Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Steve Young on Saturday
addressed a group of gay Mormons.
Steve Young and his wife Barbara Young were the keynote speakers
at the 32nd Affirmation International Conference, which
ended Sunday in Salt Lake City.
Steve Young said that his goal “is to build bridges with my gay
brothers and sisters. We need to see each other as Jesus sees us.”
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The Mormon couple made headlines in 2008 when they placed “No on
Prop. 8” yard signs in front of their Palo Alto, California home in
direct defiance of the church which strongly supported passage of the
constitutional amendment limiting marriage to heterosexual couples.
Barbara Young, a Mormon convert, said at the time that she wanted
to support her bother, who is gay.
She urged attendees to be “patient like Jesus.”
“One of the most beautiful things about this church is that it
can evolve,” she
said. “It may not go as fast as everyone wants, but it is
evolving.”
Steve Young is a direct descendant of Brigham Young, a former
president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS
Church) and the first governor of the Utah Territory.