President David O. McKay reports that a statement by Hugh B. Brown on the priesthood ban "caused quite a bit of controversy."
David O. McKay, Journal, December 26, 1969, in Confidence Amid Change: The Presidential Diaries of David O. McKay, 1951–1970, ed. Harvard S. Heath (Salt Lake City, UT: Signature Books, 2019), 822
December 26, 1969, 9.·30 a.m. I met with President Alvin R. Dyer, Elder Mark E. Petersen, and Henry Smith regarding the Negro question. President [Hugh B.] Brown made a statement to the press yesterday which has caused quite a bit of controversy.