Tag Archives: lds church

Today’s protest and vigil

Posted on November 15, 2008 | Leave a comment
 
Join The Impact Demonstration/March for Equality!

I will be attending the rally at the City County Building in downtown Salt Lake Today.  There is also a vigil tonight (see below) that looks like it will be quite inspiring.

Posted on the Utah PRIDE website:

ccbuilding.jpg Join the Impact is planning rallies at City Halls across the nation (up to 80 cities currently in 49 states).  Let your voice be heard!

What: A demonstration and march

When: Saturday November 15, 2008 @ 11:30A

Where: Salt Lake City & Country Bldg (451 South State Street)

Who: Everyone who stands up for equality FOR ALL

Join us at the Utah Pride Center for a sign making party in Cafe Marmalade at 6P on Friday, November 14, 2008. 

Later Saturday evening, from 6:00pm – 8:00pm at the State Capitol Building, Salt Lake City will again be gathering, this time for a Candlelight Vigil – there will be peaceful, uniting music and amazing company, culminating with "EQUALITY" spelled out on the Utah State Capitol lawn with 10,000 candles.

More Info:
The Other
Join the Impact Salt Lake – Equality March
Join the Impact – Equality Vigil


 

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Protests this weekend in Salt Lake City and Logan as part of Nationwide Effort against Prop 8

Posted on November 13, 2008 | Leave a comment
Logan - Join the Impact: Find Your City

Logan:  City Hall: 255 N Main Street Logan Ut, 84321 – 11:30am
Salt Lake City:  451 S State St # 304, Salt Lake City, UT 84111 – 11:30am
                            elaineballfr@gmail.com – (801) 654-7614

http://image.wetpaint.com/image/1/acDWQbxCTWIsxJeWSO3gpw33876/GW765H137

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Dang those Gays!

Posted on November 12, 2008 | Leave a comment

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Equality Utah takes LDS Church at its word

Posted on November 11, 2008 | Leave a comment

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

http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stories/church-responds-to-same-sex-marriage-votes

 

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

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The Mormon Church on “moral” issues

Posted on November 8, 2008 | 2 comments

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’
 
 
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.
 

 
 

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