The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has issued a response to the Supreme Court’s decision today that let stand the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling overturning Utah’s ban on same-sex marriage. 

Read the statement, in part:

“The succession of federal court decisions in recent months, culminating in today’s announcement by the Supreme Court, will have no effect on the doctrinal position or practices of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which is that only marriage between a man and a woman is acceptable to God.

The statement went on to say that churchgoers should continue to reject “persecution of any kind based on race, ethnicity, religious belief or non-belief, and differences in sexual orientation.”

U.S. Senator Mike Lee also weighed in on today’s news, calling the Supreme Court’s decision to not review the appeals “disappointing.”

In related news, Utah Governor Gary Herbert and Attorney General Sean Reyes held a press conference this afternoon with Herbert conceding, “We are a state and a people who believe in upholding the law of the land and that has been determined for us today in a way that may be not satisfactory for some, but it is the law of the land.” 

You can watch a clip of Reyes speaking at the press conference, AFTER THE JUMP…

Previously, “WATCH: Gay Couples Tie the Knot in Virginia, Oklahoma, Indiana, Utah, and Wisconsin” [tlrd]