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Hundreds of Mormons resign in protest to church LGBT policy

By Shawn Price

SALT LAKE CITY, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- Hundreds of Mormon church members resigned from the church to protest its new LGBT policy.

A large rally Saturday at a church building in Salt Lake City was the latest backlash over a new policy the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints issued Nov. 5, saying children under the age of 18 whose parents are a same-sex couple cannot be baptized. Once they turn 18 and disavow same-sex relationships, they may then be baptized.

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Many of the protesters were no longer active church members, but the new policy made them want to officially cut ties.

"We're supposed to love our children like God loves us," said former Mormon Teresa Schofield. "To ask someone to turn their back on their own child or for a child to turn their back on a parent, that's unnecessary."

A day earlier, the church made statements standing behind the new policy, but clarifying the rationale was to prevent mixed messages between what is taught at home and what is taught in the church. And while the children cannot be baptized, they can still attend regular church services. Also, the policy was for children who live primarily with a same-sex couple.

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The new policy also renounces same-sex relationships as a sin worthy of expulsion.

Since the announcement of the LGBT policy, different petitions have circulated asking NCAA teams to boycott games against Brigham Young University and for performers not to sing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

Brigham Young University sporting events were protested in the 1960s and 1970s for the church banning African Americans from the priesthood, a policy which was eventually abolished in 1978.

Protests also followed the church's opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s. Several Mormon women who supported the ERA chained themselves to the gates of a Mormon temple in Washington and others burned Mormon temple garments in Ogden, Utah.

A group of 120 members resigned in a protest in 2012 that ended with a hike to Salt Lake City's Ensign Peak. After sending letters of resignation, the group hiked to the top of the local mountain carrying signs that stated "Transcend Mormonism," "Finally ExMormon," and "Research the church." The mass resignation was prompted by disagreements over a variety of issues, including polygamy and same-sex marriage.

"If you are hurting today, you are not alone. If you are angry today, you are not alone," said event co-organizer Lauren Elise McNamara. "We are here for you and your families. Today we expand from members of a church that excludes to members of a world community that embraces. A world that is choosing love."

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Church leaders shook off the protests and said the defections only continue society's move toward secularization.

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