1. Dallin H. Oaks, Nov. 2013 Ensign, pp. 73-75:
"We are responsible to be compassionate and charitable (loving) toward all men.... We are also respectful of the religious beliefs of all people, even of those increasing numbers who profess no belief in God.... But we are hopeful that others will be equally respectful of our religious beliefs and understand that our beliefs compel us to some different choices and behaviors than theirs. For example, we believe that, as an essential part of His plan of salvation, God has established an eternal standard that sexual relations should occur only between a man and a woman who are married. The power to create mortal life is the most exalted power God has given to His children."
"Our twelfth article of faith states our belief in being subject to civil authority and 'in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.' But man's laws cannot make moral what God has declared immoral. Commitment to our highest priority--to love and serve God--requires that we look to His law for our standard of behavior."
"Laws legalizing so-called 'same-sex marriage' do not change God's law of marriage or His commandments and our standards concerning it. We remain under covenant to love God and keep His commandments and to refrain from serving other gods and priorities--even those becoming popular in our particular time and place. In this determination we may be misunderstood, and we may incur accusations of bigotry, suffer discrimination, or have to withstand invasions of our free exercise of religion. If so, I think we should remember our first priority--to serve God--and, like our pioneer predecessors, push our personal handcarts forward with the same fortitude they exhibited."
2. Elder Russell M. Nelson, Nov. 2013 Ensign, p. 108:
"In our day civil governments have a vested interest in protecting marriage because strong families constitute the best way of providing for the health, education, welfare, and prosperity of rising generations. But civil governments are heavily influenced by social trends and secular philosophies as they write, rewrite, and enforce laws. Regardless of what civil legislation may be enacted, the doctrine of the Lord regarding marriage and morality cannot be changed. Remember: sin, even if legalized by man, is still sin in the eyes of God!"
3. Elder Neil L. Andersen, May 2014 Ensign, pp. 19-20:
"While many governments and well-meaning individuals have redefined marriage, the Lord has not. In the very beginning, God initiated marriage between a man and a woman--Adam and Eve. He designated the purposes of marriage to go far beyond the personal satisfaction and fulfillment of adults to, more importantly, advancing the ideal setting for children to be born, reared, and nurtured. Families are the treasure of heaven."
"Of special concern to us should be those who struggle with same-sex attraction. It is a whirlwind of enormous velocity. I want to express my love and admiration for those who courageously confront this trial of faith and stay true to the commandments of God! But everyone, independent of his or her decisions and beliefs, deserves our kindness and consideration. The Savior taught us to love not only our friends but also those who disagree with us--and even those who repudiate us.... The Prophet Joseph Smith warned us to 'beware of self-righteousness' and to enlarge our hearts toward all men and women until we feel 'to take them upon our shoulders.' In the gospel of Jesus Christ, there is no place for ridicule, bullying, or bigotry."
4. Elder Dallin H. Oaks, May 2014 Ensign, p. 51:
"The famous Russian writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn is quoted as saying, 'It is time . . . to defend not so much human rights as human obligations.' Latter-day Saints surely recognize that qualifying for exaltation is not a matter of asserting rights but a matter of fulfilling responsibilities."
5. President Boyd K. Packer, May 2015 Ensign, pp. 26-28:
"The end of all activity in the Church is to see that a man and a woman with their children are happy at home, sealed together for time and for all eternity."
"The commandment to multiply and replenish the earth has never been rescinded. It is essential to the plan of redemption and is the source of human happiness. Through the righteous exercise of this power, we may come close to our Father in Heaven and experience a fulness of joy, even godhood. The power of procreation is not an incidental part of the plan; it is the plan of happiness; it is the key to happiness. The desire to mate in humankind is constant and very strong. Our happiness in mortal life, our joy and exaltation are dependent upon how we respond to these persistent, compelling physical desires."
"Pure love . . . is to be shared solely and only with that one who is your companion forever. When entered into worthily, this process combines the most exquisite and exalted physical, emotional, and spiritual feelings associated with the word love. That part of life has no equal, no counterpart, in all human experience. It will, when covenants are made and kept, last eternally."
"The only legitimate, authorized expression of the powers of procreation is between husband and wife, a man and a woman, who have been legally and lawfully married. Anything other than this violates the commandments of God."
6. Elder L. Tom Perry, May 2015 Ensign, pp. 41-42:
"The entire theology of our restored gospel centers on families and on the new and everlasting covenant of marriage.... We also believe that strong traditional families are not only the basic units of a stable society, a stable economy, and a stable culture of values--but that they are also the basic units of eternity and of the kingdom and government of God."
As New York Times columnist David Brooks said: 'People are not better off when they are given maximum personal freedom to do what they want. They're better off when they are enshrouded in commitments that transcend personal choice--commitments to family, God, craft, and country.'"
"We want our voice to be heard against all of the counterfeit and alternative lifestyles that try to replace the family organization that God Himself established. We also want our voice to be heard in sustaining the joy and fulfillment that traditional families bring."
7. Elder D. Todd Christofferson, May 2015 Ensign, p. 52:
"A family built on the marriage of a man and woman supplies the best setting for God's plan to thrive.... A critical mass of families built on such marriages is vital for societies to survive and flourish.... And so 'we warn that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets.'"
"It is in the matrimonial union of male and female as one that we attain perhaps the most complete meaning of our having been made in the image of God--male and female. Neither we nor any other mortal can alter this divine order of matrimony. It is not a human invention."
