INTRO BY JOCELYN LOREN, PHOTOS BY BRENT DUNDORE

Reposted from Frontiers Magazine (Los Angeles)

The rainbow-striped flag proudly serves as a reminder of the diversity that makes up our community — the colors, faces, personalities, interests, propensities and … denominations. The upheaval from the subsequent passing of Prop. 8 has fostered a great Mormon/gay divide — fueled by difference, ignited by politics. On these pages, Frontiers gives voice to those least heard, whose dual identities vehemently, so it seems, oppose each other. We asked three “gay Mormons” to share their personal thoughts and experiences, and though the views expressed are not necessarily that of Frontiers, they’re among a small sample of a voice that needs to be heard. We ask only that you listen before trenching deeper into the growing rift. Three perspectives: pain, hope and love.

I have a confession to make: I am a Hillary Clinton fan, and would have loved to have seen her today as the President elect. I’ve grown to be an Obama fan as well, but the Rick Warren controversy caused me to reflect on some feelings and concerns I had back in the primaries.  One was that Barak’s goal of unifying the country might come before and to the detriment of the gay community if it were accomplished by playing to the center.

The author, Sheldon Rampton (center) in a photo from his days as a Mormon missionary.

BY SHELDON RAMPTON

Reprinted with permission from PRWatch.org

I posted a brief item [on PRWatch.org] recently about the PR nightmare facing the Mormon Church as a result of the prominent role it played this year promoting Proposition 8 to ban same-sex marriage in California. At the urging of church leaders, Mormons spent about $20 million on the effort, which probably provided the margin that enabled the proposition to pass.

This will be a short post.

Hate is still hate, even when it is voted for on a ballot.

We do not seek to suppress political speech. We seek to suppress hate.

A very large number, straight and gay, are with us now.  We have to do something bold.

It’s time we say that supporting anti-gay causes is like supporting the KKK.  The young people in the country are with us on this.  We do NOT need to stay quiet and polite any longer. The energy is with us to say that LGBT DISCRIMINATION IS DISGUSTING.

From the Washington Post, by Dan Wentzel:

A week after the election, I was riding the bus home in Santa Monica when we went past one of the many protests around the city against the narrow passage of Proposition 8, which amended the California constitution to eliminate marriage rights for an entire class of people.

Questioning or being skeptical of our campaign over protesting the opposition and the fact that our rights were taken away is the argument that our opposition makes.  And some in the gay community are trying to say the same thing.

Doing so — while complaining that our anger is misdirected — suggests that putting this on the ballot was OK. We have to make people aware of the injustice that was done and not just retreat within the walls of our community for a round of finger pointing. The quality of our campaign is somewhat irrelevant considering that in a fair world we would not have needed a campaign at all.

Hendrik Hertzberg writes for The New Yorker:

Like a polluted swamp, anti-gay bigotry is likely to get thicker and more toxic as it dries up. Viciousness meets viciousness.

I think this is a great way to express how I’ve been feeling as people complain that we are not doing anything to win over hearts with our protests.  Most people who can be reasoned with are already on our side.  It is time for people to get off the fence, and I think that is being accomplished with our demands for equality since the election. The debate now needs to framed without middle ground: between freedom and equality or bigotry and oppression.

It seems safe to say that a new day has arrived for the gay community. We can all feel it in the air. It’s not only anger whirling around, but definitely something else. Hope? That seems too weak. Certainty that we will prevail? That too, but there is more.  As terrible as this dirty fight smack-down feels, this is unquestionably a new day, and many, many others are standing up loudly with us now.  Whatever it is, hope and certainty seem like woefully inadequate words to describe it.

Michael Russnow wrote an article for The Huffington Post, discussing complaints about the backlash from Prop 8.  I like the points he makes, but I’d go a step further and say that it is NOT discrimination, in the unfair sense that Prop 8 supporters try to claim, for people to protest and speak out against those who passed Prop 8.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist for any of us to find holes in the arguments of the opposition, which is why nobody really takes the time to discuss these things.  But I’m so fed up with them that I thought I’d vent on the blog as someone just posted a “who is the bigot now” argument.