Harry Reid: Mormons Are Evolving on LGBT Rights

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says members of his faith, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, are gradually evolving in their views on LGBT rights.

"When I attend church here in Washington, D.C., I bet more people agree with me than disagree with me, and so the church is changing," the senior senator for Nevada told the Washington Blade Wednesday.

Mormon teachings have traditionally condemned homosexuality, which they view as violating God's law. The church has also been instrumental in campaigning against marriage equality in the U.S., most notably so in California's Proposition 8 fight in 2008. However, five years later, as Congress considers a bill to ban employment discrimination against LGBT workers, Reid said he's noticed a switch in Mormon attitudes toward LGBT people.

"As I was growing up, somebody who was 'queer' was really easy to pick on," he told the Blade. "I was not in that category, but I saw it happen, and I didn't do enough to speak out."