Mormon Church's New "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Policy | Daniella Castanheira

In 2016, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint's prophet and president, Russell Nelson, declared that God had said to ban all LGBT parents' children from baptism. According to Mormon doctrine, a baptism is essential for salvation, effectively marginalizing the LGBT community and causing 1,500 Mormons to renounce their church membership. On Thursday, April 4, 2019, however, the church reversed the policy, allowing those children to be baptized and stating that married gay Mormons would no longer be treated as apostates. This creates a "don't ask, don't tell" policy, where each bishop decides how to respond to same-sex marriages within his congregation. Despite this, the church still views same-sex marriage as a "serious transgression," and this new policy does not offer acceptance.

This article was written by Lauren Jackson and updated April 5, 2019, one day after the decision had been made. Before reading this article, I didn't know about this revelation. Personally, while I am glad that more is being done for the LGBT community, the fact that the church seems to be changing its mind and policies based more on social moods and bureaucratic will than actual faith is troubling. If acceptance is being displayed to be politically correct rather than out of actual care, some members or bishops could potentially ignore this revelation and continue to exclude LGBT people. Not to mention the fact that simply having a "don't ask, don't tell" policy rather than a policy of acceptance seems like a small step. To me, this feels like the United States DADT policy ("Don't ask, don't tell") under the Clinton Administration in 1994 that was implemented in the military to allow gays, bisexuals, and lesbians to serve. That arrangement created opportunities for LGBT people, yes, but didn't formally accept them or make gay marriage legal. Either way, I am not a religious individual and cannot fully measure how much progress this new policy will create, but I have high hopes for the future.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/05/us/mormon-policy-reversal/