Proverbs 16:7
When a man’s ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.
This verse communicates something I've heard many queer Church members try to explain. And perhaps this verse will give the right language so that other Church members can't misunderstand it.
Some LDS people presently are under the impression that LGBTQIA+ folks are exempt from the mandates to love our neighbors. There is a twisted logic where the cruelty they dish out is labeled as love in their own minds. If they're saving someone from sin, it doesn't matter what approach or what language they use. They can be as abusive and unkind as they want because the person they're addressing is more of a demon than a person. And if they succeed in forcing someone back into line through their abusiveness, then the ends justify the means.
Is that true? Not at all. D&C 121:41-44 would roundhouse kick that entire argument into the sun. But that still allows too much of the consideration to be focused on intentions, rather than impact. As long as they intend to ultimately be loving, no matter how whack their approach is, they can justify it in their own minds by speaking to good intentions.
Proverbs don't do this. They focus on impact rather than intentions. And this one is my favorite I think I've ever seen. If you are truly loving in a way that pleases God, you won't have enemies. What enemies you might have had will have no desire to continue being your enemies. They will want reconciliation. That is a measure of someone's actual Christianity.
Mormons who have endless problems with queer people, or find themselves in enmity with queer people that can't be reconciled, do not please God. They're not "peaceable followers of Christ." (Moroni 7:3-4) They're not putting in the effort that the Savior expects from them because they think this reconciliation is optional when it's not. (Romans 12:18) And it's not about what they intend to do. They can't call abuse love and expect that to save them.
We must sincerely love queer people in such a way that they actually feel it. They mustn't perceive any enmity in us because it genuinely isn't there. That is the only way to actually serve God. And if the way we approach queer people doesn't produce that result, it's because we're not serving God. Anything less than that is a farce that doesn't please God at all.
