Mormonism Explained
Do Mormons Support LGBTQ People? What the Church Actually Teaches
It is one of the most-searched questions about the faith — and one of the most flattened, by defenders and critics alike. The honest answer turns on a single word: support. On some meanings the answer is a clear yes, including places most people never expect. On others it is a firm no the Church has never hidden. This page separates the meanings and states each one straight.
The Short Answer
Do Mormons support LGBTQ people?
It depends entirely on what “support” means — and honesty requires giving both answers, not picking the convenient one. If support means treating LGBTQ people with love, dignity, and full welcome, the answer is yes, and the Church says so in its own voice: its official resource leads with “Kindness, Inclusion, and Respect for All of God’s Children,” it teaches that same-sex attraction is not a sin, and members who experience it participate fully — callings, temple, priesthood. If support means backing legal protections for LGBTQ people, the answer is also, and more surprisingly, yes: the Church helped pass Utah’s landmark 2015 anti-discrimination law and endorsed the federal Respect for Marriage Act in 2022. If support means doctrinal inclusion — the same covenant path and the same blessings — the Church’s answer is again yes, and it is emphatic: it holds LGBTQ members to the same law of chastity as everyone and promises them the same blessings through faithfulness, redefining marriage for no one. The one thing it does not do is redefine marriage itself to sanction same-sex relationships — a standard it applies universally, not selectively. On transgender questions, recent guidance is more restrictive. So: welcomed as people, defended in certain civil rights, invited to the same blessings on the same terms in doctrine. Anyone who tells you the answer is a simple yes or a simple no is selling you a side, not the record.
Key Takeaways
- “Support” has at least three meanings. Welcome of people, backing of civil rights, and doctrinal affirmation are different questions with different answers. Collapsing them is how both sides mislead.
- People: yes. The Church teaches kindness, inclusion, and respect; holds that same-sex attraction is not a sin; and grants full participation to members who live the law of chastity.
- Civil rights: yes, selectively.The Church backed Utah’s 2015 housing-and-employment nondiscrimination law and endorsed the 2022 Respect for Marriage Act — each paired with religious-liberty protections.
- Doctrinal affirmation: no. The law of chastity limits sexual intimacy to marriage between a man and a woman; the Church does not perform or recognize same-sex marriage.
- Transgender: more restrictive. Recent General Handbook guidance counsels against gender transition and limits certain privileges — the hardest edge of the record, stated here plainly.
- The tension is real. Many LGBTQ people do not experience the Church as supportive, and this page does not pretend the welcome resolves the cost.
If this topic is heavy for you
The flattened yes: “The Church has fully embraced LGBTQ people”
Overstates it. The welcome and the civil-rights support are real — but doctrine on marriage and conduct has not changed, and recent transgender guidance tightened.
Half the record
The flattened no: “The Church rejects LGBTQ people entirely”
Overstates it badly. Same-sex attraction is taught as no sin; members participate fully; the same blessings are promised on the same terms; and the Church backed nondiscrimination law and the Respect for Marriage Act.
Also half the record
Two flat answers, both wrong. The record is more interesting than either — and this page gives all of it.
Define the Term
The Word Doing the Work
Almost every argument about whether Latter-day Saints “support” LGBTQ people is really an argument about the word support, with each side quietly loading it to win. Ask a critic, and support means affirmation — blessing same-sex marriages, celebrating Pride, treating a gay relationship as equal in the eyes of God. By that definition the Church plainly does not support LGBTQ people, and no honest defender should pretend otherwise. Ask a defender, and support means love — welcoming LGBTQ people into the pews, refusing to treat their attractions as sins, defending their dignity and their civil rights. By that definition the Church does support LGBTQ people, and no honest critic should pretend it doesn’t.
Both are describing the same institution accurately; they are just answering different questions. So this page refuses the trick. It separates the three things “support” can mean — welcome of the person, defense of civil rights, and affirmation of conduct and identity — and answers each on its own terms, in the Church’s own words where the Church has spoken. The result is not a verdict either camp will love. It is the one the record actually supports.
The Answer Critics Underweight
Support as Welcome
Start with the person, because this is where the Church has moved most visibly. Its central public resource on the subject is not titled with a prohibition; it is headed “Kindness, Inclusion, and Respect for All of God’s Children.” In 2016 the Church stated plainly that experiencing same-sex attraction is not a sin — a distinction it now draws in every official treatment: feelings are not transgressions; conduct is the only thing the law of chastity addresses. It counsels parents of a gay child to love and embrace that child, and congregations to build a welcoming environment.
And the welcome is not merely rhetorical. Church policy holds that members who experience same-sex attraction and live the law of chastity remain in full standing: they may hold callings, hold a temple recommend, receive temple ordinances, and — for men — receive and exercise the priesthood. A gay Latter-day Saint keeping the same standard asked of every unmarried member is not a guest and not on probation; they are a member in full. None of this makes the Church an affirming church in the activist sense, and this page will not claim it does. But the caricature of a faith that wants LGBTQ people gone is contradicted by the Church’s own published words and its own membership rules. Whatever else is true, the welcome of the person is real and it is on the record.
That welcome shows up in the Church’s own publications, too. Its official magazine, the Liahona, has run first-person essays by gay members — such as Spencer Thompson’s 2021 account of moving from shame to belonging while keeping his covenants, alongside a companion guide, “Understanding and Including Our LGBT Brothers and Sisters.” Writing of a low moment when he feared returning to a congregation that didn’t understand him, Thompson recounts the impression that came: “they don’t need to get you, because I get you.” These are individual testimonies, not universal templates — but a church that publishes its gay members’ stories with dignity is not one working to make them disappear.
The Support Nobody Expects
Support as Civil Rights
Here is the part of the record that surprises nearly everyone, because it cuts against the story both sides tell. On more than one occasion, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has actively supported legal protections for LGBTQ people. In 2015, the Church threw its institutional weight behind a Utah law — sometimes called the “Utah Compromise” — that barred discrimination against LGBTQ people in housing and employment, while carving out protections for religious institutions. It was a landmark: a conservative faith publicly backing gay-rights legislation in the most Latter-day Saint state in the country.
Then, in 2022, the Church went further onto the national stage and endorsed the federal Respect for Marriage Act — the law requiring recognition of same-sex and interracial marriages — because the bill included religious-liberty protections. The Church made its reasoning explicit and, notably, did not hide the tension: it affirmed that its doctrine on same-sex relationships would not change, while stating that protecting the rights of LGBTQ people and the rights of religious believers together was the way forward.
This is the “fairness for all” posture the Church has increasingly adopted: it does not treat civil equality and doctrinal disagreement as the same fight. One can find that posture insufficient — many LGBTQ advocates do, noting the Church spent decades and millions opposing same-sex marriage before it shifted to this ground, including the Proposition 8 campaign in 2008. That history is real and belongs in the record too. But the claim that the Church only ever works against LGBTQ legal interests is simply false. On specific, consequential laws, it has worked for them.
The Civil-Rights Record — For and Against
Supported
2015· Utah housing & employment nondiscrimination law (with religious carve-outs)
2022 · Federal Respect for Marriage Act (with religious-liberty protections)
Opposed
1990s–2008 · Multiple same-sex-marriage ballot measures, incl. California Prop 8
Ongoing · Does not perform or recognize same-sex marriage within the Church
The record contains both columns. Any summary that shows only one is incomplete.
One Standard, One Promise
The Same Law — and the Same Blessings
Here is where the sharpest disagreement forms — and where the Church’s own framing is most often lost in translation. Critics describe the doctrine as withholding support from LGBTQ people. The Church describes it the opposite way: not a separate, lesser standard for some, but a single standard and a single set of promised blessings held out to everyone alike. The law of chastity — sexual intimacy reserved for a marriage between a man and a woman — is not a rule written for gay members; it governs every member, married or single, in every orientation.
And the blessings held out for living it are not rationed by orientation either. As President Russell M. Nelson has taught, “God’s laws are motivated entirely by His infinite love for us.” In Latter-day Saint theology the law and the blessing are the same gift: God gives commandments precisely so His children can qualify for everything He wants to give them. What the Church teaches, then, is that a faithful Latter-day Saint who experiences same-sex attraction qualifies for God’s blessings on exactly the terms every member does — by keeping covenants.
Speaking of a member living the law of chastity, Elder Lance B. Wickman stated the promise concretely: “Every blessing — including eternal marriage — is and will be mine in due course.” Elder Jeffrey R. Holland taught that God’s richest blessings are eventually available to all who are “clean and faithful.” And the Church’s own policy states it in its plainest form: faithful members whose circumstances do not allow eternal marriage in this life “will receive all promised blessings in the eternities, provided they keep the covenants” they have made (see Mosiah 2:41). The promise is not smaller for an LGBTQ member. It is the same promise, on the same terms.
This is the doctrine as the Church states it — and stating it this way is not softening it. The Church does not redefine marriage or the law of chastity for anyone, gay or straight, and honesty requires naming what that asks of a member who experiences same-sex attraction and keeps the standard: for now, in this life, either a mixed-orientation marriage or faithful celibacy, a real and heavy weight this page does not wave away. But “the same law and the same blessings, offered to all” is not the language of exclusion. It is the language of a church that believes it is holding its highest promises open to every one of its children on identical terms. One may accept or reject that theology; that is a separate question. What it is not is doctrinal indifference to LGBTQ people. By the Church’s own account, the doctrine is not how it excludes them — it is how it loves them.
The Hardest Part of the Record
Transgender Members: The Hard Edge
Everything above concerns sexual orientation. Gender identity is a separate question, and honesty requires saying that here the Church’s guidance is more restrictive — and has recently tightened, not loosened. Latter-day Saint theology treats gender as an eternal characteristic: the 1995 “Family: A Proclamation to the World” states that gender is an essential part of eternal identity and purpose. Flowing from that, the General Handbook counsels members against pursuing social, medical, or surgical gender transition, and attaches membership restrictions to those who do.
Updated guidance issued in 2024 expanded these limits: members who socially or medically transition can face restrictions on holding callings that involve children, teaching, and priesthood or temple participation, and in some cases a formal annotation on their membership record. The Church also states that it “does not take a position” on the inner experience of gender incongruity itself, and instructs that transgender individuals and their families be treated with sensitivity, kindness, and compassion — language this page reports as written.
But it would be dishonest to let the compassionate framing stand in for the substance: on gender identity, the practical restrictions are real and, in 2024, grew. Critics — including many faithful members — have found this guidance painful and hard to reconcile with the welcome extended elsewhere, and this page does not tell them they are wrong to feel the tension. The record on transgender members is the part least captured by a warm summary, and it belongs in any honest answer to the question this page asks.
Stated plainly
On sexual orientation, the Church pairs a real welcome with an unchanging standard. On gender identity, recent guidance is more restrictive, and grew more so in 2024. A truthful answer to “do Mormons support LGBTQ people?” cannot average these into a single word — it has to name them separately, which is what this page has done.
Steelmanning the Critics
The Strongest Objection
The strongest version of the critical case does not deny any of the welcome above. It says the welcome is real and still insufficient — even contradictory. A gay member is told they belong fully, and also that the love they feel may never be expressed in a sanctioned relationship in this life; a transgender member is told they are met with compassion, and also that living according to their gender identity carries formal restriction. Critics argue that a welcome offered on the condition of celibacy or non-transition is not the same as support, and that the civil-rights record, real as it is, arrived only after decades of active opposition and stops well short of affirmation.
This is a serious argument and it deserves to be stated at full strength rather than dismissed: for many LGBTQ people, “we love you and you cannot have what your heterosexual siblings have” does not land as support, and no volume of kind language changes the underlying asymmetry. A fair page does not pretend that tension away.
What a fair page can do is insist the asymmetry be described accurately rather than maximally. The Church’s position is not that LGBTQ people are unwelcome, unloved, or without rights worth defending in law; it has said and done the opposite on specific, documented occasions. Its position is that welcome and civil dignity do not, in its theology, extend to affirming same-sex marriage or gender transition. One may judge that position wrong — many sincerely do — but it should be judged as what it is, not as the cartoon of a faith that wants LGBTQ people gone. The honest disagreement is about whether conditional welcome counts as support. That is a real and hard question. It is not the same as the false question of whether the Church offers any welcome at all.
The Honest Answer
So — Do Mormons Support LGBTQ People?
Largely yes — with one precise exception, and the precision is the point. As people, LGBTQ individuals are welcomed: the Church teaches kindness, inclusion, and respect, holds that same-sex attraction is not a sin, and grants full participation to members who live the law of chastity. As citizens, they have at times been supported: the Church backed Utah’s 2015 nondiscrimination law and the 2022 Respect for Marriage Act. As a matter of doctrine, they are met with the same invitation as everyone: the same law of chastity, and the same promised blessings, offered on the same terms — faithful members, the Church teaches, receive all blessings in the eternities.
The one thing the Church does not do is redefine marriage to sanction same-sex relationships — a single standard it applies to every member, not a support withheld from some. On gender identity, recent guidance is more restrictive, and this page states that plainly too. The one-sentence version: Latter-day Saints are taught to love LGBTQ people, to defend some of their rights in law, and to offer them the very same covenant path and the very same blessings as every other member — while keeping one unchanged definition of marriage for all.
Quick Answers
Do Mormons accept gay people?
As people and as members, yes — those who experience same-sex attraction and live the law of chastity participate fully, including callings, temple, and priesthood. Same-sex attraction is taught as not a sin.
Yes
As people and members
Does the Church support same-sex marriage?
No. It does not perform or recognize same-sex marriage and teaches that same-sex sexual relationships fall outside the law of chastity.
No
Doctrine unchanged
Has the Church ever backed LGBTQ rights?
Yes — it supported Utah’s 2015 nondiscrimination law and endorsed the 2022 Respect for Marriage Act, each paired with religious-liberty protections.
Yes
Specific laws
What is the Church’s stance on transgender members?
More restrictive. Guidance counsels against gender transition and, as of 2024 updates, attaches membership restrictions — while instructing that transgender members be treated with compassion.
Restrictive
Tightened in 2024
Are Mormons against LGBTQ people?
No — the Church teaches love, inclusion, and respect, backs some civil protections, and offers LGBTQ members the same covenant path and blessings as everyone. It keeps one definition of marriage for all, which is a universal standard, not opposition to a group.
No
Same standard for all
Can you be LGBTQ and a Latter-day Saint?
Yes. See our companion article, Can You Be Gay and Mormon?, for the doctrine-and-belonging detail, including where the covenant path carries a real cost.
Yes
Full standing possible
Frequently Asked Questions
Do Mormons support LGBTQ people?
It depends on what support means. As people: yes — the Church teaches kindness, inclusion, and respect, holds that same-sex attraction is not a sin, and grants full participation to members who live the law of chastity. As citizens: yes on specific laws — it backed Utah’s 2015 nondiscrimination law and the 2022 Respect for Marriage Act. As affirmation of same-sex marriage: no — the Church keeps one definition of marriage, applied to every member. On gender identity, recent guidance is more restrictive.
What is the Mormon Church’s official stance on LGBTQ issues?
Its central public resource is headed “Kindness, Inclusion, and Respect for All of God’s Children.” It teaches that experiencing same-sex attraction is not a sin, that the law of chastity governs conduct for every member alike, and that the Church does not perform or recognize same-sex marriage. General Handbook guidance on transgender members counsels against gender transition and, following 2024 updates, attaches membership restrictions.
Did the Mormon Church really support the Respect for Marriage Act?
Yes. In 2022 the Church publicly endorsed the federal Respect for Marriage Act, which requires recognition of same-sex and interracial marriages, because the bill carried religious-liberty protections. It said at the same time that its own doctrine on same-sex relationships would not change.
Does the Church welcome transgender members?
It instructs that transgender individuals and their families be treated with sensitivity, kindness, and compassion, and says it does not take a position on the inner experience of gender incongruity. But the practical guidance is restrictive: the General Handbook counsels against social, medical, or surgical transition, and 2024 updates expanded restrictions on callings, teaching, and priesthood or temple participation for members who transition.
Sources & Further Reading
- “Kindness, Inclusion, and Respect for All of God’s Children” — the resource whose title is quoted in §02. churchofjesuschrist.org/topics/gay
- “Same-Sex Attraction,” Gospel Topics — the not-a-sin teaching and the counsel to parents cited in §02. churchofjesuschrist.org
- General Handbook, sections 38.6.15 and 38.6.23 — the law of chastity, and the guidance on transgender members including the 2024 updates described in §05. churchofjesuschrist.org
- Spencer Thompson, “Same-Sex Attraction and My Journey from Shame to Joy,” Liahona, Oct. 2021 — the “I get you” passage quoted in §02. churchofjesuschrist.org
- Ryan J. Wessel, “Understanding and Including Our LGBT Brothers and Sisters,” Liahona, Oct. 2021 — the companion guide. churchofjesuschrist.org
- “Statement on the US Congress Respect for Marriage Act,” Church Newsroom, November 15, 2022 — the 2022 endorsement and its religious-liberty reasoning, described in §03. newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org
- Utah S.B. 296 (2015), the housing and employment nondiscrimination law sometimes called the “Utah Compromise,” and the Church’s public support for it.
- “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” (1995) — gender as an eternal characteristic, cited in §05. churchofjesuschrist.org
- Companion articles: Can You Be Gay and Mormon?, Are Gay Mormon Kids Safe in the Mormon Church?, and Did 34 Gay Mormon Kids Die by Suicide From LDS Policy?