Whereas:

Gay rights has become a highly contentious issue, as more and more people identify publicly as gay or lesbian and seek to change societal attitudes towards homosexuality; AND

Homosexuality arouses in our society feelings of hostility that go beyond moral disapproval, as a result of which people who identify as gay or lesbian, or who are suspected of being gay or lesbian, become targets of ridicule, rejection, intimidation, and violence; AND

People who identify as gay or lesbian find themselves in situations difficult to reconcile with a commitment to basic human decency, such as fearing for their jobs or being unable to adopt children whom they have undertaken to raise.

And whereas:

General Authorities have been clear that the Church's "opposition to attempts to legalize same-sex marriage should never be interpreted as justification for hatred, intolerance, or abuse of those who profess homosexual tendencies, either individually or as a group" (Ensign [Nov. 1999]: 52); AND

Church leaders have explicitly condemned gay bashing, defined as "physical or verbal attacks on persons thought to be involved in homosexual or lesbian behavior" (Ensign [Oct. 1995]: 7); AND

Latter-day Saints have been called to work for "the establishment of full civil equality for all of God's children" (Conference Report [Oct. 1963]: 91) and to practice "tolerance one for another regardless of the doctrines and philosophies which we may espouse" (Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley, 665).

Now therefore let it be resolved that MESJ:

1.	Affirms its commitment to equal civil rights for all people.
2.	Unequivocally denounces gay bashing in both its physical and verbal forms.
3.	Urges people to approach controversies surrounding gay rights in a spirit of compassion, tolerance, mutual respect, and charity, with a commitment to finding ways to "peacefully coexist despite our deepest differences" (Church News [24 Oct. 1992]: 4) and applying wherever possible "the simple law of the Golden Rule--doing unto others as they would be done by" (Ensign [Dec. 1995]: 66).
4.	Especially recommends this exhortation by Chieko N. Okazaki: "I don't have to approve of any particular behavior, but I also don't have to judge people....Can you redouble your kindness to the gays and lesbians whom you know, as a witness to them of the love of Christ...?" (Disciples, 121-122).

Adopted 20 July 2002