If you thought Dallin H. Oaks' talk during the General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sounded familiar, you wouldn't be crazy. Oaks—first counselor in the church's governing First Presidency—has delivered very similar versions of the speech in the past.

After taking several years off from addressing LGBTQ issues at the Conference Center pulpit, Oaks decided it was time once more to hammer LDS positions on marriage, sexuality and gender. He employed several familiar tactics and recycled verbatim portions of a 2018 message, "Truth and the Plan."

Among those tactics was the framing of same-sex marriages and transgender identities as inspired by Satan. "Satan's most strenuous opposition is directed at whatever is most important to [God's] plan," Oaks said. "Consequently, he seeks to oppose progress toward exaltation by distorting marriage, discouraging childbearing or confusing gender."

By invoking Satan, Oaks reinforced decadeslong LDS assertions that same-sex marriage and gender nonconformity are counterfeit, sinful and illegitimate. His use of Satan is a powerful rhetorical choice that adds force to his assertions while stoking fear and opposition towards LGBTQ individuals and relationships. And perhaps most tragically, attributing sexual and gender diversity to the influence of Satan constitutes a personal attack on queer people who already face disproportionate levels of shame, depression and suicide pertaining to their identities.

I recently spoke with a gay member of the church who explained the deep pain and anguish he has experienced from being repeatedly told that his relationships, romance and love come from Satan. "It is so easy to internalize these ideas and really feel like Satan is the reason you feel the way you do," he told me. "It's such a destructive way to see yourself and your identity."

Oaks also discussed the importance of personal agency, stating that "salvation is granted in different kingdoms of glory ... The kingdom of glory we receive in the final judgment is determined by the laws we chose to abide in our Heavenly Father's loving plan." He expressed this sentiment a bit differently in 2018 when he said, "For those who do not desire or qualify for the highest degree of glory, God has provided other, though lesser, kingdoms of glory." Asserting that same-sex relationships are incompatible with "God's eternal plan," Oaks explained that people who "choose not to obey God's commandments" (i.e., people in same-sex relationships and people who have gender transitioned) are willingly "settling" for a lesser kingdom of glory.

Nathan Kitchen, president of Utah Affirmation, must have understood the pain that many queer church members were feeling. Just hours after the speech, he posted these words: "As a beloved LGBTQ child of God, you were not created for a consolation-prize heaven."

Additionally, Oaks discussed the church's 1995 statement, "The Family: A Proclamation to the World," which defines the church's stance on gender roles and human sexuality. The proclamation hangs on the walls in many church members' homes, but an increasing number of Latter-day Saints—and youth in particular—are developing positions that contradict its core assertions.

Oaks suggested that members who are confused about God's plans might consider the proclamation to be a malleable church policy statement. "In contrast," he emphasized, "we affirm that the Family Proclamation, founded on unchangeable doctrine, defines the kind of family relationships where the most important part of our eternal development can occur."

Oaks not only jabbed at the many members who feel genuine concern regarding the proclamation's positions on gender and homosexuality, he also affirmed its theological unchangeability. In doing so, he joined a host of other LDS leaders who have asserted the immutability of certain church positions—many of which did indeed change.

For example, church leaders in the 1950-1960s often affirmed the doctrinal immutability of their priesthood and temple ban on people of African descent. One of the most ardent defenders of the ban, Bruce R. McConkie, wrote in his book, Mormon Doctrine, that "Caste systems have their root and origin in the gospel itself, and when they operate according to the divine decree, the resultant restrictions and segregation are right and proper and have the approval of the Lord." And with regard to interracial marriage, former church President David O. McKay stated that "Negroes marry Negroes, and that whites marry whites, and we cannot modify the statement."

Oaks' declaration that intolerance of same-sex marriage and gender nonconformity is "unchangeable" fits neatly within a broader historical pattern of leaders constructing an illusion of immutability around policies that actually shift over time.

As a Latter-day Saint who has seen notable improvements in the ways the church discusses and handles LGBTQ inclusion, I am deeply confused as to why Oaks continues to hammer in the church's stance on gender and homosexuality. Who does he think he is reaching?

Members, as a whole, are already more than clear on the content of such positions. Those who hold traditional views about gender and sexuality already agree with his assertions. And for members who affirm LGBTQ identities and relationships, his rhetoric comes across as anachronistic at best and bigoted at worst. Most importantly, for too many queer members of the church, his words are daggers that inflict deep and sometimes irreparable wounds.

Regardless of intentions, repeated assertions that LGBTQ identities and relationships are inspired by Satan and oppositional to God's eternal plan continue to degrade and ostracize queer people in and outside of the church. Surely, such marginalizing rhetoric will find less and less space in a religion whose members are becoming increasingly supportive of LGBTQ individuals and communities.

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