Y.

I have quite a few friends who are gay. Some are not religious, some are members of the church (LDS) here in my ward in Manhattan, one has been investigating the church for 2 years with us here in the city, and others used to be members but have chosen to no longer participate. I love all my friends, and when it comes down to it, their sexual orientation doesn't really concern me nor change my feelings towards them. I've found that through my friendships with these people that I have become accutely aware of how they are treated at church & how people talk about homosexuals (& minorities) in general, and quite frankly, I'm really sensitive about this.

I've always believed and known that the church was not opposed to homosexual people. There is nothing wrong with being gay. You can be an active member of the church in good standing and still be attracted to members of the same sex.This seems to be a huge point of confusion within members. The church simply advocates the law of chastity (meaning, abstaining from sex outside of marriage, and marriage being between a man & a woman). Interviews with church authorities like this one with Elder Oaks foster understanding and personally gave me a clearer picture about the church's position on same-gender attraction vs. homosexual behavior.

My friend Bret posted this story on his blog last night. BYU has made a change to it's Honor Code reflecting the position of the church (that attraction and behavior are not the same thing). I applaud BYU for making this move. I think it's a great step, one that shows that we are not all cut out of the same mold, and that is okay. BYU needs to do more to foster diversity and tolerance.