Timeline Of LDS Pro-Prop 8 Efforts

At the risk of stirring up additional trouble...

Diarist Chino Blanco, in a post titled Why I'm (still) mad at the Mormon church: a timeline over on Pam's House Blend, presents a detailed timeline of Mormon participation in the pro-Prop 8 campaign.

This is a good link for those saying that the Church of Latter-day Saints didn't have much involvement.

Newport Beach Mormon Temple This Sunday's Rally Site

Update to all the mormon trolls that have been leaving nasty comments. My initial post was tame but I'm tired of being attacked by people who hide behind 'anonymous'. I'm tired of your abuse. NO MORE MR. NICE GAY!

• A common comment is that "gays are sore losers" and that the 'Yes On 8' crowd would have accepted the will of the people and moved on. Except, the facts show you didn't. We do not live in a democracy, rather a Republic (...and to the Republic, for which it stands...) with representative government. The California Assembly and Senate both approved marriage equality. It was a Republican Governor (who supports marriage equality) that vetoed the bill and sent it to the California Supreme Court that was stacked with Republican-appointed judges. The CA Supreme Court ruled in favor of marriage equality. You keep getting defeated yet you don't accept the will of the people-elected government.

• "We don't hate gays." Well, I don't hate mormons, I just despise their fucked up cult that claims to be Christian but isn't. The next time you come to my door spewing your hate, I won't politely tell you I'm not interested. Expect me to heap on some abuse as you have done to me in our Constitutions.

• "I'm practicing my first amendment rights." Good for you. And my first amendment rights allow me to call you out as the religious bigot that you are, even if you can't see it yourself.

• "I'm practicing my first amendment rights." That's fine, as long as your church doesn't. Therein lies the rub. You can't receive tax exempt status while muddling in government affairs. The Brits have already stripped you of your tax exempt status and it won't be long before it happens here, too. The sooner the better.

• "Mormons are just practicing their religion." Everyone's entitled to practice their religion, up until the point where they strip away my equality under the law.

• "Gays already have equal rights." Have you no grasp of history? When African Americans had to drink from separate water fountains, the majority whites couldn't understand why the blacks complained. After all, the water was the same. Even if Domestic Partnerships were the same as Marriage, which they aren't, it would still be separate but equal. That is not acceptable.

• Mormons say that "gays are intolerant" while asking for tolerance. Yet, do you say the same thing to African Americans who ask for tolerance yet don't afford it to the KKK? Or, should Jews have tolerated Nazis? The fact here is that you just don't want to view yourselves in the way we see you...as oppressive devils in the same vein as the KKK and Nazis. The folks in the KKK and Nazis thought they were right and that god was on their side, too. Next time you look in the mirror, think about all the people who think there isn't any difference between you and a Klansman.

• "It's about protecting the word 'marriage' and how my church defines it." Not too long ago, your church also said that polygamy was part of the definition of marriage. I agree that, while some mormon sects (FLDS) still practice it, it has been renounced by the majority. (Except how do you explain being sealed to multiple people in heaven...oh, that is another debate entirely!) The point is that the church of latter-day saints can, and will when it's in its self interest (like Utah statehood), change the definition of marriage. The fact that gay people are excluded shows a willful choice to exclude some members of society. In short, you redefined marriage before, why not now?

• "It's just about the word 'marriage'." Tell that to the people, and unadopted children, in Arkansas where adoption is now for married couples only. Can't get married, can't have a family. So it is about more than the word, it's also about children, adoption, and families.

• "Civil Unions are fine with Elton John." I'll let you in on a little secret. Many, if not most, gay people (myself included) don't even want to get married. It's about being denied the equal right that's the issue.

• "Civil Unions are fine with Elton John." Since when did he ever speak for anyone else.

• "Civil Unions are fine with Elton John." That's his choice. He's also rich enough to hire a gaggle of lawyers to square things away.

• "Civil Unions are fine with Elton John." He also said that America is a racist nation because they voted a black singer off of American Idol. Do you agree with everything he says, or just some things?

• "I have gay friends." No, you don't. You may have gay acquaintances but they aren't friends. If you'll listen to a stranger that preaches to you once a week from the front of a church rather than your friends, you have a funny definition of friend. And while I'm thinking of it, stop redefining the word "friend" to mean someone you can stab in the back the first time they are out of sight.

• "Mormons are being treated like the Jews in Nazi Germany." Sorry, it was gays that were sent to the gas chambers en masse. You don't get to appropriate that.

• "Why are the Mormons being singled out?" First, didn't you see that there was a protest at Saddleback Church last week. That's an evangelical Christian congregation. You know, real Christians. And this Saturday's nationwide protests will be at City Halls. Are you uninformed? Is it just more convenient to leave those facts out? Did the mormon church elders leave that out of the email you received?

• "Why don't gays protest black churches?" In the end, they didn't really matter. Yes, they voted in large percentages in favor of Prop 8 but their voting numbers weren't large enough to change the outcome. If all African American votes were taken out of the election, Prop 8 would have still passed. Latinos didn't make a large enough impact, either. Mormons, too, for that matter. The church of latter-day saints is getting a disproportionate amount of attention because they are imposing Utah views on California with all of their money. It's about the money, people. Get it?

• "You're afraid to protest black churches?" First, stop watching that douchebag Bill O'Reilly. Ummm, could you be any more racist? What, the scary black people that attend black churches are violent and will come out and attack us? Check your racial baggage, please. I know that you don't see many people of color up in Utah or in your temples, but we're quite comfortable with African Americans, thank you very much.

• "Get over it. Majority rules." That sure does feel good when you're in the majority. The fact is that a large majority of people believe that mormons are a crazy, perverse cult that has somehow convinced a whole swath of people to give them 10% of their gross income. Well, we have already started a grass roots campaign to place a Constitutional Amendment on the 2010 California ballot to outlaw mormonism. Tens of thousands have already signed the petitions. That will be a real wake up call for you. How many billions of dollars will the Utah church spend in California to defeat it? Will you be so happy with majority rule then? Will you give up the fight for your rights if the people vote and pass it, or will you seek relief from the Supreme Court to overturn majority rule? You need to think about that.

• We're also considering a proposition to outlaw mormon magic underpants. They are perverse.

Now, because I'm tired of all you mormon trolls, comments have been turned off. This is a personal blog and I really don't give a shit what you think. My readers and I don't have to listened to your fucked up preaching and shaming. Now move along. Don't you have some dead Jews to baptize?

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Nationwide protests against the passage of California Proposition 8 are being grass-roots organized for this weekend. Go to Join The Impact for the location nearest you.

There is going to be a huge rally in NYC outside the Mormon Temple on the UWS this Wednesday so watch the news.

In Orange County, the Mormon Temple in Newport Beach will be the site of a rally on Sunday.


We must expose those whose agenda is to limit the fundamental right of same-sex couples to marry by incorporating their religious beliefs into the California Constitution. The Mormon Church led the support of Proposition 8. This demonstration will show its members:

• We intend to continue this fight for equality until it is won
• Discrimination is harmful to our society in any form
• Our Constitution provides equal protection of fundamental rights to all Californians

WHEN
Sunday, November 16 — 10 a.m.

LOCATION
The Mormon Temple and Chapel, 2300 Bonita Canyon Dr., at the corner of Bonita Canyon and Prairie Rd., in Newport Beach. Located just West of the 73 toll road; exit Bonita Canyon Dr.; or turn East onto Bonita Canyon Dr. from MacArthur Blvd.

PARKING
We urge everyone to arrive early and park in the Bonita Canyon Sports Park, which is off Prairie Rd., just opposite St. Matthew’s Catholic Church and across the street from the Mormon Temple. Drive past the ball park to the parking lot on the right. There's also limited street parking.

DO NOT to park at the shopping center at San Miguel and Ford.

BRING
Signs & banners expressing your support for Marriage Equality and Civil Rights, and your outrage at the Yes on 8 Campaign tactics supported by the Mormon Church. American, rainbow and California flags, water, sunscreen, wide-brimmed hat. Dress for a hot, sunny day.

EVENT ORGANIZERS
Audrey Prosser
Jeff LeTourneau, ECCO Political Director
Harvey H. Liss, ECCO Vice-Chair
Karen Ellis
Sandra Hartness, Director, HRC
Barbara McMurray
Ed Todeschini, HRC OC Federal Club Co-Chair
Gary Lefevre
Jorge Rodriguez, M.D, President, Board of Directors, AIDS Services Foundation

Prop 8 Protest Hits LDS Temple In NYC

Carrying signs reading "Love not H8" and "Did you cast a ballot or a stone?", a large crowd of gay-marriage supporters gathered outside the Mormon temple in New York City to protest the church's endorsement of a same-sex marriage ban in California.

The rally Wednesday night outside The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints temple came hours after gay couples exchanged vows for the first time in Connecticut amid cheers and tears of joy. Read the full AP story here.



Additional Street Reports
Joe.My.God.
Father Tony
Gay City News
Queerty
The New York Times

Church Of Latter Day Saints

I've been reading the comments on a Prop 8 post by Ben Smith on Politico.com.

What seems to really piss off the mormons is when you call their church "church of latter day saints" rather than "church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints," thereby excising Jesus Christ from the name.

So, from now on, I encourage everyone to omit "Jesus Christ" when referring to the LDS church. It's kinda like how Republicans always call the Democratic Party the Democrat Party.

I'm going to use lower case letters, too.

Sometimes it's the petty little joys in life that can act as salve on a wound.

Utah Trip: The Seagull

I forgot to mention the seagull in the previous post about Temple Square.

Did you know that the California Gull is Utah's state bird? Not for the reason you're probably thinking ... that the Great Salt Lake is nearby.

Rather, it is due to Mormon folklore. I found this description online that is nearly the same that was relayed to me by a missionary at Temple Square on my last visit about 10 years ago:

The California gull was selected as the state bird in 1955. The gull is considered the state bird of Utah, probably in commemoration of the fact that these gulls saved the people of the State by eating up the Rocky mountain crickets which were destroying the crops in 1848.

Orson F. Whitney says that in the midst of the devastation of the crickets, "when it seemed that nothing could stay the devastation, great flocks of gulls appeared, filling the air with their white wings and plaintive cries, and settled down upon the half-ruined fields. All day long they gorged themselves, and when full, disgorged and feasted again, the white gulls upon the black crickets, list hosts of heaven and hell contending, until the pests were vanquished and the people were saved. After devouring the crickets, the gulls returned "to the lake islands whence they came."

The missionary's version of the story said that the birds gorged on the crickets, then flew off presumably to the Pacific Ocean from whence they came, disgorged the crickets into the sea, and then returned until the fields were cleared.

The Sea Gull Monument in Temple Square features two sculptured gulls standing atop the monument. You can see the monument to the pioneers, mentioned in the previous post, in the background.
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Utah Trip: Temple Square

Temple Square, the location of the most prominent Mormon Temple, is literally (not geographically) the center of Salt Lake City. The city's streets are numbered in relation to their distance from the Temple. 100W is the first street West of the temple, 100S is the first street south of the Temple, 100E is East and 100N is North. So if you are at 500E 500S, you are five blocks East and five blocks South of the Temple. (And you'd be at Trolley Square mentioned in the last post.)

The following description of the Temple was taken from a sign.

Salt Lake Temple
The temple is used by Church members for marriages and other sacred ordinances designed to strengthen families, both now and for eternity. Begun in 1853, it was completed forty years later. Granite rock used in this construction was hauled twenty-three miles by ox-drawn wagons from Little Cottonwood Canyon. The walls are nine feet thick at the ground level and narrow to six feet thick at the top. The east center tower is 210 feet high and is topped by the statue of an angel heralding the restoration to earth of the gospel of Jesus Christ in the latter days.

Little Cottonwood Canyon is where the world-famous Snowbird and Alta ski resorts are located. The angel atop the Temple is Moroni.


The Tabernacle, most famous for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, is located directly across from the Temple in Temple Square.


Assembly Hall is a Victorian Gothic congregation hall in Temple Square.


I found the Handcart Pioneer Monument very stirring when I stopped to realize the strength of the pioneers crossing the country and all the obstacles they encountered. Amazing people.


Here are a couple statues on the grounds. They appeared religious in nature so I didn't bother to stop and read the placards.


As a gardener, I really appreciated the landscaping.


Across from Temple Square is the Latter Day Saints Conference Center with a running stream cascading down the side from the roof.


The whole downtown Mormon complex is quite impressive and it saddens me that they use their money and influence to do everything they can to keep people down rather than just raising themselves up.
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Romney Is Rich; Mormon Ad Campaign

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, the wealthiest White House contender from either party, is worth as much as $250 million, according to information released by his campaign. The former venture capitalist's wealth — reported in a range of $190M to $250M — is spread throughout a dizzying array of investments, that include banks, large investment management firms, foreign export credit corporations and real estate.

And have you noticed the slick new advertising campaign running from the LDS church? The one that is spending huge amounts on national media buys? Hmmmm, I don't suppose there's any connection between the fact that Romney is continually getting hit on about his Mormonism on the campaign trail and this renewed effort by his church to show how normal they are. This is a back door way to pump unlimited funds into supporting his campaign efforts.

Think Mormons don't rule according to religion? Do you think they wouldn't impose their beliefs on non-Mormons? If you think your life won't be affected if Mormons are in charge, think again. Take a trip to Utah sometime. (I've been to Park City many, many times...it's a liberal enclave where the Sundance Film Festival is held.) Mormons own everything, they run everything, and if you don't like it, tough beans.
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