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FamilySearch, the world’s largest genealogy organization, owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, announced this week that they will be “significantly redesigning” their Family Tree and record search functions to include same-sex couples and their families.

The official statement from FamilySearch emphasized that the purpose of their organization is “to capture, store, and provide records and an accurate genealogy that represents past, present, and future families of the world.”

To that end, the systems that are being redesigned to accommodate this change are expected to be ready at the beginning of 2019.

According to the statement, “Following this work, the FamilySearch Family Tree application can then allow same-sex information to be recorded. We appreciate your patience and desire to preserve the world’s genealogy in Family Tree.”

As noted in the Deseret News:

The Church immediately acknowledged the legality of same-sex marriage in the United States after the U.S. Supreme Court legalized it in June 2015. Later that year, President Dallin H. Oaks, now of the First Presidency, counseled church members and people of faith to submit to the law once it is sustained by the highest available authority.

Since then, the LDS position has remained clear. The faith’s leaders repeatedly have taught that all people should be treated with kindness and respect and that Mormons should follow the law while continuing to teach that marriage between a man and a woman is a central part of Mormon doctrine and practice.