From its inception, President Oaks was at the forefront of the website’s roll-out and mission. This was viewed by many at the time as the Church’s effort to take a “softer tone on gays.” The website was viewed as a change in “tone” by the Church, but not a change in doctrine. In late 2012, the Church launched the website. This seems to be in large part because the Church has positioned President Oaks as one of its primary spokesmen on this topic. I have heard and read comments of those who say they dread when President Oaks will speak because of this issue. These two talks, in conjunction with other comments and speeches President Oaks has given in the last few years, have lead to him becoming the focus of angst by those advocating change in the church’s position towards LGBT members. I will also look later at the specific words in this talk which were so offensive some people. They are similar to those expressed by many others. One commenter on this site went so far as to say that he felt like “it was like a gun pointed towards my head telling me, either you have to be like this, or you cannot live…I felt excluded, banished from the love of Christ.” Such feelings are certainly serious and not to be taken lightly. One website dedicated to LGBT Mormons noted that Oaks’ 2017 talk was seen by many as divisive. In fact, his talk a year earlier entitled The Plan and the Proclamation, drew similar comments. This is not the first time President Oaks has been the target of criticism. Another writer alleged that Oaks’ comments amounted to saying, “If you’re gay or transgender the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) thinks Satan is to blame.” These articles and others make the general claim that President Oaks’ comments are “hurtful” to LGBT people.īefore examining the merit of these claims against President Oaks’ actual comments, it would be prudent to frame these responses in their historical context. Interestingly, this Mama Dragon actually said she agreed with President Oaks’ statement, it was just the “way he meant it,” that bothered her. Another member of Mama Dragons stated that he should be ashamed of himself, because by claiming that gender was eternal, he could drive a transgender youth to suicide. Jim Dabakis claimed President Oaks was a bully who made LGBT youth feel unloved, and alleged that President Oaks told them that they were part of Satan’s plan. One local advocate named Becky Moss was quoted as saying that President Oaks urged members to oppose the rights of LGBT people. I’d like to look at several of them, and analyze what they might tell us about this issue, how those from different viewpoints are approaching it, and what we can learn from it. General indignation seemed to be sufficient for those people. Unfortunately, despite the strong rhetoric, many who made the condemning statements on social media and elsewhere failed to cite what words were actually offensive. Such drastic condemnation would certainly lead the reasonable reader to ask what horrible thing President Oaks said to possibly elicit such a strong response. Others actually implied that people may have to call a crisis line following the talk.
A brief review of social media and other contemporary news articles will quickly demonstrate that the Mama Dragons were not alone in their feelings that some wrong was committed by Elder Oaks. These claims were made by Lori Davis, a Board Member of a group called Mama Dragons, a group whose stated purpose is to provide support for Mormon and former Mormon mothers of LGBT children. Oaks’ recent General Conference talk entitled Truth and the Plan. “Harmful rhetoric” and “discrimination” were alleged to have been a part of President Dallin H. One church leader in particular has himself become a lightning rod on the subject. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is no exception to this rule, being one of the more conservative religions when it comes to this topic.
Often, the flash point of these debates revolves around the religious beliefs of those who question the morality of LGBT behavior. The debate surrounding LGBT issues is one high in emotion and passion, with all sides having strongly held beliefs and entrenched views.