Petitioners to Mormons: Soften gay marriage stance

A group of current and former Mormons at odds with the church's position on gay marriage and its political activism to ban it has launched a Web site asking the faith to soften its stance.

The site, www.ldsapology.org, includes a petition for reconciliation that calls on leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to end what it says are hurtful anti-gay policies and its involvement in anti-gay politics and fundraising.

Site organizers say the petition is a direct reaction to LDS Church involvement in a coalition that worked last fall to pass Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage in California's state constitution.

Church spokeswoman Kim Farah on Monday said the church had no comment on the site.