SALT LAKE CITY -- A foundation that supports gay rights delivered a petition Wednesday to leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints asking them to reconsider their policies and political activism against gay marriage.

About 50 members of the Foundation for Reconciliation delivered the petition to mark the one-year anniversary of a ballot initiative that banned gay marriage in California, spokesman Peter Danzig said. The foundation had collected about 2,000 signatures on the petition, which has circulated online since June.

A church security staffer accepted the delivery, which was brought to the downtown Salt Lake City headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by a group pulling a replica of a Latter-day Saint pioneer handcart. About half the group had pulled the handcart about five miles from This is the Place state park, which memorializes the entrance of Latter-day Saint pioneers into the Salt Lake valley in 1847.

Foundation organizer Cheryl Nunn, who splits her time between Utah and Santa Cruz, Calif., has said the petition and other group events are a direct reaction to the church's support for Proposition 8. LDS church members were vigorous financial contributors and volunteers to the campaign to pass the ballot initiative.

The petition calls for Latter-day Saints on both sides of the issue to begin a dialogue that heals past and present divisions, Danzig said.

"Our hope is for reconciliation and to open up a conversation that for a long time have been taboo and help bring understanding to the issues that people face," said Danzig, a musician who resigned his church membership after he spoke out on gay rights nearly two years ago. "We don't necessarily have to agree on everything, but our sense is that there's a huge amount of common ground that we can work on."

Among the foundation's concerns are fair housing, employment discrimination and high rates of suicide and homelessness among LGBT youths.

It's unclear whether the church might meet with the foundation. In a letter sent to the group's executive committee Monday, church Director of Community Relations John R. Taylor said LDS leaders are "keenly aware" of many difficult challenges faced by members, including same-sex attraction.

"We are, of course, deeply concerned about any issue that causes pain or distress to any of our Father's children," Taylor wrote in the letter, a copy of which was obtained to The Associated Press.

Taylor said the church has worked to provide resources to members and leaders dealing with same-sex issues and that the church's doctrinal belief in traditional marriage "does not minimize the value of any of God's children, or our love for one another as brothers and sisters."

The nonprofit foundation is comprised of both current and former church members from several states, along with others who support equality for lesbian, gay and transgender individuals. The group has met with Utah Gov. Gary Herbert and has held a series of events since forming in June, including a fundraising concert for a homeless youth center in Salt Lake City and a memorial service for LGBT Latter-day Saints who have committed suicide.

Mementos from those events and dozens of white carnations were also among the items delivered to church officials in the handcart.

On the Net: • LDS Apology: www.LDSapology.com • The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: www.lds.org

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