Salt Lake City, USA - When LDS leaders urged the Mormon faithful last year to campaign for California's Proposition 8, Janeen Thompson turned in her temple recommend, resigned from most of her church positions and tacked a rainbow flag pin onto her Sunday best.
Now she is inviting her church to "reconcile" with her and others who opposed the Golden State's gay-marriage ban. She especially wants the church to reach out to gay men and lesbians who have been hurt by LDS statements about homosexuality.
"We would like the church to recognize the harm that's been done to people in the gay community, in general, but specifically to LDS gays who have tried to change their orientation to live up to the church's expectations," said Thompson, who still plays the church organ once or twice a month. "The effects can be really devastating to them and their families."
Thompson and Cheryl Nunn, both of Santa Cruz County, Calif., have launched the Committee for Reconciliation and an online petition at www.ldsapology.org. The petition, which had more than 240 signatures by Monday evening, invites both sides to be "open" to understanding, forgiveness and apology.
The committee plans to deliver the petition to top LDS leaders Nov. 4, the first anniversary of Prop 8's passage. The LDS Church declined to comment Monday.
But last month, when the California Supreme Court upheld the gay-marriage ban, the church released a
statement, saying, "The church stands firmly for what it believes is right for the health and well-being of society as a whole. In doing so, it once again affirms that all of us are children of God and all deserve to be treated with respect."
David Nielson - who is president of a small, weekly study group called LDS Reconciliation that bills itself as "gay-positive, LDS-positive" - said he is aware of the new petition.
"It is really easy to collect signatures on an online petition," he said. "To get two people to reconcile themselves is a lot harder."
His group's goal is not to find common ground with the LDS Church, Nielson said, but to help gays make peace with their Mormon families.
Utahn Linda Stay - a mother of five, including a gay son and a lesbian daughter - is hoping for reconciliation in her family. The Washington City resident and former Mormon signed the petition earlier this month.
She has become a gay-rights activist, staging a candlelight vigil in St. George before the Prop 8 vote and marching in Salt Lake City's Pride Parade earlier this month. But her stance has strained ties with her siblings and stepchildren, who are devout Mormons.
She also has watched her son's husband - the couple married in San Francisco last year - struggle to be accepted by his LDS family.
"I know that there are hundreds, thousands of families sitting in Mormon congregations that have a gay kid or brother or sister, and they are being torn apart inside," Stay said. "The church really does owe these families a huge apology. At some point, they need to re-examine their tactics in drawing that line in the sand and saying, 'Follow the prophet or support your gay children.' "
For Stay, the choice was simple: Her kids. -------------
Peggy Fletcher Stack contributed to this story