The
campaign
of
former
Massachusetts
Gov.
Mitt
Romney,
who
is
seeking
the
Republican
nomination
in
the
2008
presidential
race,
and
his
apparent
change
of
heart
on
gay
issues,
have
raised
questions
about
the
teachings
of
the
Church
of
Jesus
Christ
of
Latter-day
Saints.
Some
political
observers
have
wondered
if
Romney’s
Mormon
faith
will
render
him
unelectable
at
the
national
level.
His
opponents
also
face
factors
some
see
as
obstacles
to
national
office
—
from
Hillary
Clinton’s
gender
to
Barack
Obama’s
race
to
John
McCain’s
age
to
Rudy
Giuliani’s
marital
track
record.
Romney’s
faith
may
be
more
of
a
hurdle,
though.
According
to
a
February
Gallup
Poll,
72
percent
of
responders
said
they’d
vote
for
a
qualified
nominee
who
is
Mormon
versus
94
percent
who
said
they’d
vote
for
a
qualified
black
nominee
and
88
percent
who
said
they’d
vote
for
a
qualified
female
nominee.
Further
complicating
Romney’s
chances
may
be
the
reluctance
of
evangelical
Christians,
a
group
that
widely
supported
President
Bush
in
the
last
two
elections,
to
back
a
Mormon
candidate.
Romney
has
said
his
religion,
which
forbids
gay
sex,
shouldn’t
be
an
issue.
“I’m
running
for
a
secular
position,”
Romney
told
USA
Today.
“I
subscribe
to
what
Abraham
Lincoln
called
America’s
political
religion.
The
Constitution
and
the
rule
of
law
are
the
highest
promises
I
would
make
in
taking
the
oath
of
office.”
Kim
Farah,
a
spokesperson
for
the
Mormon
Church,
spoke
to
the
Blade
from
church
headquarters
in
Utah.
She
said
the
church
has
a
strict
policy
of
neutrality
in
politics.
She
said
not
everyone
has
the
same
views
on
the
candidates,
including
Romney,
or
the
issues
they
represent.
“People
don’t
realize
how
much
diversity
there
is
in
the
church,”
she
said.
“Members
are
encouraged
to
be
active
in
politics,
but
their
viewpoints
and
who
they
decide
to
support
are
entirely
up
to
them.”
Farah
said
Romney
is
not
the
first
Mormon
to
run
for
president.
Joseph
Smith,
founder
of
the
Mormon
Church,
ran
for
president
in
1844
and
Romney’s
father,
a
former
Michigan
Governor,
ran
in
1968.
Republican
Sen.
Orrin
Hatch
from
Utah
ran
in
2000.
In
1994,
Mitt
Romney
ran
on
a
liberal
platform
against
Ted
Kennedy
for
the
U.S.
Senate,
supporting
Roe
v.
Wade
and
gay
rights.
In
recent
years,
his
position
on
gay
issues
and
reproductive
rights,
like
those
of
Hatch,
have
become
extremely
conservative.
He
now
supports
the
military’s
ban
on
open
service
by
gays
and
opposes
civil
unions,
same-sex
marriage
and
the
Employment
Non-Discrimination
Act.
Members
of
the
Mormon
Church
follow
both
the
Bible
and
the
Book
of
Mormon,
which
they
believe
to
be
the
revelations
of
later
prophets
in
North
America.
Joseph
Smith
started
the
church
in
1830.
The
current
leader
of
the
faith
is
97-year-old
president
Gordon
Hinckley.
The
church
opposes
same-sex
marriage.
It
teaches
that
heterosexual
marriage
and
family
ties
are
forever,
including
the
afterlife.
For
gay
members
of
the
church,
this
means
an
afterlife
separated
from
beloved
relatives
unless
they
“change”
their
sexual
orientation
or
stay
in
the
closet.
In
1998,
statements
by
Hinckley
that
were
distributed
by
the
church
said
gays
were
loved
“as
sons
and
daughters
of
God,”
but
“they
may
have
certain
inclinations
which
are
powerful
and
which
may
be
difficult
to
control.”
“If
they
do
not
act
upon
these
inclinations,
then
they
can
go
forward
as
do
all
other
members
of
the
church,”
Hinckley
wrote.
“If
they
violate
the
law
of
chastity
and
the
moral
standards
of
the
church,
then
they
are
subject
to
the
discipline
of
the
church,
just
as
others
are.”
Support
for
gay
Mormons
Affirmation:
Gay
and
Lesbian
Mormons,
a
national
educational,
social
and
spiritual
group,
is
celebrating
its
30th
anniversary
this
year,
yet
the
official
church
has
barely
acknowledged
the
organization’s
existence.
The
closest
it
came
was
a
passing
mention
in
a
biography
of
late
church
president
Spencer
Kimball.
Although
there
are
individual
gay-friendly
congregations
around
the
country
that
fly
under
the
radar
of
church
hierarchy,
most
gay
Mormons
find
themselves
with
a
choice
to
make:
remain
in
the
closet
or
leave
the
church
altogether.
David
Melson,
55,
chapter
leader
of
Affirmation
DC,
was
raised
Presbyterian
in
Belvedere,
Ill.
He
was
an
openly
gay
college
student
when
he
went
to
Case
Western
Reserve
University
during
the
early
1970s.
After
college
he
met
up
with
some
Mormon
missionaries.
“One
of
the
things
they
said
was
to
take
what
I
heard,
study
and
pray
about
it,
which
I
did,”
he
said.
“I
had
a
strong
testimony
of
the
basic
principles
of
the
Gospel,
which
I
thought
was
true.
I
went
back
into
the
closet
for
a
few
years
and
thought
the
‘minor
problems,’
such
as
being
gay,
would
work
themselves
out.”
He
was
25
when
he
went
to
serve
a
mission
in
China
and
the
Philippines
for
two
years.
From
his
return
in
1982
until
his
unofficial
departure
from
the
Mormon
Church
in
June
2006,
he
held
several
leadership
positions
in
the
church,
including
ordained
high
priest
and
a
Relief
Society
president.
He
said
he
still
retains
a
leadership
post
in
a
youth
leadership
group,
but
has
not
taken
an
active
role
in
that
capacity
in
several
years.
He
became
affiliated
...
