Rainbow Mormon Initiative

I saw this quote at the bottom of the blog:

And maybe someday, a General Authority will wear a rainbow tie or scarf during his/her talk in General Conference, signaling that their Love is unconditional, as it always must be.

Had me thinking just how incredibly conditional love and acceptance is, in the church. The problem I see with people wearing the rainbow is that its message is not clear at a glance. The rainbow is a symbol of a number of things and I am not sure the average Mormon would be comfortable wearing it for fear of misinterpretation of exactly what they are supporting. I would rather see a different symbol, such as heart encircling a group of people, one of which is in rainbow colors, for example.

Obvious caveat – I don’t know how many bishops are like this… But there is a bishop in my stake who threatened to take away the temple recommend of anyone who puts a rainbow filter on their facebook page or shows support in any way to LGBT causes. He views the rainbow as not supporting the brethren. I think he would follow through with his threat.

It’s extreme but there are leaders out there like that.

Obvious caveat – I don’t know how many bishops are like this… But there is a bishop in my stake who threatened to take away the temple recommend of anyone who puts a rainbow filter on their facebook page or shows support in any way to LGBT causes. He views the rainbow as not supporting the brethren. I think he would follow through with his threat.

It’s extreme but there are leaders out there like that.

I would push back and show him the comment that Elder Christopherson has made saying that you can be a member in good standing and support SSM from a political perspective as long as you are not pushing for the church to change.

I also looked for the smallest emblem. This is what I ordered. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LFU91Q8/” class=”bbcode_url”>https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LFU91Q8/ I will wear a tie that makes it not stand out at least the first few weeks.

I got some PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) bumper stickers and asked DW if I could put them on our vehicles. She asked me not to and I respect her desire not to make waves.

My intent was to show support for gay individuals – to let them know that we are “safe” individuals for them.

I would push back and show him the comment…

I would I could. He’s not my bishop and he’s not known for his compassion, reason, or humility.

Unfortunately I do not think you could win this one. There seems to be ultimate discretion on the bishop in deciding if someone gets a TR. Who would you appeal your case to? Would the very fact that you are going over the bishop’s head and not humbly submitting to the bishops requirements imply that maybe you are obstinate and resistant to “gentle persuasion” and perhaps the bishop was right in revoking your TR after all?

I could see being successful in appealing a disciplinary counsel under the correct conditions – but not the revocation of a TR.

Just something to consider.

You sort of inferred this, but you could appeal (or go over the head of the bishop depending on your point of view) to the stake president. There is roulette involved with that as well, but in my experience I have found them to be generally more compassionate than the bishops. My own SP would set it straight with the bishop, but mine is of a rarer breed.

Well I wore it today. Only one person even mentioned it, but I already knew she was very “progressive” on the gay issue. I emailed my bishop and even was in a meeting with him before church. No comment from him.

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Obvious caveat – I don’t know how many bishops are like this… But there is a bishop in my stake who threatened to take away the temple recommend of anyone who puts a rainbow filter on their facebook page or shows support in any way to LGBT causes. He views the rainbow as not supporting the brethren. I think he would follow through with his threat.

It’s extreme but there are leaders out there like that.

That really sucks.

I am so happy to have a bishop who knows that I am affiliated with “Mormons Building Bridges” and who is fully supportive of my involvement. While I can’t say for certain how my stake president feels, my bishop did tell me that he (the bishop) is pretty sure that he (the stake president) would not have any problem with it either. For the time being, at least, I’m blessed to have these men as my local leaders.