The USA headquarters of the Mormon Church has updated its handbook to further stigmatize gay followers and even their children. An acceptable Mormon family at a Mormon temple. A newly-updated handbook says that say that being in a same-sex marriage warrants ousting from the religion and that children of gay parents must wait until they are 18 and disavow homosexual relationships to be baptized. A church spokesperson says the changes were prompted by a ruling by the US Supreme Court in June that made same-sex marriage legal across the country. The New York Times reports that the new rules stipulate that children of parents in gay or lesbian relationships — be it marriage or just living together — can no longer receive blessings as infants or be baptized at about age eight. They can be baptized and serve missions once they turn eighteen, but only if they disavow the practice of same-sex relationships, no longer live with gay parents and get approval from their local leader and the highest leaders at church headquarters in Salt Lake City. A highly-placed Mormon says the church's idea of family "is not just a peripheral issue in the Mormon Church. It’s core doctrine. It’s a central idea that we can be sealed together as a family and live together eternally... that only works with heterosexual couples.”