Gay rights group Soulforce on Monday
met with a handful of LDS representatives in Salt Lake City, The
Salt Lake Tribune reported.
The Soulforce Equality Ride, now in its
fifth year, is a two-month bus tour to protest against “political
and spiritual oppression against LGBT people.”
Riders met with representatives from
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to make four specific
requests: to cut all ties with “ex-gay” group Evergreen
International; to stop funding groups opposed to gay marriage; to
encourage LDS Business College to adopt gay-inclusive policies; and
to ban discrimination against church employees based on sexual
orientation and gender identity.
Equality Ride co-director Jason Conner
described the meeting as “overall positive,” but lamented that
“no LDS Church leadership were involved.”
“But we are cautiously optimistic
that progress is being made regarding LGBTQ issues,” he told the
paper.
For example, Conner said that the
Mormon Church had agreed to reiterate to members that no gay man or
lesbian should “question their worth or value or be kicked out of
their home because of their orientation or gender expression
identity.”
The Mormon Church came under heavy
criticism in 2008 for supporting passage of California's gay marriage
ban, Proposition 8.