This weekend, Boyd Packer warned his fellow Mormons that the family is “under attack” from same-sex marriage. Packer is president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, making him the second most senior apostle in the Church. In a televised speech Saturday morning, Packer suggested there is a “tolerance trap” with “serious spiritual consequences” if Mormons support a violation of “God’s law of Chastity:”

PACKER: The family, The fundamental organization for time and eternity is under attack from forces seen and unseen… We need to be careful of the tolerance trap, so we do not swallow it up and get swallowed up in it. The permissiveness afforded by the weakening of the laws of the land to tolerate and legalize acts of immorality does not reduce the serious spiritual consequence that is the result from a violation of God’s law of Chastity.

(Watch it on Fox 13 News.)

Packer previously said in 2010 that gays and lesbians can “overcome what they feel are inborn tendencies toward the impure and unnatural.” More recently, the Mormon Church clarified some of its positions on homosexuality, admitting that being gay is not a choice, but still condemning it as sinful. To abide by their faith, gay Mormons are expected to be chaste, abandoning any experience of love or marriage in this life because “a just God will provide them with ample opportunity to do so in the next.”

This past December, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints published a new resource about homosexuality, suggesting that it was moving away from its harshest condemnations of gay people. The counsel it included acknowledged that same-sex attractions are not chosen, and seemed to embody a “love the sinner, hate the sin” not unlike the Catholic Church’s. However, the so-called Center for Gender Wholeness, founded by Mormon ex-gay therapists, has launched a new resource that reinforces some of the most tired and offensive myths about homosexuality and encourages Mormons to subject their loved ones to the shame-based treatment.

Here’s just a sampling of the many bizarre claims and dangerous tips provided on the site. (Note: All of the resources are geared toward male homosexuality, because “the Center for Gender Wholeness does not have expertise in working with female homosexuality.”)

• Gay people are more likely to have a history of experiencing trauma and emotional and psychological problems.
• Among the supposed “causes” of homosexuality are unhealthy childhood relationships with females, distorted concepts of gender, feeling incongruent with one’s own gender, problems in relationships with other males, sexual conditioning, sexual abuse, certain biological and physical issues, and certain emotional and psychological problems. [Obviously, this approach completely conflates transgender identities, despite gender identity being a completely independent variable from sexual orientation.]
• People trying to help their gay friends should ask about how they have acted on their attractions, but should be careful not to give them ideas of behaviors they haven’t tried.
• Therapy is “necessary” if an individual “reports unsuccessful attempts to diminish their same-sex attractions.”
• Mormons should encourage (opposite-sex) marriage as a solution to same-sex attractions.
• Mormons should recognize “the hope window,” when people with same-sex attractions are most optimistic about change.
• Therapy can help resolve the “issues that underlie unwanted same-sex attraction.”
• Treatment can include an addiction recovery program and medication.
• The therapists apparently use “brainspotting” to determine “where a person is holding trauma or other negative experience in their brain.”

The promotion of this therapy seems to conflict with what the Mormon Church now says about homosexuality, and the small-text disclaimer at the bottom of the screen is telling:

This site was not created by, or with support from, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Center for Gender Wholeness (CGW) is not affiliated with the LDS Church. The contents of this site represent the veiws [sic] of CGW, which is solely responsible for its content.

Still, the site is designed to look like it’s official guidance from LDS, including detailed resources for training Church leaders on ex-gay therapy.

The American Psychological Association has found that ex-gay therapy is not only ineffective, but reinforces stigma and can thus have harmful effects. The proper therapeutic response when people are struggling with being gay is affirmation — which is coincidentally the name of the organization that supports LGBT Mormons.

The expectation was that the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) would vote today on whether to end its national policy banning gay Scouts and leaders, but it has decided to delay making that decision until May. The delay came at the request of the Great Salt Lake Council of Boy Scouts, which opposes the change and joined with 32 other councils calling for an “open forum discussion with councils across the country.” In a joint letter, the Councils suggest polling should be done to determine the outcome:

Time must be allowed for accurate polling data to be collected from stakeholders at all levels and all areas in an unbiased way. The voices of existing chartered partners and financial contributors must be heard alongside those of our volunteer leaders and the parents who entrust their children to us. [...]

We must ask, what could have so radically altered the results of the [July] study as to shift the position on such an important issue? What does this say about the validity of either position or the character of our organization if we are so readily willing to dismiss the former for the latter?

While we understand the urge to support those councils who feel that the current policies negatively impact their ability to remain viable we also think that equal support and consideration should be given to those councils whose ability to remain viable will be impacted by adopting the new policy.

The Mormon Church’s role in this decision cannot be overstated. Though the Church itself has not issued a comment, it is the largest faith-based sponsor of the Scouts, supporting more than 39,000 troops. Church President Thomas Monson has longstanding ties with the Great Salt Lake Council and sits on the BSA national executive board, as do other high-ranking Mormon officials. The Church recently updated its policies on homosexuality, but still condemns it as sinful and calls on gays to be chaste, and it continues to advocate against LGBT equality.

Deciding whether or not to discriminate is not a question that can be answered by polling. If the Scouts choose to make such a decision by catering to financial stakeholders, then any claim the organization has to promoting character is without merit.

A group of religious organizations, including the Mormon Church, Southern Baptist Convention, and National Association of Evangelicals, have submitted amicus briefs to the Supreme Court arguing it should uphold both the Defense of Marriage Act and California’s Proposition 8. The briefs, written by Mormon Church lawyer Von Keetch, make similar points to other anti-gay briefs about the inferiority of same-sex couples, but notably tries to brush aside the research that suggests otherwise (HT: Kathleen Perrin):

DOMA BRIEF: Whether the Nation retains the traditional definition of marriage or redefines marriage to include same-sex couples is a social issue with potentially wide-ranging consequences. By their nature, such policy questions cannot be definitively answered by science, professional opinion, or legal reasoning alone. Although we are certainly persuaded by scholarly opinion supporting traditional marriage, the truth is that social science scholars, for instance, disagree about the effects of gay parenting on children. Whatever the ultimate conclusions may be, “nothing in the Constitution requires [government] to accept as truth the most advanced and sophisticated [scientific] opinion.”

PROP 8 BRIEF: Admittedly, there is an active debate within the social sciences over whether some of these common sense judgments are empirically sound. But “nothing in the Constitution requires California to accept as truth the most advanced and sophisticated [scientific] opinion.” Lawmakers – including the people of California – are entitled to “act on various unprovable assumptions,” including those that in “the sum of [their] experience” lead them to conclude that traditional marriage and the family structure it supports deserve distinctive legal protection.

In the footnotes, Keetch cites the Mark Regnerus “family structures” study, as well as the simultaneously published meta-analysis by Loren Marks, as evidence of research with a negative conclusion on same-sex parenting. But an internal audit by the publishing journal found Regnerus’ conclusions about same-sex parenting to be “bullshit,” and Marks’ analysis to be “lowbrow” and unworthy of publication. Despite how conservative groups have championed Regnerus’ methods and results, Regnerus himself has admitted that his research was not about gay parenting.

Contrary to what these religious groups claim, there is no debate among social scientists about the capacity of same-sex couples to raise children. In fact, it has already been nine years since the American Psychological Association resolved to support same-sex adoption, and subsequent research continues to confirm that children raised in such households fare just as well as children raised by opposite-sex couples. Researchers have objected that other briefs filed in these cases have cited their studies to draw conclusions about same-sex parenting that are not evident from the research.

The language in these particular briefs suggest that the religious groups don’t care what the research says anyway, hence their haste to dismiss it. Given their concern for protecting children, what is more telling is their refusal to acknowledge the two million children already being raised by same-sex couples. Even if the Court chooses to ignore the science that same-sex couples could make equally good parents, it cannot ignore that they already are doing so.

A coalition of conservative Illinois religious leaders has written a letter to state lawmakers opposing marriage equality. Driven by the Catholic Conference of Illinois, the small coalition also includes the Mormon Church, the Lutheran Church Missoui Synod, the Anglican Church, and The Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago. In addition to describing same-sex marriage as “full of serious danger,” the letter claims that “religious freedom” should include the right to discriminate against same-sex couples in any aspect of society:

Some claim that as long as religious ministers are not forced to preside over same-sex “marriages” the principle of religious freedom, as secured in the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment is protected. However, the notion that the exercise of religious freedom is confined to the interior of churches, synagogues, temples or mosques or what one does on Holy Days is wrong and dangerous.  The freedom of religion also extends to the ministries of religious organizations and to the individual conscience. Thus, the real peril: if marriage is redefined in civil law, individuals and religious organizations – regardless of deeply held beliefs – will be compelled to treat same-sex unions as the equivalent of marriage in their lives, ministries and operations.  Compulsion of this nature is a violation of personal conscience and of religious liberty.

The gall of this claim is not to be understated. These groups are demanding the “freedom” to treat gays and lesbian as second-class citizens in society, whether that means employers denying spousal benefits to married gay employees, or businesses denying services that might involve acknowledging that a same-sex couple is married. This is not ” religious freedom”; it is a blatant will to discriminate.

The National Organization for Marriage posted this letter disingenuously claiming it represented “1,700 faith communities” in Illinois. In reality, it bears only 12 names — six of whom are Catholic bishops — and claims to represent only 27 other churches. Last month, over 250 Illinois faith leaders signed a letter supporting marriage equality.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has published a new resource addressing the issue of homosexuality that has some commendable changes, but many of the same stigmatizing problems as before. Framed under the title of “Love One Another,” the new collection of text and video testimonies advises the following important improvements to how Mormons understand and respond to gays and lesbians in their lives:

• NOT A CHOICE: “The attraction itself is not a sin, but acting on it is. Even though individuals do not choose to have such attractions, they do choose how to respond to them.”
• DO NOT SHAME OR REJECT: “We recognize in each other our common needs for intimacy and companionship and can discuss them without shame or rejection.”
• NOT A DISEASE: “Attraction to those of the same sex, however, should not be viewed as a disease or illness. We must not judge anyone for the feelings they experience.”
• GAYS SHOULDN’T TRY TO FAKE IT: “Unlike in times past, the Church does not necessarily advise those with same-sex attraction to marry those of the opposite sex.”

Indeed, these improvements over blatant ostracization and condemnation could very well save the lives of many young people and help keep families together. However, with this approach, the Mormon Church has essentially only caught up to the “hate the sin, not the sinner” approaches of the Catholic Church and many evangelical Christians, which are still incredibly problematic.

According to the new guide, gay Mormons can only stay members of the Church if they practice chastity, forcing a choice between a life with love and a life with faith. The acknowledgment that sexual orientation is not malleable is worthless if individuals are still shamed by “sin” to repress that sexuality — often through ex-gay therapy — and spend their lives alone. There’s also something insulting about the Church’s suggestion that maybe gay people will be lucky enough to marry someone of the opposite sex in the next life:

We believe that with an eternal perspective, a person’s attraction to the same sex can be addressed and borne as a mortal test. It should not be viewed as a permanent condition. An eternal perspective beyond the immediacy of this life’s challenges offers hope. Though some people, including those resisting same-sex attraction, may not have the opportunity to marry a person of the opposite sex in this life, a just God will provide them with ample opportunity to do so in the next. We can all live life in the full context of who we are, which is much broader than sexual attraction.

This reliance on reincarnation does not take accountability for God’s inherent cruelness requiring such a “test.” Instead, the Church merely encourages individuals to have hope that “God will work out all the confusion and contradiction.” It is sadly ironic that the Church is using the frame of love to justify depriving individuals of love, and even sadder that this can be called an improvement over its previous position.

Watch a video introducing the new website:

Scout leader Greg Bourke was fired this week for being gay.

Since the Boy Scouts of America announced it was sticking with its anti-gay policy in July, without any explanation as to why it was the “best policy for the organization,” pressure has increased against the group as well as its donors. In addition to a new steady stream of Eagle Scouts returning their badges, churches and charities have begun to pull their funding. This week, another Boy Scout Leader was fired for being gay in Kentucky and is petitioning for reinstatement.

The American Independent has published a new report identifying the BSA’s largest corporate donors, many of which continue to give despite having policies against giving to organizations that discriminate based on sexual orientation. In particular, the Intel corporation gave about $700,000 to the Boy Scouts in 2010, almost half of which went to troops and councils directly connected to the Mormon Church. The Church of Latter Day Saints sponsors nearly 38,000 scouting units — 34 percent of all units nationwide — and has said it would abandon that support if gays and lesbians were allowed to serve as scout leaders. The intrepid son-of-two-moms advocate Zach Wahls has launched a petition calling on Intel, which has a 100% rating on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index, to end its anti-gay giving.

Other companies that have given to BSA include Verizon ($318,000 in 2010) as well as big banks Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank, and Bank of America, each of which gave more than $100,000: