Mormon Church Backs Gay Rights Law in Salt Lake City

For the first time, the Mormon church has announced its support of gay rights legislation, an endorsement that helped gain unanimous approval for Salt Lake city laws banning discrimination against gays in housing and employment, according to the AP.

On Tuesday night, City Council in Salt Lake City, Utah unanimously passed ordinances barring discrimination in housing and employment on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

"What happened here tonight I do believe is a historic event," said Brandie Balken, director of the gay rights advocacy group Equality Utah. "I think it establishes that we can stand together on common ground that we don't have to agree on everything, but there are lot of things that we can work on and be allies."

The passage came after the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints announced its support for the ordinances. That support developed out of two months of secret meetings between mid-level LDS leaders and leaders of the gay community in Utah. Negotiations with Utah Pride and Equality Utah began after the "kiss in" protests on the Church-owned Main Street Plaza in July.

However, if it seems to good to be true, it just might be. Michael Otterson, managing director of the LDS Church's Public Affairs, who spoke during Tuesday night's public hearing in support of Salt Lake City's proposed non-discrimination ordinance said that the Church's support is due in part to the way the legislation was drafted to protect those rights.

Exceptions in the legislation allow churches to maintain, without penalty, religious principles and religion-based codes of conduct or rules.

"In drafting this ordinance, the city has granted common-sense rights that should be available to everyone, 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." Otterson said Tuesday.

"The Church supports this ordinance because it is fair and reasonable and does not do violence to the institution of marriage. It is also entirely consistent with the Church's prior position on these matters. The Church remains unequivocally committed to defending the bedrock foundation of marriage between a man and a woman."