Retired NFL star Steve Young and his wife, Barbara, brought that message to a conference of LGBT Mormons and their supporters this weekend.
September 15 2013 1:58 PM EST
November 17 2015 5:28 AM EST
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LGBT Mormons need to have faith and be patient as their church evolves to a more accepting stance, pro football great Steve Young and his wife, Barbara, told a conference of gay Mormons Saturday.
"More and more people are opening their hearts every day," Barbara Young said at the 2013 International Affirmation Conference at the University of Utah, The Salt Lake Tribune reports. "You are teaching them about [gays] and Jesus and that his love is infinite."
Steve Young, a former San Francisco 49ers quarterback and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, said he seeks, "to build bridges with my gay brothers and sisters. We need to see each other as Jesus sees us."
The Youngs are both Mormons -- Steve Young is a direct descendant of early church leader Brigham Young, and his wife is a convert. California residents, they made news in 2008 for opposing Proposition 8, the state constitutional amendment that ended marriage equality in California for a time; it was recently nullified by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling. Barbara Young has a gay brother.
She told conference attendees, "One of the most beautiful things about this church is that it can evolve. It may not go as fast as everyone wants, but it is evolving." She urged them to be "patient like Jesus," adding, "If we consciously embrace Jesus' teaching of empathy, compassionate, and love, the future world will be different."