As Gay Groups Protest, Facebook Pages Offer Mormon Leader Boyd Packer Support
PUBLISHED: OCTOBER 14, 2010
As gay groups denounce Boyd K. Packer's anti-gay message, the LDS
leader is receiving messages of support from thousands of Facebook
users.
leader is receiving messages of support from thousands of Facebook
users.
The Facebook event titled WE LOVE YOU – President Boyd K. Packer by
the group LDS Young Men & Women urges followers to support
the president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' (the
Mormons) Quorum of Twelve Apostles as he draws heat from local and
national gay rights groups.
the group LDS Young Men & Women urges followers to support
the president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' (the
Mormons) Quorum of Twelve Apostles as he draws heat from local and
national gay rights groups.
“My only desire in creating this event is to tell President Packer that we
love him,” the campaign's author wrote.
love him,” the campaign's author wrote.
“So for those who do, let's send him 100,000 letters by this Friday,
October 15th, to simply tell him how much we love him and sustain
him as a prophet, seer and revelator.”
October 15th, to simply tell him how much we love him and sustain
him as a prophet, seer and revelator.”
Speaking at the church's 180th General Conference in downtown Salt
Lake City, Packer railed against marriage – “To legalize that which is
basically wrong or evil will not prevent the pain and penalties that will
follow as surely as night follows day.” – and rejected the notion that
same-sex attraction – which he called “impure and unnatural” – is inborn.
“Why would our Heavenly Father do that to anyone?” he rhetorically asked.
Lake City, Packer railed against marriage – “To legalize that which is
basically wrong or evil will not prevent the pain and penalties that will
follow as surely as night follows day.” – and rejected the notion that
same-sex attraction – which he called “impure and unnatural” – is inborn.
“Why would our Heavenly Father do that to anyone?” he rhetorically asked.
Packer's speech, given on Oct. 3, sparked a 4,500-strong protest by
local gay rights activists, who called the apostle's words painful.
local gay rights activists, who called the apostle's words painful.
On Tuesday, Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign
(HRC), the nation's largest gay rights advocate, delivered a petition letter
carrying 150,000 signatures denouncing Packer's message.
(HRC), the nation's largest gay rights advocate, delivered a petition letter
carrying 150,000 signatures denouncing Packer's message.
Solmonese called Packer's statements “inaccurate” and “dangerous.”
“We're here today to tell Elder Packer and those in the Mormon Church
hierarchy who agree with him that his statements are both factually
and scientifically wrong and that more importantly, they are dangerous
and are putting millions of lives in great danger,” Solmonese said at
a press conference outside Mormon Church headquarters.
hierarchy who agree with him that his statements are both factually
and scientifically wrong and that more importantly, they are dangerous
and are putting millions of lives in great danger,” Solmonese said at
a press conference outside Mormon Church headquarters.
As of Wednesday night, nearly 30,000 people had responded to the
Facebook event.
Facebook event.
BY ON TOP MAGAZINE STAFF
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