Groups try to spur dialogue, healing between gays, Mormons!

Cupertino, CA resident Laura Compton, 42, an active Mormon who supports gay marriage, waits and wonders whether the LDS Church, its gay members, and the gay community will be able to heal their tenuous relationships.

She's not the only one. Many Mormons are also asking, especially more liberal members. She said the LDS Church is likely to stay conservative regarding homosexuality, but that it may move a little to the left. In the meantime, Compton does her best to spur a dialogue on both sides.

"Not that long ago, church leaders actually counseled gay men to marry straight women as a way to cure their homosexual tendencies," Compton said. "Thankfully, that practice has been officially discouraged, but teachings about the importance of traditional marriage continue to be emphasized."

What is the future of the relationship between gays and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? Current and former Mormons and theologians offer a range of answers.

The Church's conservatism on a wide range of political and social issues is irritating to members with a more liberal bent, and could lead to alienation, said Richard Bushman, professor of Mormon studies at Claremont Graduate University in Southern California and author of the biography, "Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling."

"But I doubt that Proposition 8 alone will lead to a wholesale departure," Bushman said. "For gay men and women themselves, of course, it is a very serious problem.

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