Comments:

Oftentimes when someone submits their signature to be posted on our All Are Alike unto God page, they also share with us their feelings about our site and how they agree or do not agree with our suggestions. We are sharing some of these comments in no particular order. Names and identifying information are removed from the comments. If you see your comment here and prefer that we remove it, please email us and we will. If you would like to see your first name and/or city or state with your comment, please let us know and we will be happy to add it.

 

Thank you/I support you/I like this list

• Thank you for this, it's perfectly written and summarizes some of the most important issues that must be addressed.
• I think these small changes will make a HUGE difference once you add them up!
• I think these ideas are presented in a respectful, faithful manner. I support the implementation of them whole heartedly.
• I love this list! Such concrete ideas, if implemented, would go a long way toward eliminating the current gender inequity in Mormonism.
• This is a well thought out document and it should be given serious attention.
• I have been in bishopric, had stake callings, and elders quorum president, and I agree with all bullets. Very well written!
• I love the ideas suggested, and I deeply care about and respect the women who created this website (many of whom I know personally). I hope whoever reads this takes the suggestions to heart and tries to implement them where they can.
• Not so sure about ordination, but I am fully in agreement with everything else.
• Thank you for your efforts. I find great comfort in knowing that I am not alone in what I feel are very righteous desires for change in the LDS church. Groups like this are truly an answer to prayer.
• Thank you for helping me feel like I am not alone, ostracized, or unreasonable.
• Thank you for this petition. It’s so nice to know that I'm no longer alone. For most of my life, I've felt like I was the only feminist in the church and I blamed myself. I felt flawed because I didn't want me or my daughters to be marginalized. It's so nice to know there are others like me.
• Support this 100%. There is really no excuse for continuing structural inequality; these are good, practical ideas for narrowing the gender gap in church participation. Nice work.
• I appreciate your approach. I do not sense anger, I sense perspective and that allows me to explore my feelings within the comfort of my testimony. Thank you for that.
• These are many concerns I had previously pondered, questioned and tried to find a solution for. Thank you for putting this petition together.
• Through my reading and research, I have begun to feel a burning in my bosom that everything stated on this site needs to be accepted and incorporated. These are the very issues that have been a deep, serious wound inside of me ever since I was a very little girl who grew up wishing she had been born a boy instead who had no limitations or second-class citizenship, and could hold God's highest regard, fully capable of doing his work. Thank you for existing!
• I am so glad to find this document, and to have the opportunity to stand up and be counted as a faithful Mormon woman, who loves God, and who believes as a matter of personal testimony, that these changes need to be made to the institutional structure and practices of the LDS church, for the well-being and spiritual advancement of women, men and children, in the church, and through our influence, in the world, for truly, ALL are alike unto God.
• Thank you! I feel this is right and I pray we will see change!
  I've been waiting for something like this, I thought it was just me. Thank you.
• Thank you for doing this. It is long time over due. I like the non-confrontational wording and vibe from the referendum.
• Thank you for providing a respectful vehicle to voice my support for equality of women in the church.
• May we all strive toward Zion, where we will truly be of one heart and one mind
• I am extremely thankful that this has been put together and that there are so many men and women who support it. This is the only way our voices can be heard past the local ward level.
• I believe that God's (Father and Mother) view of us is so much more than we can understand right now. And that includes equality. I believe that there is much the Church can do to come closer to this ideal of equality.
• Great list of things that can be done while waiting for full priesthood or other more doctrinal changes. Keep up the great work! Hope changes keep happening quickly enough that it will make a difference for our two young daughters!
• All of this and everything you do is amazing!
• I love these ideas!
• I am so glad that someone has come out and said this, I don't agree with ordain women, but this document addressees major issues of inequality in the church.
• I rejoice as I read each suggestion for consideration. I would be so honored to belong to a church that espoused these policies and practices.
• Thank you for what you are doing. I hope that one day I can get married in the temple and receive the same promises as my spouse. I stand behind you 100%.
• Profane Fire! And thanks for doing this. Creativity is often the missing component in human stagnation.
• hat was a wonderful list of changes in policy that could help bring Mormonism out of the sexist mire.
• I also would love to incorporate learning about Heavenly Mother. I have experienced certain trials in life that make it uncomfortable for me to speak to a man, including my Heavenly Father. I have learned to reach out to my Mother in Heaven during these times and have felt her presence.
• I love what you've written and the work you are doing. Thank you
• Thank you, thank you, thank you! I feel much less alone knowing so many others support these kinds of actions.
• Thank you for compiling this list! It's galvanizing to see the many routes along which the women of the Church are working for a greater voice and a balanced position.
• Thanks for creating this list. Keep up the good work.
• It is so completely, totally right in everything it expresses … and it has to be deeply shameful to think differently.

 

This has troubled me for a long time/It’s about time for this

• I have been a faithful member of the church for more than 40 years. It is time for women to receive the priesthood. Please, priesthood leaders, pray about this!
• This is so excellent, particularly the suggestions. Thank you so much for giving voice and presence to many concerns and ideas I've had for many, many years. I've felt alone and stigmatized for many years.
• Thank you for your efforts to increase the voice of women in the church, it is certainly long overdue.
• I am an active Mormon, and I believe that Mormon church is uniquely theologically equipped to become the progressive, egalitarian, and inclusive church I see in the teachings of Jesus Christ. We believe in a Heavenly Mother! Early women pioneers gave blessings of healing and comfort. In our temples, women officiate in ordinances. It's time for us to really be searching for revelation for these questions, and not merely upholding the status quo. All of the major revelations in the past came because there was agitation and questioning among the members and leaders in the church; thus it is today.
• Isn't it about time?
• I am 65 years old and have struggled with these issues all of my life. I want better answers and practices for my granddaughters.
• I have wrestled so long with the issue of gender inequality and the marginalization of women in the church. It has caused me so much pain and anguish. I have had several close friends leave the church because of it. I can't bear the thought of raising my two young daughters in a religion that teaches them their worth is determined by how well they conform to a specific role and how well they know their place.
• I promote a general acknowledgement of the feelings and possible outcome of the current gender structure in the church. Even when there is an understanding of the current construct, doctrinal and cultural, it can be hard for many who love the gospel. And no amount of assuring someone that a certain practice does not take away their equality, importance, or voice, that is still their reality, and should be respected. Insisting that it isn't an issue whether by church leadership or individual members is dismissive and adds to the issue for those who struggle with it. As it is very important to many. I have a strong desire to understand better my full potential as a woman. While we are often urged to strive to be more like our Heavenly Father there is an extra barrier for women there of gender and priesthood authority. We need to know the mother that we are too emulate and strive to be like. Treating her as an unapproachable being that needs to be protected from our addressing of her tells us that we too are to be hidden and not heard. We yearn to at least understand these reasons or acknowledgement of the difficulty in not having them at this stage of our understanding.
• Thank you, this perfectly encapsulated everything I'm feeling.
• The New Temple Film: Though I throughly appreciate the effort to have "Eve" play a more active, strong role in the video…..the ONLY woman in the story is the one who facilitated "THE FALL." What about the role of women in the CREATION? We are taught that both men and women will be GODS and will participate in the creation of worlds without number, but there is NEVER mention of righteous women and their participation in the creation or the mention of MOTHER in HEAVEN. Why the disparity?
• It really high time that this church also turns into a human organisation.I know hundreds of women and girls that left because of patriarchal misuse of power.
• I have been asking questions and discussing these issues on and off with friends for 30 plus years, it's a good sign that now we can at least discuss them with a wider community. I hope that some day we will be able to ask questions and having these discussions in our Relief Societies, and Priesthood meeting.
  
  I've been unactive and active again and again in the church and it always comes down to the unfairness of the church's extreme discrimination against women. It it clear to me that Joseph Smith intended women to have some level of priesthood and the fact that men in the early days after his demise buried it, and continue to hide it makes my commitment to this faith shaky. I have a testimony, but I do not believe our Heavenly Father intended women to be kept as second class citizens. It would never work in the hereafter and it doesn't work now. It's time for the church to move towards the full reorganization of the church the way Joseph Smith organized it.
• I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one concerned by the Puritan like sexism that seems to be so woven into the fabric of LDS culture. From what I have witnessed first hand, of the evolution of "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints"'s doctrine and canon (yes, we all repeat the mantra of "the gospel never changes" as a testament to its unerring divinity, but those of us who have been here a while know better!), I have hope that once a significant majority of us make our voices heard that the church leadership might swallow their pride a bit, and quietly ammend some of these unethical practices. They will surely drag their feet and resist as long as they can, but one day the apologists may be denying it was ever as bad as it is now, and church history will be rewritten yet again, just as it was with so many other offensively racist and outdated doctrines, so that future generations won't be aware that any of this ever happened.
• I believe that excommunications are, mostly, wrong. When you've done something against the church principles, that is when you need the love of Christ the most. Besides, if I ever would end up in such a disciplinary council, it would only be men there. That would definitely feel uncomfy. The RS president should at least be there as well.
• I advocate for women's rights within the Church because of my grandmother, Lavern Watts Parmley. She was General Church Primary President from the 1950s to 1974. In that position, she managed her own budget, raised money for the Primary Children's Hospital, edited the Children's Friend magazine and organized her own conferences. So, I remember a time when women had at least a little authority.The role of women in the Church now is not just an endearing oddity or a foolish mistake. Instead, it is a human rights violation and needs to end. Things need to change.
• I feel so strongly about the Church, and how women are treated within it. I love the church, and I love the Gospel. But something needs to change. Because otherwise they are going to break me.

 

My daughters/My family

• Thank you. I have grown up in the church, and have a strong testimony of Christ and a deep love for my Mormon Faith and Heritage. I feel inspired to live up to my privileges as a Daughter of God, and want my sons and daughters to grow up in the Church with the love and respect due all children of our Heavenly Parents. Many of these examples would go a long way to better foster the environment that they need to truly be fellow Saints in Christ.
• The church teaches us to stand for the right no matter how hard that may be. I applaud all those who are involved in this movement for doing just that. As a father of two daughters this really hits home with me. Keep up the good work. You have the support of my family and I.
• Thank you for this petition. It’s so nice to know that I'm no longer alone. For most of my life, I've felt like I was the only feminist in the church and I blamed myself. I felt flawed because I didn't want me or my daughters to be marginalized. It's so nice to know there are others like me.
• These issues were a major part of my three awesome daughters no longer being interested in the Church.
• I pray with all my heart this makes a difference for all the women in the Church. I wish my daughter to have the chance to grow without ever feeling like her wings are being cut.
• I could not hold my children when they were blessed, and I use that memory as a reminder of what I want for my daughter. I am worthy to be her mother and I am worthy to bless her and my son.
• My husband and I and our extended family members all grew up in the church.  We raised three sons and 2 daughters. The Church has been a really good place for our two eldest sons, but to our sorrow our daughters and our gay son left Mormonism before they married. In retrospect, I believe it was the right decision for all three, and I’m sorry that we didn’t support them earlier. I want the church to be as healthy and growth-promoting for our daughters as it was for two of our sons.
• I am ready to be an equal, and so are my daughters.
• It makes no sense to me that an organization with such a large and ambitious mission as the Church would not seek every opportunity to involve and range it's full membership in as many aspects iof the work as possible. As a husband and hopefully future father, I pray that my daughters and sons will grow up in a church free of non-doctrinal gender discrimination.
• I didn't have much of an opinion before- until a few weeks ago my 3 yr old son and I were playing "Nephi". I put my hand up to act as if I were stopping him and said, "stop! I am filled with the power of God." (Like he had done while playing with me), to which he replied, "No mom, you can't have the power of God. You're a girl.". Pretty telling about the "living Scripture stories" and my religion that I love so much.

 

Questions or suggestions about content

• Thanks for doing this -- I don't necessarily support all of the suggested changes you list, but I'm definitely in support of the general concept of equality, and I think the Church could be doing a much better job at moving toward this goal (or at the very least acknowledging it as a goal).
• I also think we could add something about gender order in Sacrament Meeting talks and prayers. I love what you're doing here, and I will support it 100%.
• Thank you. I wish I would have known about this earlier. I would like to see women not only participate in power but possess the symbols of power -- for example, the Relief Society President sitting on the stand with the Bishopric each week would indicate to the congregation that women are important in the church, Symbolism has great power.
• I am pleased with your list. It covers most of the issues I've had with gender inequality. One thing I might add is to allow women to be involved with finances in the Church -- men control 100% of the church’s finances.
• I would like to add that we call for equality in programs offered for boys and girls not only in YM and YW, but for Primary aged children (currently Activity Days and Cub Scouting). We call for equal financial and leadership support in all programs for boys and girls.
• I particularly advocate for women performing counseling for other women who have been sexually abused or who feel they need to confess sexual sins.
•  Feature female leaders of the church in Relief Society and Priesthood lesson manuals.
  
  Have all the speakers at the general Relief Society conference be women. OR Feature a woman speaker at the general Priesthood session.
• I don't agree with everything but I agree with the spirit.
• Primary Presidents used to give the children baptismal interviews. Why did this stop? It makes sense that they would know the children better.
• While I don't agree with every point in the document needs to be changed, I would really love to see each one become a serious matter of thought and prayer. I would also love reassurance from my priesthood leaders that these things are being prayerfully considered.
• To add to your list, I would like to see the temple movies (and any other visual representation of God) also include a visual image of our mother in heaven. Temple movies should also show men and women conversing and congregating around God. I do not like the image of God sitting alone in his Grecian styled temple only talking to men. Where are the women in heaven?
• No, what you guys are doing is absolutely wonderful.
• This is so outrageously....reasonable. It's all so reasonable. I freaking love it.
• To add to your list, I would like to see the temple movies (and any other visual representation of God) also include a visual image of our mother in heaven. Temple movies should also show men and women conversing and congregating around God. I do not like the image of God sitting alone in his Grecian styled temple only talking to men. Where are the women in heaven?
• I consider myself moderately on board, not 100% on board. I still don't know how I feel about actually ordaining women - but either way I do fully admire this cause and I absolutely think the cause is extremely needed as every other aspect needs improvement (things like simply separating administration and leadership duties from priesthood, i.e. sunday school president).
  
  Anyway, I'm coming around to the idea of actually going as far as to ordain women, but I must admit I'm not 100% there.
• Nope, just patiently waiting to be recognized as an equal in this church!
• List looks pretty good. I would add a few things. For example, give Young Women a responsibility in connection to Sacrament Meeting--welcoming at the entrance and handing out the programs then closing the doors as the meeting begins and then acknowledge the Young Women for their reverently carrying out their responsibility, just as most meetings the "members of the Aaronic Priesthood" or just "the Aaronic Priesthood" (I would prefer "Young Men") are usually acknowledged for their reverence after administering the Sacrament. Just one of many ideas.
• I can not say that I am behind all of these suggestions but do feel very strongly about some of them and think it beneficial that the presidency at the very least consider these concerns.
• My own personal recommendations to my Stake:

1. Allow women to conduct all-member meetings. An easy way to do this would be to organize Sacrament meeting committees. Comprised of both of men and women, the committee would rotate members to schedule and conduct the sacrament meeting program. While conducting the meeting may not seem to be a significant role, it increases women's visibility and signals to young woman that they too can be leaders.

2. Get all the men off the stage. Why do we need to have any male with a title on the stage? Do we really need three to six men up there? Do we really need anybody up there who isn't speaking? I used to think the Bishopric members' wives should be with them. But why? We are a church that doesn't believe in glorifying other members. Why so much visibility every week for a select few? Speakers only on stage.

3. Gender neutralize all leadership callings unrelated to Priesthood and Relief Society meetings. I'm talking about Sunday School President, Ward Clerk, Ward Mission Leader, etc. Callings specific to Singles Wards do a better job at this. As a single woman I was the Chair of singles conferences, area activities, Family Home Evening, etc. I actually had leadership callings where I presided over adult males. I would dare say I had more meaningful leadership opportunities as a single member than as a married one.

4. Balance out male and female speakers. This would be great for every Sunday, but especially for more significant meetings (i.e., Ward and Stake Conference). Nothing irritates me more than when we have a conference that's supposed to represent a large community and three men speak and maybe one woman. Also, do we really need every member of a presidency to speak? Give someone else a turn.

• To add to your list, I would like to see the temple movies (and any other visual representation of God) also include a visual image of our mother in heaven. Temple movies should also show men and women conversing and congregating around God. I do not like the image of God sitting alone in his Grecian styled temple only talking to men. Where are the women in heaven?
• Allow women to have an example of their Heavenly Mother as men have of their Heavenly Father.
• I would add to the list stop the practice of worthiness interviews of female and minors altogether. Or at the very least a female minor stop the practice of them conducted in a closed room alone with a priesthood leader.
• "If any of you lack wisdom, let them ask of God, that giveth to all humankind liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given them." This sounds much better.
• One calling that can be extended to women is that of Sunday School President. It's a great opportunity for women to lead in positions that directly affect men, and since the hours outside of church aren't as demanding as those of the bishopric or Relief Society presidency, it allows for the possibility of a co-ed presidency.

 

I hope church leaders listen to this

• Thank you and prayers that the brethren will listen to our hearts and open their own hearts and minds to the revelation for the change that we are agitating for.
• This is a well thought out document and it should be given serious attention.
• Does the Lord really see my spiritual development and quest for immortality and eternal life as an asset to my husband rather than a direct part of his work and glory? I hope our leaders will feel the earnestness of this request. An open dialogue on this topic would mean so much. Thank you.
• If the Mormon church is God's church, it should not be afraid of searching for new truths. When has God punished us for asking questions, or for coming up with our own ideas and then prayerfully and respectfully asking if those ideas are good? That is all we are doing here. Much praying and many discussions went into the items on this list. I hope the people in charge will remember that the reason we have the Word of Wisdom is because Emma first brought the issue up with Joseph, that we have the Relief Society because enterprising women saw a need and created an organization which was then implemented churchwide by Joseph Smith, and that other church auxiliaries were also formed by unimportant average members before being made official by church leadership. The LDS church has a firm tradition of revelation that comes after questioning or suggestions from members.
• Amen to all that the document says. I would also ask, humbly, that those who are in positions to make such decisions, not to do so in such a way that they are judging the difficulty and inconvenience of making certain considerations so much as judging whether it be right that those considerations be made.
• I have been a faithful member of the church for more than 40 years. It is time for women to receive the priesthood. Please, priesthood leaders, pray about this!
• I hope these changes are considered with the love and devotion it took to author them.
• Thank you for your efforts and this cause. I've had many promptings that women should respectfully speak up in their own behalf in their own church. Our leaders can't read our minds, and often change never enters anyone's thoughts unless those who have the authority to make changes realize how great they can be -- if they are made aware of how positive and needed such changes can be.
• I've loved the church my whole life, but the church has also been one of the primary reasons I've felt inferior to men for my entire life. Studying the scriptures emphasizes to me that in no circumstances should this be the case. I stand by this document wholeheartedly, and pray for changes to be made that would have made my life as a young girl in this church infinitely better.
• What a beautiful list! I am happy to sign my name to this document and pray that it will be seriously considered by the leaders of the church!
• Dissent is divine, debate Godly.
• I am so disappointed in LDS church presidency. We are members of a biased corporation that has become more business prone (City Creek, high-rises, land barons, hotels, investments, etc). The money spent fighting ERA and Prop 8 could have been spent on food, malaria prevention, water wells, scholarships, lowering college tuition and rent, etc. I no longer tithe to the Church, but give to needy children.
• I'm doing this today in honor of Kate Kelly and John Dehlin. :(
• Women have taken a subservient role in the church for too long.

 

I have left the church or have not been a member of the LDS church

• We officially resigned from the church a few months ago along with my wife and 3 daughters. Gender inequality within the church was one of main factors in our ultimate decision to officially resign. With all of the gender inequality that exists in the LDS religion, the church did not seem to us a healthy place to raise daughters—or sons for that matter. For the sake of my entire active family, I would love to see complete gender equality in the LDS church someday.
• I am no longer a participating member of the church and as such I don't expect that my opinion on this would matter to anyone making decisions for the church. . . .However. . . .I am signing this because my wife is still an active member and we have a daughter who goes to church with her mom. I support anything that might help modernize the church's views on gender roles.
• I resigned due to the inequalities in sealing ordinances after divorce.
• I am no longer a member of the Mormon church, but I am signing this for my beautiful, strong nieces and nephews, and for all those in the church -- they all deserve this. Women deserve this!
• As a woman who was blamed for her sexual assault by priesthood holders and church leaders, I cannot imagine how much my opinions and feelings towards the LDS church would change if I knew that other girls and boys will not have to experience the same guilt and self-loathing that I suffered. If I had been able to share my experiences with and receive guidance from a female leader, had it been a young women's president or relief society president, I might still be a practicing member of the LDS church.
• I have been struggling with this issue and it has led me to full inactivity from a church I loved.
• I was seduced by the first counselor in our bishopric in the course of a “worthiness” interview when I was sixteen. It took years for me to forgive myself, and many more years before I encouraged our daughters to challenge any system in which men automatically have authority over women.  I realize that my situation was unique; that many Mormon men are well-motivated. But it is legally and morally unethical for laymen -- unconstrained by professional training and ethics -- to have the power to privately assess the virtue of women. 
• I am not a member of the LDS church, but am studying your church as part of my graduate work in religious studies. I support your efforts wholeheartedly.
• My family left the LDS church when I was 8--just before I would have been baptized--because of my two sisters and I. My mother always told us that we come from a line of strong mormon women, and I am unbelievably proud of that. When the supreme court has ruled that separate is not and will never be equal, they did not have the Mormon church in mind, but women are no less capable than men in serving and carrying out the work of God. The church is doing good work, but, by bringing all people into that work, that work can be better.
• Nothing more than the mere fact that all established faiths should allow women to serve at reasonably high levels..I am not a Mormon, I am a Roman Catholic, and we have the same issue..women can rise in the Catholic church no farther than nuns....absurd.....I think it is simply a matter of time before the Mormon and the Catholic church liberalize the service of females in their respective fatihs.
• I am a former member of the Mormon church. About 10 years ago I decided to take my life on another path apart from the church. It has been a difficult but rewarding path. After all this time, I am starting to think I just enjoy pain, hehehehe. Currently I am trying to develop a moral framework for myself and my future family that does not require the knowledge or belief in a divine power. I enjoy this forum because I believe everything is the same and the sooner we realize this and treat everything with the same respect (and occasional disrespect because after all nature isn't always sunshine and butterflies) (but mostly respect, because after all, humans are too emotional and social to be able to survive too much disrespect) then, and only then will we figure out how to progress into a new age of social, technological, and biological progress as a human race. I want humans to start kicking more buttocks in the whole evolutionary scheme of things and I feel we need to drop ancient practices like paternal seniority, capitalistic integrity, and blind faith>democracy for this to happen. I feel many beliefs of this forum are spot on and I would love to throw some of mine into the mix to see how you all handle them. Thanks for this organization. Godspeed

 

I am still a member

• Thank you. I have grown up in the church, and have a strong testimony of Christ and a deep love for my Mormon Faith and Heritage. I feel inspired to live up to my privileges as a Daughter of God, and want my sons and daughters to grow up in the Church with the love and respect due all children of our Heavenly Parents. Many of these examples would go a long way to better foster the environment that they need to truly be fellow Saints in Christ.
  I am a faithful woman in Zion and I fully support the suggestions articulated here.
• I agree with this document. (Life long member)
• I am an active Mormon, and I believe that Mormon church is uniquely theologically equipped to become the progressive, egalitarian, and inclusive church I see in the teachings of Jesus Christ. We believe in a Heavenly Mother! Early women pioneers gave blessings of healing and comfort. In our temples, women officiate in ordinances. It's time for us to really be searching for revelation for these questions, and not merely upholding the status quo. All of the major revelations in the past came because there was agitation and questioning among the members and leaders in the church; thus it is today.
• I am a bishop and want to do what is right for Mormon women.
• I am an active Melchizedek priesthood holder, a husband, and a father. My wife and I are partners in life and share in all duties and responsibilities to each other and our children. This is a similitude and template of our eternal relationship in which she and I have equal power, responsibilities, and obligations.
• I am an active Mormon woman looking for gender equality in the church and interested in discussion on sensitive issues that need to be addressed. I've watched too many friends leave our church over issues that I think could be improved. I want to be involved in the dialogue of change to help increase love and unity in our church.
• I am ambivalent on the issue of women's ordination, but I wholeheartedly wish to see women play a much larger role in decision making and the running of the church as not just an 'appendage' to the priesthood.
• I have a strong and abiding testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I honour and sustain the prophet and the leaders of the Church but I KNOW that women are supposed to be more equal than is currently the case in the church or in the world. Our Heavenly Father is not alone, but has our Heavenly Mother alongside of Him. It makes sense.
• These things that are being asked of the church as very reasonable. I don't see why this movement is getting so much backlash? What really stuck out to me was asking to use "gender inclusive language." As a professor of communication studies at a CA state university, I teach this to my public speaking students. I teach them to include everyone in their audience and not leave anyone out as we are equal.
  I have been inactive for 10 year and THIS is the movement that will bring me back to the Church. Knowing that I can change the culture, one person at a time.

Mentions of inequality/We need the contributions of women

• I think what you're doing is great. The questions you are asking and the changes you want to implement will bring more equality and (in my opinion) more happiness to the women in the church.
• I think that there is so much we are missing out on by limiting the participation of women in the church, and I am excited to see how things can change for the better.
• The unequal balance in an all male authority structure, with little to no appeal or recourse structure, is leaving some of our strongest members wounded, and many times victims of spiritual abuse (unrighteous judgment by well meaning men, who don't fully understand symptoms of abuse, or mental health illness). While giving women more authority, will not resolve many of these issues, it will render more balance to the structure. We are taught that we cannot be exalted without each other. How then, can the Church run optimally without both sexes representing our leadership roles equally. Because of women's set of unique experiences they bring Heavenly Mother's perspective to the table--a co-creator with Heavenly Father, and Mother of us all.
• Some of the proposed thoughts are new to me, but many of them I have wrestled with myself. I would love to see a greater equality become manifest within the church. Some of the proposed changes would make it easier to be wholeheartedly immersed in the performance of the gospel. I know I am a daughter of God. I do not want to diminish the Priesthood; I have been greatly blessed by it many times; but I do want our great Matriarchy be as visible and tangible in its strength as our Patriarchy. Unity and charity, I believe, is found in the perfect balance.
• As an LDS man and a major proponent of gender equality I am glad there are people willing to promote change in the Church to afford women many of the same opportunities that only men enjoy.
• I feel that women as EQUAL participants in the Priesthood and church leadership would encourage diversity, open our doors to many more new converts, and let members know that they can progress and feel included fully in the Gospel.
• My husband (now my ex) was allowed to hold my babies while they were being blessed even though he was an ex-communicated member of the church and had lost his priesthood, while I, as an active member in good standing, couldn't participate. There have been other instances even more severe where I have been treated unfairly because I am a woman.
• I think your mission is amazing and I whole heartedly support it. This female investigator just wants you to know that I would be so much more likely to join if the Church would only stop marginalizing its women.
  
  I am a fairly recent convert to the church. I was initially drawn to it because I wanted to be part of an organization that expects its members to be an active force in doing the Lord's work. However, I find it distressing that my role in contributing to that work is significantly limited because I happen to be female. I think the church is doing itself a great disservice by prohibiting over half of its members from exercising their God-given pastoral and leadership abilities based on an arbitrary characteristic. I am adding my name to this document because I love the church, and I am committed to helping it improve.
  
  True equality can only occur when gender does not limit or define opportunity. Yes, men and women are different. But when roles are defined by tradition, those roles need to be examined and are open to redefining.
  Include women in all ceremonies, rituals, etc that include their children or partner. We've allowed men to participate in the birthing experience it's way past time include women in baby blessings. Being a generic bystander or observer does not constitute equality.
• Include women in all ceremonies, rituals, etc that include their children or partner. We've allowed men to participate in the birthing experience it's way past time include women in baby blessings. Being a generic bystander or observer does not constitute equality.
• I am the Sunday school president in my ward and would really like to have a female counselor and would welcome the chance to be a counselor to a woman as president.
• It pains me that the wisdom of my mother and sisters aren't incorporated in the Church body the way they should be. I hope for the full enfranchisement of women in the church.

 

Not sure I agree

• I would like to see further discussion on exactly what it means to be ordained. I'm not convinced that women need to be ordained in order to invoke God's power or the power of the priesthood. It is evident that Lehi and Nephi, being descendants of Joseph, were not ordained to priestly office, yet they clearly held priesthood power. Can we, as a church, discuss that before we leap to the question of ordination?

 

Expressed fear of signing/Using Pseudonyms

• There is great conflict in my marriage over these things. I want to support and sign this document, but had to disguise myself because of my husband's opposition and fear that the church will "blacklist" us both. He would be very angry if this happened because of something I did. I hope my "signature" can still be included, but if not, I understand.
• I love that you are doing this. I was a little scared to sign, because I value my membership in the Church, and the spectre of excommunication is a potent deterrent. But I have a daughter, and I want her to grow up in a church where she is valued equally, and her talents are utilized.
• I am nervous about putting my name on this. I am nervous I'm going to get some kind of unsavory footnote next to my name in the Church records. But I feel so strongly about this...and after all, Jane Manning James asked for her temple blessings. This is how we get more revelation and positive change. By asking.
• Signing this is a scary thing for me. . .but if there is a small possibility that even some of these changes could happen because of my signature, then I have decided it is worth the risk.
• I'm not sure why I'm so scared to add my name publicly to things like this, but at this moment I'm doing it because I don't want my daughter raised in the church if some of these changes don't take place. I'm only scraping the surface of all the ways the church has held me back from personally finding my potential, and I can't believe that the God I have been taught to love would ever hold me back.

 

 

This page was updated on January 26, 2015

 

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