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in its interdependent diversity;
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Tag Archives: gay marriage
Dang those Gays!
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged gay issues, gay marriage, government corruption, lds church, politics
Equality Utah takes LDS Church at its word
Primary Contacts:
For Immediate Release
Mike Thompson, Executive Director Monday, November 10, 2008
Cell: 801.879.8880
Stephanie Pappas, Board Chair
Cell: 801.450.0660
Other Contacts:
Senator Scott McCoy – Cell: 801.809.3566
Representative Christine Johnson – Cell: 801.661.3489
Equality Utah announces Press Conference for Noon Monday
Equality Utah will ask the LDS Church to demonstrate its conviction on rights for same-sex couples.
Time: Noon
Location: Equality Utah Office
175 West 200 South, Suite 3001 – third floor, Salt Lake City
Throughout the recent election cycle, the LDS Church has demonstrated its willingness to participate in political issues by asking its members to do all they can do, including donating their means and their time, to support California’s Proposition 8, which amended the state constitution and eliminated same-sex couples right to marry by defining marriage as between a man and a woman.
The LDS Church has articulated it is not “anti-gay” but rather pro-marriage and it “does not object to rights for same-sex couples regarding hospitalization and medical care, fair housing and employment rights, or probate rights.” On November 5th, Elder L. Whitney Clayton stated the LDS Church does not oppose “civil unions or domestic partnerships.” In response to these statements, Equality Utah is drafting legislation for the 2009 General Session of the Utah Legislature to address each of the issues mentioned by the LDS Church.
During this press conference Equality Utah will be asking the LDS Church to demonstrate its conviction on these statements as well as its willingness to secure such rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Utahns.
Today we have a great opportunity before us to begin to bridge the divide between the gay community and the LDS community and to seek out common ground. I take LDS Church leaders at their word that they are not anti-gay and that they sincerely understand that gay and transgender individuals and their families are in need of certain legal protections and basic benefits. I appreciate their statements that they do not oppose legal protections for gay people like those already enacted in California law that do not conflict with their genuinely held beliefs about marriage. This is our chance to come together and work to enact basic legal protections for gay Utahns. I am hopeful that the LDS Church will accept our invitation to heal our communities by bringing its considerable social and political influence to bear in support of laws that prevent discrimination and provide for the legitimate needs of all Utahns and their families.
~Senator Scott McCoy
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References
California and Same-Sex Marriage
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
Newsroom
June 30, 2008
http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/commentary/california-and-same-sex-marriage
The Divine Institution of Marriage – Introduction
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
Newsroom
August 13, 2008
http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/commentary/the-divine-institution-of-marriage
Church Responds to Same-Sex Marriage Votes
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
Newsroom
November 5, 2008
Mormon Leaders Urge Respect for Foes in Gay-Marriage Debate
The Salt Lake Tribune
Brooke Adams
November 5, 2008
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_10907306?IADID=Search-www.sltrib.com-www.sltrib.com
LDS Official Lauds Work for California’s Prop. 8
Deseret News
Carrie A. Moore
November 6, 2008
http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,705260852,00.html?pg=2
The Mormon Church on “moral” issues
I find it interesting that the Mormon Church went to great lengths to not only openly support the passage of Proposition 8, but financed an advertising campaign urging voters to support it which included messages to voters, believe it or not, such as if gay marriage is permitted, kindergärtners are likely to be educated on gay sex acts. The ads were filled with lies and deceptions, particularly at the last minute, and opponents did not have adequate time to respond.
From Alternet News: Why the Prop 8 Gay Marriage Ban Won
Ad after ad told voters that without Prop 8, their churches would be forced to perform same-sex unions and stripped of their tax-exempt status; that schools would teach their children to practice homosexuality, and, perhaps most effective, that a smiling Barack Obama had said, "I’m not in favor of gay marriage." This last bit went out in a flier by the Yes on 8 campaign targeting black households.
From the Deseret News – LDS official lauds work for California’s Prop. 8-Elder Clayton says leaders ‘grateful for the sacrifice’
From the Deseret News – LDS official lauds work for California’s Prop. 8-Elder Clayton says leaders ‘grateful for the sacrifice’
Elder L. Whitney Clayton, a member of the church’s Presidency of the Seventy who helped lead the church’s support for Proposition 8, told reporters during a press conference Wednesday that he doesn’t have a total for how much money was donated by Latter-day Saints. He did say it was "considerable and generous" and that church leaders are "grateful for the sacrifice" made by members who participated in the campaign.
“We believe it’s a moral issue and we reserve the right to speak out on moral issues. We of course disapprove when people take exception to us having spoken out, but we are well within our rights and we are glad to have done so, we believe it was the right thing to do,” Clayton said.
Here is a link to the "statement" by the LDS church on Prop 8
Yet when it comes to other "moral" issues (the LDS church’s defense on Prop 8 is that it is a "moral" issue) such as the act of killing in war, and in particular the illegal war and occupation of Iraq, the LDS church remains silent.
I cannot find any declaration or statement against the Iraq War from the LDS church. So why, then, is it permissable to remain silent on killing and the violation of human rights by the U.S. and other countries in war and occupation, while supporting efforts to violate human rights on other issues? Could it be that the LDS church has hidden financial benefits to profits from war?
And now, thanks to this campaign to violate the rights of human beings in America, Utah faces a boycott of its tourist industry which will affect citizens adversely.
And shame on other religious communities for marching in step with the LDS church.
The LDS church has overstepped its stance on "moral" issues by bringing this issue into the political arena – an issue that should remain out of politics- thereby violating the principle of separation of church and state. By virtue of its support on the gay marriage issue in the realm of politics, it has demonstrated to the world that an institution’s values can be imposed on a population of people with the right amount of money to influence how people should vote throught the pscyhological impacts of advertising.
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged 2008 elections, gay marriage, gay rights, iraq war, lds church, proposition 8
Lation Radio Talk Show Host Speaks on Latino Vote on Prop 8
I find it interesting what communities have supported to take away the rights of other human beings. Below is a commentary by a latino radio talk show host on the Latino vote for Proposition 8.
By Fernando Espuelas
Special to CNN
Editor’s Note: Fernando Espuelas is the host and managing editor of Café Espuelas, a Los Angeles Spanish-language radio talk show and a media entrepreneur.
In spite of what seems to be sweeping approval for a progressive agenda, Latino support of Prop. 8 has exposed an entrenched bias against homosexuality at once profound and confounding. A marginalized minority — Latinos — voting to take away the rights of another marginalized group — gays and lesbians — is like the kid who’s picked on in the third grade and only makes some headway when a punier kid comes along to take the punches instead.
Espuelas comments on the blitz of advertising swaying voters to vote against Prop 8 for really insane reasons:
Throughout this campaign, in an avalanche of Spanish-language commercials, Latinos were exhorted to vote "Yes" on Prop 8. A calm voice — a voice that could be selling baby wipes or low-fat cookies — told us that we should check yes "for the good of our families," that we must save everything that is good and decent about America.
Take away the civil rights of gays and lesbians so that we can be safe. But safe from what? The low-fat cookie voice of the radio commercial did not really say.
Latinos were asked not just to look away as these rights would be withdrawn, but to actively vote for the demolition of someone else’s family. We were implored to look at "them" as the unredeemable "aliens" that must be expurgated from our society. And we did.
Once you start the process of taking away other peoples’ fundamental rights — like food and water in a jail cell, or the right to drive and listen to whatever music you like — you must ask yourself where to draw the line, and who will draw it? What — and whose — rights will be next on the chopping block?
As Martin Luther King Jr. said, "Injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere." You’d think that as Latinos, proud and strong and willing to fight for our own rights,- we’d refuse to turn against the "punier kid," wouldn’t you?
That we might in fact stand up for that kid, tell the bullies to back off, the same way we told the bullies of racism and "the real America" to take a hike — and in the process carried Obama to triumph.
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged 2008 elections, gay issues, gay marriage, human rights, proposition 8
Historic for Some, Same Old Shit for the Rest of Us
(excerpts from this Huffington Post piece by Harvey Fierstein)
While we dance in the streets and pat ourselves on the back for being a nation great enough to reach beyond racial divides to elect our first African-American president let us not forget that we remain a nation still proudly practicing prejudice.
We can still get married, just not to each other. Yes my friends, Florida and California have now made it legal for gay men and lesbians to marry as long as we don’t marry our partners. How much sense does that make?
Now, before you rise up on your high horse to holler, "We’re not against Civil Unions, just Gay Marriage", let me once again explain that THE SUPREME COURT HAS STATED THAT SEPARATE BUT EQUAL IS NOT EQUAL. And even if it were, civil unions are simply not equal to marriage.
So, while we rightfully celebrate the election of our first African American president, let us take a moment to mourn the passage of three new laws legalizing prejudice. Of course there will be those who claim that voters were only protecting the institution of marriage to whom I would suggest it is just as likely that Obama’s supporters were only voting against W. Breaking the lock on my door doesn’t make your home any more secure.
Media Coverage on Utah Protest of Prop 8
Today’s Salt Lake Tribune has posted a slide show of yesterday’s protest against the LDS Church regarding it’s involvement on influencing voters on California’s Proposition 8.
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People gather before marching on the Mormon Temple in protest Friday, Nov. 7, 2008, in Salt Lake City. Leaders of the successful Proposition 8 campaign say an unusual coalition of evangelical Christians, Mormons and Roman Catholics built a majority at the polls Tuesday by harnessing the organizational muscle of churches to a mainstream message about what school children might be taught about gay relationships if the ban failed. (AP Photo/Douglas C. Pizac)
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Thousands protest LDS stance on same-sex marriage
More than 3,000 people swarmed downtown Salt Lake City to march past the LDS temple and church headquarters, protesting Mormon involvement in the campaign for California’s Proposition 8.
Former Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson and three openly gay state legislators, Sen. Scott McCoy and Reps. Jackie Biskupski and Christine Johnson, spoke out in support. At one point, the crowd took up the mantra made famous by the country’s new president-elect: "Yes, we can!"
"The main focus is going to be going after the Utah brand," John Aravosis, an influential Washington, D.C.-based blogger, told the Associated Press. "We’re going to destroy the Utah brand. It is a hate stat
e."The LDS church response, according to the above cited article:
Church officials are "disturbed" that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was "singled out for speaking up as part of its democratic right in a free election," said LDS spokesman Scott Trotter earlier Friday.
"Millions of others from every faith, ethnicity and political affiliation who voted for Proposition 8 exercised the most sacrosanct and individual rights in the United States – that of free expression and voting," Trotter said. "While those who disagree with our position on Proposition 8 have the right to make their feelings known, it is wrong to target the church and its sacred places of worship for being part of the democratic process."
From participants:
"We’ve been quiet for a really long time," said Jen Bogart, 24, who marched beside her girlfriend, with the Salt Lake Temple lit up to her left. "If the gays and lesbians in Utah can march in the streets, the gays and lesbians everywhere can march."
Doyle Clayburn, 57, said he wanted Utahns to wake up to reality. "There’s not just one or two who care," he said. "It’s not a California issue. It’s a human issue."
Doyle Clayburn, 57, said he wanted Utahns to wake up to reality. "There’s not just one or two who care," he said. "It’s not a California issue. It’s a human issue."
“Mr. Sulu” speaks out on gay marriage, including his own, and prop 8
Actor George Takei and his husband react to the vote on Proposition 8:
Utah faces possible boycott over gay marriage issue
Utah faces boycott after Mormon work for Prop 8
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah’s growing tourism industry and the star-studded Sundance Film Festival are being targeted for a boycott by bloggers, gay rights activists and others seeking to punish the Mormon church for its aggressive promotion of California’s ban on gay marriage.
It could be a heavy price to pay. Tourism brings in $6 billion a year to Utah, with world-class skiing, a spectacular red rock country and the film festival founded by Robert Redford, among other popular tourist draws.
"At a fundamental level, the Utah Mormons crossed the line on this one," said gay rights activist John Aravosis, an influential blogger in Washington, D.C.
"They just took marriage away from 20,000 couples and made their children bastards," he said. "You don’t do that and get away with it."
California’s Proposition 8
| So far, according to KNX Election Results Coverage
Proposition – 8-Same Sex Marriage Ban – Ballot Issue |
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| 22608 of 25429 Precincts Reporting – 89% |
| Name | Votes | Vote % | |
| Yes | 4,846,706 | 52% | |
| No | 4,522,259 | 48% |
Deanna Dee-Dee Taylor 