The leader of the American Mormon Church has restated its opposition to equal marriage.

Speaking at a conference in Salt Lake City over the weekend, Dallin Oaks, a former Utah Supreme Court justice, said human laws could not “make moral what God has declared immoral”.

Mr Oaks criticised the arrival of equal marriage in several US states and also how several faith groups had altered their position on marriage equality in recent years. “Unlike other organisations that can change their policies and even their doctrines, our policies are determined by the truths God has declared to be unchangeable,” he said.

The Mormon Church teaches that same-sex attraction is not a sin, but acting on it is.

“Even though individuals do not choose to have such attractions, they do choose how to respond to them. With love and understanding, the church reaches out to all God’s children, including our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters,” the church website states.