Tag Archives: Proposition 8

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Cinemark is Freakin’ Out!

To me one of the clearest targets for the Prop. H8 boycotts and protests is Cinemark.  Their CEO Alan Stock gave $9,999 to tear apart my family; that’s my ticket money recycled to attack me.

One facebook group has popped up to boycott the movie Milk at any Cinemark Theater.  Another is calling for a boycott of all Cinemark films, and a national picket on January 15, the opening day of Sundance, where Cinemark’s Park City theater will be under protest by lgbt allies.

Now they’re worried.  How do we know?  They sent out the house gay to make nice!

Bill Shimmin is a corporate Vice President of Cinemark (for “food and drink” hilariously enough).  His PR firm wrote this letter begging the gays to be nice.  Check it out:

Here’s the appeal-to-emotion intro:

As a gay man and as a vice president at Cinemark Theatres (whose CEO, Alan Stock, has been singled out in blogs for his $9,999 pro-Prop 8 donation), this controversy has weighed heavily on me.

Two years ago, I was hired by Alan Stock, and my life partner and I relocated to Plano, Tex., from the San Francisco bay area.  Moving to Plano and effectively leaving behind our cherished Domestic Partnership document, signed by California’s Secretary of State, took much consideration. As did the prospect of leaving the progressive Bay Area for life in a “red state.”

Here’s the money quote for why Cinemark isn’t bad guys, other than funding H8:

However, I quickly discovered – and the past two years have confirmed – that Cinemark Theatres is committed to treating its team members, customers, and colleagues with dignity and respect.

During my job interviews, I discovered that Cinemark has an LGBT liaison for community outreach; Cinemark provides domestic partner benefits for California team members; Cinemark hosts the annual Vancouver Queer Film Festival; and Cinemark works with the North Texas GLBT Chamber of Commerce as well as the Collin County Gay & Lesbian Alliance to arrange advance screenings for movies of interest to the LGBT community.

So yeah…they have a liaison to sell tickets to the gay…they only provide domestic partner benefits when compelled by (California) law…and they work with events and groups to sell tickets to the gays.

Well, gosh, Bill when you put it that way, the need to boycott cinemark becomes even more apparent: gays seem like a major part of their business plan.  Meaning Cinemark is vulnerable to losing their business, and it is all the more offensive when their head ticket-taker skims off some of the pink ticket for his homophobic pet projects.

So please let’s keep the pressure up.  It is important that businesses and businessmen know that attacks on the lgbt community are bad business.  Please make sure that Alan Stock (972) 665-1000 [email protected]  knows that his shareholders’ profits are diving because he decided to strip some customers of their civil rights.

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Prop. 8 Homophobes Threaten Supreme Court with “Revolution,” Scream “Terrorism”

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Another nasty trend is emerging from the homophobes behind the Yes on 8 campaign.

Apparently shocked by the national uprising in support of full equality under the law for gay/lesbian families, leaders of the Prop. H8 campaign have rolled out a new tactic: threatening the Supreme Court.

Andrew Pugno, their attorney  turned up their dangerous rhetoric this weekend:

 What could get opponents of same-sex marriage in the street, however, would be the state Supreme Court tossing out the vote, he said. San Francisco city officials, joined by the city of Los Angeles and Santa Clara and Los Angeles counties, have petitioned the court to do just that.

“I think you’ll have a revolution on your hands at that point,” Pugno said.

His partner in H8 crime, Frank Schubert, the Republican lobbyist who managed the campaign, went str8 to the Karl Rove playbook and equated civil rights activism with the “T” word:

But Prop 8 supporter Frank Schubert said, “Cowardly acts are intended to terrorize people they mean to frighten and to intimidate the people who supported proposition 8 and those who have stood up for traditional marriage. This is the very definition of terrorism and that’s what’s occurring in California today.”

And uber-Repbulican nutjob Jon Fleishcman takes it one step further:

Writing in Sacramento’s Capitol Weekly, Jon Fleischman, former executive director of the state Republican Party, growled: “If the court overturns 8, I think you will be able to count the days before a very organized and well-funded recall of the justices voting to do that will begin. Given the passion on this issue, and the financial resources available, a recall of these justices would be on the ballot lickety-split, and then the justices who didn’t believe in the primacy of the voters can understand what it feels like to feel their wrath. … Remember Rose Bird?”

Now there’s a nifty bit of intimidation masquerading as a defense of popular sovereignty.

They’re freaking out.  Good.  It’s clear that the backlash to the vote has energized and strengthened the gay/lesbian rights movement in a nearly unprecedented way…and tarred the image of the Mormon Church and of anti-marriage activists.

Let’s recall that is was the Yes on 8 folks who invented the camapaign tactic of intimidating and demonizing No on 8 donors.

Clearly the people voting with their feet-and with their pocketbooks and picket signs-have had an impact.  

Despite this, the lgbt community gatekeepers, who were so ineffective during the campaign], are criticizing the protest and boycott movement.   But given this description of the online and offline activists who have been leading this movement, I don’t expect the gay gatekeepers to be too successful:

“They are not connected to the supposed leaders. All they know is that their rights have been taken away and that the majority has successfully curtailed the freedoms of the minority.”

My response, of course, is what else are we supposed to do?  Let hateful attacks go unanswered?  Count on the Supremes to save our bacon?

That’s why I will personally be boycotting Cinemark H8 theaters this Holiday Season…and leading a picket on Jan. 15 at their Park City screen that will be hosting Sundance.  Will you join me? (While Blogger decides if I’m a spammer, you can join the movement to boycott Cinemark on Facebook.)  

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Sonja Eddings Brown: Shame on You

Because nice people understand that nice means keeping close to home until all this recent unpleasantness blows over.

That said, Sonja, do you honestly believe that you’re the only member of the LDS church who’s been involved professionally with the Yes on 8 campaign?  What about this guy?  Or this guy?

Whatever.

I’m gonna let Jon take it from here:

Today’s Pop Quiz:  Sonja and Marvin both just happen to be members of which church?

Chino Blanco

California

The Long Tail and CDP Elections

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Looking east from San Francisco or LA or even Sacramento, with the right kind of eyes, you can almost see this cycle’s high water mark, where the Obama tsunami peaked and crashed back towards Chicago.

Homages aside, the real lesson is what has happened since the election. The 20th century, focus grouped to not offend, top-down media campaign run by the No on Proposition 8 campaign will be in the same historical chapter as the Hillary “in it to win it” inevitability campaign. They had big money, but in a post-broadcast environment it was junk without strategy.

So with the California Democratic Party in desperate need of dismantling and rebuilding, let’s look at the the Long Tail which should have been the natural principle behind No on Proposition 8. Every candidate for the CDP should be focused on translating CDP strategy to take advantage of this dynamic in California.

Yesterday’s protests on a California initiative had larger crowds in a lot of places outside CA than in California. That is the Long Tail.

So apply that in state. Unfortunately we had a disaster of redistricting after the 2000 census to protect incumbents. So focusing on the “head” doesn’t compare to focusing on the “tail” to pick up seats. By definition due to the redistricting, you have far more allies outside of a district in play than within.

And for major issues like marriage equality and the gubernatorial campaign, we have more allies outside of California than within. The next leadership needs to realize that 350 cities in 8 countries and all 50 states held protests yesterday about one of our initiatives, put together in a week online. That is the Long Tail.

How do candidates plan to harness the Long Tail? How do they plan to be nimble enough to take advantage of it? How do they plan to nationalize the gubernatorial campaign (hint: it won’t happen if DiFi is the nominee)?

Now isn’t the time to do the same thing and raise more money — unless we want to lose. Now is the time to leverage the Long Tail and make big moves. It allows us the Obama model for field. And yes, we can take advantage of the Long Tail for redistricting.

I think Long Tail distribution is so important that I would hope everyone running for CDP office would explain how they plan to maximize the potential.

Marriage Equality

Join the Impact, Boston, MA

Despite threatening weather, organizers estimated that nearly 5,000 people came out to City Hall in Boston, MA to stand together as supporters of marriage equality.  Organizers, including local politicians, leaders with Mass Equality, and U.S. Congressional Representatives Rep. Nikki Tsongas and Rep. Edward Markey all spoke to the crowd.  

Massachusetts made history in 2004 when it became the first U.S. state to legalize same-sex marriage.  That thought was not lost on organizers today, many of whom traveled to California in the lead up to the vote on Proposition 8 to help with the No on 8 campaign.  State Rep. Carl Sciortino read from the Constitution of the State of California, “All people are by nature free and independent and have certain inalienable rights.”  Thus launched the demonstration.

Some quotes and highlights:

Rep. Nikki Tsongas (D-Mass.): “We are a partner with everyone across the country when it comes to bringing about marriage equality.”

State Rep. Byron Rushing: “I am here this afternoon because we are engaged in struggle.  If there is no struggle, there is no progress.  We are here to struggle.  In this democracy, marriage is a civil institution, and in a democracy, all civil institutions must be open to all who qualify.”

Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass): (Reflecting on the fact that gay marriage is now illegal in California, while it is legal here in Massachusetts) “There is one thing that distinguishes Massachusetts from California on the issue of gay marriage.  We are right, and they are wrong! … Gays should have the same rights as straights.  As God’s children, they should have the same rights straights have.  Everyone is entitled to full rights under the U.S. Constitution, so now we engage in this great struggle.  … They asked the ancient Greek philosopher when we would know full and true justice.  And he answered: We would know true justice when all of those who have not been harmed are as angry as those who have!”  

Gary Daffin (LGBT political activist and Executive Director, Multicultural AIDS Coalition): “Here in Massachusetts, we wanted our brothers and sisters in California to wake up after the Election and relax and feel at home in their country.  It took Black people 400 years for us to feel at home in our own country.  It might not take the LGBT community 400 years, but we need to keep fighting.”

Heather Baker (special ed teacher and Boston LGBT rights activst): “We are the American family, we live next door to you, we teach your children, we take care of your elderly. We need equal rights across the country.”

Even though the weather wasn’t picture perfect, the scene outside of Boston City Hall was.  And yeah, that may sound cheesy, but the energy level at today’s “Join the Impact” rally in Boston gave me faith that we can build this national movement to ensure marriage equality, and work to foster LGBT rights in all 50 states.

To view a set of photos from the Boston “Join the Impact” rally, go to: http://www.flickr.com/photos/3…

To view a few You Tube clips from today’s event, go to:

http://gayrights.change.org  

Central Coast

Join the Impact – Over 1,000 in Downtown Ventura

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(The impact has been joined. – promoted by Dante Atkins (hekebolos))

Yes, Ventura, there is a Progressive Left–and it came in force today for Join the Impact.  It’s a common joke here that we live in “Ventucky“, though our situation less resembles that of the deep South and more that of a clinging outpost of Red, stuck between the swaths of Blue that are Los Angeles and Santa Barbara.  We have the gag-worthy Gallegly as our representative, and even unprincipled liars like Tony Strickland somehow manage to attract over half the population here to vote for them.  True, the demographics have been changing with voter registrations to match, but that has translated neither into electoral gains nor significant grassroots activity in the Democratic and progressive community–though that is changing due to the tireless efforts of people like our new VCDP Communications Director Brian Leshon.

But today a sea of Blue washed up on the Ventura shores in front of the Old San Buenaventura Mission to let Ventura and all of California know that yes, we do exist.  And no, we’re not taking it lying down anymore.  Unfortunately, the pictures here don’t do the crowd justice; an amateur photographer is emailing me some pics that I’ll be putting up as soon as I get them.

The Join the Impact protestors began our march at noon in front of the Mission, walking through downtown, over the 101 Freeway overpass and back again, before regrouping on both sides of the street in front of the mission, with overflow into Mission Park.


On the overpass…

I’ve been involved in many protests over the years, but I have to say without question that this was the most amazing, uplifting demonstration I’ve ever been a part of, for a few very important reasons:

  • Focus.  The bane of the progressive protest march over the last few decades has been the lack of attention to message unity.  Markos Moulitsas discusses this problem at length in his book Crashing the Gate: activists such as those with A.N.S.W.E.R. coalition end up using the occasion to fight for causes ranging from freeing Mumia to impeaching Bush to end the wars in Iraq to acceptance of LGBT rights.  Here, there was but one message and one focus, reinforced by the ubiquitous chant: “What do we want?  Equal Rights!  When do we want it?  Now!”

  • Diversity and Family-Friendliness.  All too often the word “diversity” has been seen especially by those on the Right as a politically correct code word for the disproportionately vocal influence of one or more specific minorities.  But for the actual crowd that attended, it might have been easy to dismiss this protest simply as the gay community venting its frustrations.  On the contrary: the couples that had gathered skewed more hetero than same-sex, and many had brought their families and small children along with them.  The visual impact of this phenomenon on the conservative and fence-sitting mind cannot be exaggerated.   Add to this the multi-racial, truly rainbow aspect of the event, and it was not only a joy to behold, but a consternation to those who would insult this movement as merely a special interest, rather than a truly broad-based fight for equal Civil Rights.

  • The Support of the Community.  There were no counter-protesters anywhere in sight, and most of the cars that passed us were honking, even as their passengers rolled down their windows to flash a quick thumbs up or peace sign.  Sure, there were a few nuts in pickup trucks screaming some gibberish about eternal damnation and displaying a hateful middle finger here and there (one of them was so consumed with rage that he very nearly rear-ended the car in front of him), but they were themselves a distinct minority.  Downtown Ventura was truly supportive of our cause, and it felt truly righteous being a part of the next step for civil rights in America.  As one baby boomer activist said,

    “Man, this really is just like the 60s.   I haven’t seen a gathering with this kind of positive energy in a long, long time.  It’s amazing to see.”

I couldn’t agree more.  My girlfriend KK and I spent the final 45 minutes gathering signatures for the Courage Campaign’s Proposition 8 repeal.  On that form was a checkbox asking if the signatory would like to volunteer for the cause.  Nearly every single box was checked, and nearly every single zip code a Ventura resident.  These people were not here just to vent for a day: they were here to be a part of something bigger for the long term.

It was a beautiful sight to behold, and gives me hope for the long term not only for the future of civil rights in America, but for the future of progressive politics here in “Ventucky” as well.

Marriage Equality

Los Angles Join The Impact

It was definitely fire-and-brimstone time in Los Angeles today as approximately 15,000 “No On 8/Join The Impact” protestors gathered near the steps of LA City Hall. Major fires both north and south of us ringed the city in smoke even as the skies above remained a brilliant blue. But neither the fires nor the freakishly warm temperatures (in the 90’s) did much to affect attendance.

A few observations:

The City establishment was surprisingly well represented considering the fires. Councilman Bill Rosendahl, LA’s first and only openly gay council member, was the first to speak, followed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a number of dignitaries in the Gay and Lesbian community, and City Attorney Rocky Delligadio (who talked about the upcoming legal challenges)

Protesters held all manner of home-made signs (my husband, who worked with me on the general election, remarked how refreshing it was to see so much diversity compared to the graphic uniformity of the Obama campaign).

My favorite, held by a very good looking man in his early twenties, read “Are you sure you want me marrying your daughter?”

In general, I’d say the crowd, though largely young, couldn’t be typified as a West Hollywood protest crowd. We saw a lot of couples and families with young children. We also saw a lot of older couples – men and women in their 50’s, 60’s and even 70’s.

There were quite a few heterosexual couples supporting the protesters. Counter protests were non-existent, except for one lone Jesus freak holding up the obligatory “Repent Or Die” sign.

Whatever heavy lifting absent from the pre-election campaign was in evidence here. I got the clear sense from the crowd and speakers that this was a movement in process – neither beginning nor ending, and everyone was in it for the long haul.  

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Albuquerque Join The Impact (with pics)

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Over 1,000 people joined together in Albuquerque, NM this morning for Join The Impact.

On the drive there, I figured there might be a few dozen people, but really had no idea what to expect. I’ve been to plenty of marriage equality events in San Francisco over the years, but this was after the election about an initiative two states away.

When I arrived, there were hundreds of people. But it was eerily quiet, more like a funeral than a protest. As people stood around in the crisp winter sun, the loudest sound was a nearby repairman’s socket-wrench.

Then, there was a bullhorn and the mood rapidly became festive.

Albuquerque Join the Impact

Following some speeches, there was a march and by that time the crowd was over 1,000.

“Gonna beat, back, the Mormon attack. Gonna beat beat back, the Mormon attack”

Albuquerque Join the Impact

Also, there was the local angle with the protest of the famous Blake’s Lotaburger getting attention.

Albuquerque Join the Impact

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Son of Prominent Yes on 8 Leader Quits Mormon Church Over Prop 8

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Matthew Lawrence, 28, of Santa Ana, California is just one of approximately 500 people who have contacted Signing for Something ( http://www.signingforsomething… )in the last few days to announce his resignation from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints because of the Mormon Church’s handling of and involvement in the gay marriage issue.  Matthew is gay and is the son of Gary Lawrence, 67, who is the “State LDS Grassroots Director” for the state of California.  (See http://yesonprop8.blogspot.com… ).

Matthew Lawrence, in an e-mail interview with this diarist, said that although he is “extremely upset and frustrated” with his family and that he has “cut off communication with them,” that “at the end of the day, I do love them.”  The elder Lawrence was also the Mormon Church’s point man for the Prop 22 campaign in 2000.  Matt says, “I love my family so much, but it’s hard to not take this personally.  We had a brief falling-out over Prop. 22, but that got mended.  But two anti-gay initiatives in eight years, it’s impossible not to feel attacked.”

Matthew was particularly hurt when “my father said that opponents of Prop. 8 are akin to Lucifer’s followers in the pre-existence.”  (Printed in Meridian Magazine online, and reported in the Salt Lake Tribune http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_… and other newspapers). Matthew’s plea to his father and others is “We can all agree to disagree and respect each other’s informed opinions and decisions, but don’t put me and Satan in the same sentence please.”

“This issue isn’t about gay marriage,” writes Matthew. ” This is about certain religious factions that believe homosexuality is disgusting, immoral and wrong and needs to be stamped out. . . .  It’s a problem to be ‘fixed.'” Matthew writes that his family sent him to multiple counselors during his youth, and even sent him to live with relatives in Utah which he writes was an attempt to “straighten me out” by living with what he describes as “homophobic cousins.”  He said while in Utah it wasn’t unusual for his cousin to call him a “faggot” at school and that his “aunt and uncle did nothing to discourage his behavior.”

Matthew is at least a third or fourth generation Mormon, and said that even after he stopped attending church (about the time of his return from exile to Utah) that “I even found myself defending the church for years and trying to dispel the notions that polygamy was still practiced or any of the other misconceptions. And deep inside, I still believe certain truisms that can be found in nearly any religion, such as treating our earthly brothers and sisters with love and respect.”

Gary Lawrence served as a Mormon bishop while Matthew was a child, and is the President of Lawrence Research, http://www.zoominfo.com/Search… .  Matthew said that from his father he learned “the value of hard work and not making excuses. My father has worked hard his entire life and has done whatever it takes to provide for his family. He truly was a loving husband to my mother, which is why it saddens me he would work to deny others the same happiness that his family provided for him.”

Matthew says that about 95 percent of his family supported Proposition 8, but that “a few cousins that are strongly opposed to this Proposition and have let me know that they support and love me” and have insisted “that they get a wedding invitation if I ever marry in the future.”

But, as for his father, Matthew says, “My dad keeps telling me it’s not too late to ‘change.'”

Below are comments from other Mormons who have finally decided to give up on their church, and have their names purged from the rolls:

I have great love and affection for the members of the LDS Church, in particular the members of XXX Ward. I want to thank you and acknowledge all of the love and support that has been shown to me over the years. I truly appreciate it.

I am now requesting that you remove my name from the membership of the LDS Church. While it saddens me to do so, I can no longer be a member, even in name only, of a church that seeks to deny people the benefits of marriage. The LDS Church has been active in the fight to deny homosexuals the right to marry in the state of California and elsewhere and it deeply disturbs me that the LDS Church is using church funds and member’s tithing to support this hateful campaign. Even though I am not homosexual, I can no longer have my name associated with an organization that seeks to deny people a basic human right. This issue is not a religious issue, it is a human rights issue and the church should stay out of politics and instead focus on supporting the thousands of members of the LDS Church whose marriages are in danger.

Please discontinue my membership. . . .  Read more of this letter at: http://signingforsomething.org…

My family is one of the oldest Mormon families in Utah – one of my great-great-uncles actually drove Brigham Young’s wagon part of the way on the trek to Utah. . . . . I always considered myself culturally Mormon, due to my historical family connections with the Church. Now, I’m not so sure that I can even keep that bond. From our history, Mormons should know all about religious persecution – and look what the Church is doing now! Persecuting people just like Mormons were persecuted over 150 years ago! Jesus would be ashamed.  Read more of this letter at: http://signingforsomething.org…

I have thought about this a great deal, and I cannot in good conscience be affiliated with any organization that would use its resources to strip a minority group of its civil rights. Having been raised a Mormon since birth, my family has instilled in me a truly Christian sense of ethics and morals. This religiously motivated attack is profoundly immoral and is in direct contradiction to the teachings of Jesus Christ – love, compassion, freedom, unity, inclusion, and equality.  Read more of this letter at: http://signingforsomething.org…

I consider Propsition 8 to be contrary to the teachings of Jesus Christ and no longer wish to have my name associated with the LDS church in any way, shape or form.

And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Matthew 25:40

These things I command you, that ye love one another. John 15:17

For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Galatians 5:14  Read more of this letter at: http://signingforsomething.org…

I’m disappointed and ashamed to be a member of this church right now. . . . I wish I could understand, in any rational sense, the reasons a Christian would want to deny an entire group of people something that they themselves hold so dear. My Mormon upbringing always taught me that the things I value most in my life ought to be shared. . . . I couldn’t feel more disappointment and distance from those who fought so hard to pass this amendment. And why are they standing quietly by as families around the world are torn apart by poverty, war, famine, environmental injustices, AIDS, or any number of social and political issues that seem so much larger and truly threatening to families? This isn’t a version of Christianity I recognize or want to be a part of.  Read more of this letter: http://signingforsomething.org…

[W]ith the church’s recent involvement in the passage of Prop. 8, I felt that now was truly the time to resign . . . . And now it looks like most of my immediate family feels the same way . . . . my personal involvement with the church of today is through, and not a moment too soon.  Read more of this letter at: http://signingforsomething.org…

There are dozens more resignation letters, and hundreds more letters from Mormons stating their opposition to the Mormon Church’s position available at: http://www.signingforsomething…  These voices need to be heard.

Marriage Equality

Mormons Resigning Despite Strong Heritage, Citing ‘Hatred’ by LDS Church

(Unsurprisingly, it’s the LDS leadership that is uniformly anti-justice.  Individual members may have different views, and are willing to act on them.  This should be applauded – promoted by jsw)

Mormons continued to register their resignations with, and post resignation letters to Signing for Something this week, citing “hatred” and “discrimination” among their chief reasons for quitting the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  These resignations come among the continuing backlash against the Mormon Church’s involvement in passing California’s Proposition 8 last week to take away the right of civil marriage for gays and lesbians.

Excepts of a few recent letters are posted here, with links to the full letters.

I am a gay man who, after serving a [Mormon] mission to the Netherlands, left the mormon church (although not officially) as they have no place for me. I’ve always felt that I didn’t need to upset my family or make waves by requesting that my name be removed from the records. After all, I didn’t recognize the church’s authority anymore so what was the point?

Since the LDS church has decided to VERY PUBLICLY extend their hatred beyond their realm I’ve decided that the time has come to make my voice heard, too. I resigned membership recently as has one of my friends from California who was recently married to his partner of 28 years.  See complete letter here: http://signingforsomething.org…

But now I see that there isn’t a community or a place for me. There’s not a place for the people I love. The Church is not a place for anybody who believes in equal rights and the Constitution of the United States of America. The Church is not pro-marriage, it is anti-gay. The leadership fights for bigotry and hate. The God I grew up with was perfect in His Love and Justice. Shame on the men who act so disgracefully in His name.  See complete letter here: http://signingforsomething.org…

Entire families are resigning:

As a member of the LDS church I was always taught to love one another and to treat everyone with a certain amount of respect. The position the church took on this particular issue went against everything I learned from the church. Not only was the church’s position discriminatory, but it was also hateful.

I found it extremely strange that it took the church 14 years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act to allow black members to hold the priesthood. I just excused this inaction as a mistake, but now as I see history repeat itself I realize that it wasn’t a mistake and the Mormon Church will always discriminate.

My whole family has been traumatized by the church’s efforts and will be sending in letters of resignations.  See the complete letter here: http://signingforsomething.org…

Emotions run deep.

For 45 years I served in every calling I was asked, in leadership, in service, in every capacity. I did it because I knew I was serving my Heavenly Father, a loving God. I continue to serve him and in doing so, I am resigning from this organization that I believe to be corrupt from the egos of mere men, that has strayed so far from its’ original mission to serve God and His people.  See the complete letter here: http://signingforsomething.org…

Resigning despite deep roots and strong ties:

I served an honorable and successful mission for the Church, and I am well aware of what is at stake. Though I will never forget-and do not regret-that experience, I cannot in good conscience remain a member of the Church.

I do not take this step lightly. My family connection with the Church is old and deep: my forebears were among the first handcart pioneers, arriving in the Salt Lake Valley in September of 1856. They endured much hardship for what they believed to be a just and righteous cause, and I am proud of that heritage. It is now time for me to honor their memory and take a stand for what I myself believe to be right.

The Church’s involvement in the effort to rescind a basic Constitutional right from California citizens is shameful and misguided. These are people whose desire to marry would only strengthen that civil institution, and would benefit and further family stability. And the campaign to deny them this right was a campaign of fear and lies, for which The Church should feel the deepest shame.

In offering their imprimatur to a mendacious, divisive, and unworthy political cause, Church leaders have, it seems to me, gone against both the spirit and the letter of Scripture, to wit:

“We believe that religion is instituted of God; and that men are amenable to him, and to him only, for the exercise of it, unless their religious opinions prompt them to infringe upon the rights and liberties of others;” See complete letter here: http://signingforsomething.org…

Even some not resigning are suffering abuse from family members:


I believe in the rights of all people, that two homosexual people who love and want to be with each other should have the right to do so. I believe that this right should be granted unto all people . . . .Every day as I drove to and from school I would pass by a major intersection where members of my church took turns holding signs promoting Prop 8 and telling fellow supporters to honk in agreement. . . . One day I came home and my brother was at our home visiting with his children. He bluntly asked me if I had honked or not. I was startled by his accusing tone and told him I had not. His eyes took on a blind rage as he demanded the reason to why I hadn’t honked. I lied and told him my horn wasn’t working but he didn’t buy it. He told me with a vinomous voice, “that is the stupidest and worst excuse i’ve ever heard.” It was difficult for me to hold my tongue as he continued to harrass me, but soon I simply left the room telling him I had homework to do. At this point I knew that my true political beliefs could never be revealed to my family. . . . I will not resign from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints because I truly do love my religion, but that does not mean that I am willing to go against everything I know to be right just because our prophet has told me to. I think the church has no right to assume the inner thinkings of its members and take such an open stand of any political issue. . . . I love God, I love ALL people, I try to live the way God wants me to, I pray, I repent, I read the scriptures, I go to church. . . .I WILL NOT BE TOLD WHAT TO BELIEVE! So here I am, going against the church i’ve stood up for so many times, and for what? for the rights of the people, our people, we as the people. So sorry Bretheren, I love you, but I will not at this time stand by you as you attempt to make me your soldier of a war I don’t wish to fight. . . . I WILL STAND FOR WHAT I BELIEVE IN! Whether you will stand by me or stand against me, I WILL PREVAIL! And as my sunday school teachers have always taught me, “if you don’t stand for something, you will fall for everything.” This is me standing, this is me choosing a side, and this is me telling all people that I WILL NOT STAY SILENT!  See the entire letter here: http://signingforsomething.org…