --AFP
US Mormons support gay rights bill
Thu, Nov 12, 2009
AFP
LOS ANGELES, US - The Mormon church supports gay-rights ordinances passed by Salt Lake City, Utah that ban discrimination against homosexuals, although the church said it continues to oppose gay marriage.
The decision by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) to support the measures in the city where it is headquartered follows its financial backing last year of an anti-gay-marriage referendum in California that overturned a state supreme court ruling allowing same-sex unions.
"The issue before you tonight is the right of people to have a roof over their heads and the right to work without being discriminated against," LDS spokesman Michael Otterson told a public hearing Tuesday ahead of a vote by the city legislative council.
"The church supports this ordinance because it is fair and reasonable and does not do violence to the institution of marriage," he added.
Otterson said LDS agreed "in essence" with the ordinance that Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker sponsored because it took a balanced approach to issues of religious freedom.
"The city has granted common-sense rights... while safeguarding the crucial rights of religious organizations, for example, in their hiring of people whose lives are in harmony with their tenets, or when providing housing for their university students and others that preserve religious requirements," he said.
However, he added, "the church remains unequivocally committed to defending the bedrock foundation of marriage between a man and a woman."
The Salt Lake Tribune said Wednesday the city legislative council passed the ordinances by vote late Tuesday.
They ban discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in the workplace and in renting or buying a home. --AFP