CB:When did you decide you were going to be the one to make “8: The Mormon Proposition” and what factor(s) drove your decision? What aspects of your own background or of the Prop 8 campaign brought you to this project?
RC: Truthfully, this film started out as an exposé on the problems of gay teen homelessness in Utah’s “Zion” and an examination about WHY otherwise loving parents would kick their kids out on to the streets just because their kids are gay. But as the weeks and months unfolded in our project, I began seeing that history demanded our project be larger in scope. Slowly, but with great force, our focus shifted to what I believe is the “touchstone” of Mormon ideology regarding homosexuality…and that is exclusively Mormon efforts to get PROP 8 on the ballot in California and see its passage. It’s the case against Mormons and what I believe has been a decades long work to damage gay people and their causes.
PROP 8 is truly the most obvious, shining example of what is at the root of Mormon belief about gay people. As to what factors drove my decision to make the film what it is today, they were personal really and deeply rooted in something that is fundamental to my character. Human suffering cuts me to the quick. And when I obtained the entire LDS call-to-action broadcast (transcripts and audio) that was heard by thousands in California, as a former Mormon myself, I knew statistically speaking, that at least ten percent of the Mormon youth who heard the call to action, were gay. I hurt over the thought of what they must have felt sitting in those pews, hearing their church leaders launch an assault against gay people. I went in the direction of the fires of their pain, and it’s my prayer this film will be a part of putting out the fire of that pain in their lives. What the Mormons did and what they continue to do against gay people needs to be a matter of record, because it is spiritually criminal. When these young people sitting in the pews grow up, I hope they can turn to my film and get the message that it’s OK to leave the organization that pulls them to its breast tenderly, while choking the spiritual life right out of them through assaults on their very civil rights.
In her report on the New York “pro-marriage” rally, Mormon blogger (and Digital Network Army director) Angela Rockwood (aka Beetle Blogger) suggests that if you are a New Yorker, you’ll want to know about these sites:
In the course of reading through Fred’s docs, one name in particular caught my attention: Debi Hartmann. Could this be the same Mormon mom whom I’d recently seen speaking in support of her Local 5 union and its affirmative stance re marriage rights for all? Indeed it was, and here’s Debi making her case around the 4:25 mark:
This story is about Eric Norwood’s personal experiences at a place called The Utah Boys Ranch, which models itself as a “tough-love” prep-school, but while Eric was there, he witnessed some unbelievable atrocities. It is a Mormon-funded and staffed facility, and religious indoctrination is a fundamental aspect of the school. There was sexual, physical, and emotional abuse, suicide, staff corruption, and escape. A major Utah political figure, Senator Chris Buttars, was the executive director while Eric was there. This is Eric’s story.
As supporters of Gay Marriage have discovered, it’s never easy to be on the Mormon Church’s enemies list. The Church of Latter-Day Saints backed the anti-Gay Marriage Proposition 8 in California with out-of-state funds, and gave the right a heartbreaking victory this past election cycle. But the Mormon Church has been challenged in the past. Just ask Bob Beamon.
Admittedly, I got busy with the holidays and fell behind in my reading at some of my favorite websites. I figured I could bookmark, spend a couple days getting reacquainted with the wife and kids, and then catch up later.
I find it highly amusing to read in Utah’s Deseret News that the government of Kyrgyzstan is making it difficult for the Mormons to have their religion officially recognized by the country.
One of the reader comments posted with the story says, “It’s not about a religious Us vs. Them — it’s about a government saying Only Us, Not Them.”
Ha! How does it feel?
The new Kyrgyzstan law would make it much more difficult to register. Instead of requiring just 10 members in the country before a church could register, it would now require 200, a commission said.
The Desert Sun has an article about boycott efforts and suspicion of Mormon business owners, and reports that some are advocating a boycott of all LDS owned businesses — regardless of financial support to passing Proposition 8. “I didn’t make a contribution. I’m just so exhausted explaining myself,” said Rick Seidner, who has owned Rick’s in Palm Springs for 23 years.
My friend Sam posted video of the LDS owner of El Coyote, a restaurant with heavy gay and liberal minded patronage, responding to her donation to the Yes on 8 campaign, trying to avert a boycott. When Sam asks her, “would you be willing to make a personal donation to repeal the amendment?” The truth then comes out as to where she firmly stands.
Visit our StopTheMormons shop for t-shirts and more to help you spread the message in your daily life (probably NOT safe for work).
Targeting Mormons Unfair?
Equality California estimates that Mormons donated as much as $20 million to Prop. 8, while the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal group, gave $1.25 million to the effort and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, $200,000.
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CB: When did you decide you were going to be the one to make “8: The Mormon Proposition” and what factor(s) drove your decision? What aspects of your own background or of the Prop 8 campaign brought you to this project?
