Peggy Fletcher Stack

Fifty‑eight percent of Mormon women admit to having sexual intercourse before marriage.

The new handbook makes a clear distinction between same‑sex orientation and behavior. It eliminates the suggestion, mentioned in a 2006 edition, that same‑sex relationships "distort loving relationships" and that gays should repent of their "homosexual thoughts or feelings." It also says that celibate gay Mormons who are "worthy and qualified in every other way" should be allowed to have "callings," or church assignments, and to participate fully in temple rituals.

[The LDS church] opposes gambling (including government‑run lotteries), guns in churches, euthanasia, Satan worship and hypnotism for entertainment. It "strongly discourages" surrogate motherhood, sperm donation, surgical sterilizations (including vasectomies) and artificial insemination — when "using semen from anyone but the husband." But [the church] supports organ donation, paying income taxes, members running for political office and autopsies — "if the family of the deceased gives consent."

Fourteen percent of LDS teens say they have smoked a cigarette in the last month.

Fewer than 70 percent of Mormon marriages are intact after 10 years ‑ the lowest percentage among whites citing religious affiliation.