SALT LAKE CITY –  National gay rights activists say they've collected more than 150,000 letters asking a senior Mormon church leader to recant recent anti-gay statements.

Leaders of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest gay civil rights organization, say they'll deliver the letters to the headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City on Tuesday.

The letters ask church Elder Boyd K. Packer to withdraw statements from an Oct. 3 sermon that same-sex relationships are unnatural and that gays can change. Activists say Packer's statements are hurtful and factually inaccurate.

HRC officials say they'll hold a news conference with leaders from Utah's gay community before delivering the letters.