This past weekend marked the 183rd semi-annual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in which hundreds of LDS women were barred entrance to the male-only Saturday night session, according to the Standard-Examiner. The women, members of the Ordain Women group, hoped to be given the unclaimed tickets to the conference but were turned away in favor of male members. This peaceful protest of sorts was an effort to bring awareness to the blatant absence of female authority in the Mormon priesthood, which has sparked numerous debates in recent years concerning gender inequality within the church.
Liberal LDS groups such as Women in the Community of Christ exist that allow women to join the priesthood, but these are few and far between and looked down upon by their conservative counterparts. The last doctrinal change to guidelines of the priesthood was made in 1978, when a revelation was announced that allowed all males, regardless of race, to join the priesthood at the age of twelve.
Historically, early Mormonism was relatively liberal toward women. Joseph Smith’s wife Emma was a scribe in the efforts to translate the Book of Mormon and headed the Relief Society, one of the oldest women’s organizations in the world.
But the years following the 19th century brought a return to traditional gender roles. Emma officially left the church after Joseph’s death and his instruction by God to take multiple wives. According to exmormon.org, LDS women are urged to enter into “celestial marriage” with a holder of the priesthood so they can enter heaven. With regards to the actual ceremony, men pledged their covenant to God while women made the same vows to their future husband, a symbol of their dependence and submission to him. Women were granted authority over children and younger female peers but were still guided by the priesthood, of which males were the only members.
The official explanation for this exclusion is that women are more spiritual than men — thus men need the priesthood to achieve the same sense of religious devotion. They are also told priesthood is a way to bring men up to an equal status of women, given the female ability to bear children. This line of reasoning serves only to promote and perpetuate the sexist ideals that many claim to be the LDS church’s greatest flaw.
Our state is no stranger to this rift between gender roles and the LDS church. Women’s suffrage in Utah was first granted in 1870 when Brigham Young, among others, decided allowing women to vote would boost the national image of Mormonism in its relation to the treatment of women. They were unsuccessful — a national effort to prevent polygamy overturned this vote in 1887 because many believed granting women suffrage would strengthen the power of the LDS church. The right to vote was officially restored in 1895.
Today, LDS women aren’t standing idle. Last December marked a turning point as thousands of Mormon women worldwide wore pants to church in an effort organized by Utah native Stephanie Lauritzen, according to The New York Times. While there is no official policy barring women from wearing pants to church, many feel social pressure to wear dresses and more traditional clothing. Countless others were reprimanded and ridiculed by church members for participating, and some received death threats.
These women, along with those standing outside of the Conference Center this past weekend, have more than proven their worth. And while they didn’t manage to gain entrance, their efforts weren’t in vain. This year was the first the Saturday evening session was televised in an effort, ironically, to make its content more accessible. And while I certainly wonder what they could be talking about behind those doors, I can’t help but think that what’s going on right outside of them is a lot more interesting.