Our Transgender Siblings Impacted by Exclusionary Church Policy
In response to the August 2024 updates to General Handbook: Serving in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Executive Committee of Affirmation: LGBTQ Mormons, Families & Friends released the following statement:
We mourn with our transgender siblings as we wrestle with the painful impact of recent policy changes and guidelines released by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. With over 45 years of providing support to LGBTQIA+ individuals who are current and former members of the Church, we know first-hand the pain that policies like this cause. We stand with our transgender siblings.
Rather than seek to better understand, include, and affirm transgender individuals who are also Latter-day Saints, leaders of the Church have opted to further restrict these members’ ability to participate. While these changes specifically impact individuals who have socially or medically transitioned, all are affected by the messages conveyed in these policies, which reject authentic experience and identity.
Prior to these updates, transgender members of the Church could expect their gender identities to be respected through the use of their chosen names, to participate in church meetings aligning with their gender identities, and to have some opportunities to be called to serve within the Church. The recent updates reduce the hope that the gender identities of transgender members will be respected, prohibit transgender members from church meetings aligning with their gender identities, restrict access to restrooms, and explicitly prohibit transgender members from serving in the Church as teachers or working with children.
If you or someone you love is in crisis, please call 988 or visit 988lifeline.org for help. You can also reach the Trans Lifeline’s Hotline at (877) 565-8860.
Further, church policy now includes language that encourages detransitioning as the only pathway to reinstate full membership within the Church.
The Ninth Article of Faith of the Church states that “We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.” Modern revelation is a foundational belief of the Church. The claim of prophecy received today from the Lord’s anointed sets the Church apart from most Christian sects. However, in our view, the treatment of transgender individuals by those who claim the mantle of prophecy indicates that they, like Paul of old, “see through a glass, darkly” in this area. In that lack of clarity, leaders of the Church are co-opting ideologies of the world in promoting views of gender being restricted to that assigned at birth and in encouraging detransitioning.
We hope that God will yet reveal better for our transgender siblings.
Until then, Affirmation: LGBTQ Mormons, Families & Friends remains committed to creating worldwide communities of safety, love, and hope, fully inclusive and affirming of all sexual orientations, gender identities, beliefs, and relationships with the Church. We love you. We are here for you.
Fred Bowers, President
Joel McDonald, Senior Vice President
David Doyle, Vice President