I sincerely hope that The Family: A Proclamation to the World becomes canonized at some point. I don’t believe that it is revelation like the sections of the Doctrine and Covenants (where the words were given in one sitting to a prophet) but I do believe that its words are true doctrine of the same significance as scripture the way the official declarations at the end of the Doctrine and Covenants are where the ideas expressed are true and the need to publicly declared them comes from the Spirit even though the wording was likely discussed and revised many times before it was finalized and published.
The idea that gender is an important characteristic of eternal individual identity has long been obvious to me but I think I had glossed over the fact that it is an essential characteristic of eternal individual purpose as well.
First the context is set regarding the eternal significance of gender and the fact of family structure being the basis of our relationship to Heavenly Father as well as the fact that when the earth was formed Adam and Eve were placed here as a family unit, not as individuals with a yet-to-be-defined relationship.
Next are given declarations that the command to multiply and relish is still in effect, that the powers of procreation are only to be used by man and woman lawfully wed as husband and wife. If this were canonized there would be no question that this supersedes the less declarative statement in the temple that the law of chastity means having no sexual relations with anyone other than your husband or wife legally and lawfully wedded. James has used that wording to argue that sexual relations with my wife would break the law of chastity if the state declared that temple marriage were no longer legally recognized (because then we would be lawfully wedded according to priesthood authority but not legally wedded in the eyes of the state).
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