My honey’s niece heard an interesting story about me last Thanksgiving and asked if she could interview me for a project for her college Social Justice class.

Here is the result:

YouTube LINK

Bags backed and first flight completed. Now I’m just waiting for my connecting flight to São Paulo in the Houston airport.

This is LDS General Conference weekend and probably a good time for me to be out of town, as I will be reliant on non-real-time media to report the proceedings, which will keep my blood pressure lower.

This is the one rumored to have a woman offer a prayer during at least one of the sessions — a huge stride for Mormonism, but an embarrassment that women are still largely relegated to 2nd-class status.

When I mention to Mormon friends that women were not allowed to pray in Sacrament meeting until 1978, they recoil in horror as if they were finally discovering that their church is really NOT the “only true church”. Then they quickly recover once the mantra of “we have a living prophet and he receives revelations from god” resurfaces in their little brainwashed heads — which appeases any demons that may have arisen to cause such doubt.

I can’t wait to hear President of the Quorum of the Twelve Boyd Packer flail from his wheelchair about the evils of homosexuality, as he is always wont to do — especially with the recent Supreme Court arguments around California’s Prop 8 and the federal Defense of Marriage Act.. I chuckle to think of how predictable he is — and how uninspired and uninspiring.

A friend pointed out last week that many general authorities who have come from regions and jobs outside of “Zion” seem to have a much more pragmatic view of things and are rather more accommodating when it comes to homosexuality.

I reminded him that Packer came from Brigham City and the Church Educational System and he said, “Well, that just proves my point”.

A sea of red “equality” icons washed over Facebook’s user profiles on Tuesday and Wednesday this week to encourage, honor and support the Supreme Court’s agreement to hear challenges against “The Defense of Marriage Act” and California’s Prop 8.

Here is mine–

I would say that most people who did not agree, remained relatively silent and respectful. Except for my LDS 2nd cousin.

Here is what I wrote in response to her unbelievably passive-agressive post of the LDS church’s ”The Family — A Proclamation to the World”:

I’m almost shaking as I do not do this lightly:

I just de-friended an LDS (Mormon) member of my family whose sole response to the Supreme Court’s ongoing consideration of marriage/benefits equality — and apparently the red “equality” signs all over Facebook — was to post the LDS church’s 1995 “The Family — A Proclamation to the World” with no other comment — but very telling in its timing, on today of all days.

This document basically states that, “…marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children”.

Further, it states that anyone who abides outside of that parameter, “will one day stand accountable before God” and continues, “… we warn that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets.”

Had she encouraged an actual dialog or made an attempt to understand that some may not believe or feel the same as she does — and that there are indeed, many shades of grey in this world — I would have embraced this. Because of the way this was done (“in your face, infidels”), I regretfully say, goodbye.

You took your stand. I take mine.

Her grandmother (and my aunt) also unfriended at least one of my cousins (her niece) who had the audacity to state that she supported marriage equality. I told my cousin that I found it interesting that once again they had chosen “god” over family.

This particular LDS family continues to demonstrate their lack of understanding of what the “unconditional” part of unconditional love means.

In Utah, it is currently legal–

• To evict a tenant for being gay
• To fire an employee for being gay

The Salt Lake Tribune reports this morning that a gay anti-bias bill that would prohibit this type of discrimination will be attempted in this session of the Utah State legislature — even though the LDS church has reportedly chosen to not get behind it, as had seemed to be the case earlier this year.

This apparent refusal to provide its blessing (something that is literally required for most LDS legislators to get on board) may be tied to attempts to remove the clause allowing exemptions for people with “sincere religious beliefs against homosexuality”.

Maybe it’s me, but isn’t this exactly the group this bill is targeting? Keeping this clause in makes it essentially non-enforceable and non-effective.

ADDENDUM: It didn’t pass. Another year in Utah with no legal protections. I also read that the church fears this because they would not be able to fire church employees who are in a gay relationship as they currently do with impunity. Nice.

This week the LDS church launched a new website that is an attempt at rapprochement to the gay community, and perhaps their own little attempt at penance for the Prop 8 PR fiasco in California.

According to an interviewed official on KSL-TV, “…the site has been under development for more than two years”. [Personal aside: I could have put it together in a day; it must have been getting buy-in from Boyd K. Packer that took the other 729 days.]

Here are a few quotes from the site that stood out for me (all emphasis is mine):

This official website does not offer a comprehensive explanation of everything related to same-sex attraction, but it does reflect the feelings of Church leaders as to how we should treat each other as part of the human family. The site offers a place where the people whose lives are impacted by attraction to the same sex can find inspiration to work through difficult challenges while remaining faithful to Church teachings.

The Church’s approach to this issue stands apart from society in many ways. And that’s alright. Reasonable people can and do differ. From a public relations perspective it would be easier for the Church to simply accept homosexual behavior. That we cannot do, for God’s law is not ours to change. There is no change in the Church’s position of what is morally right. But what is changing — and what needs to change — is to help Church members respond sensitively and thoughtfully when they encounter same-sex attraction in their own families, among other Church members, or elsewhere.

(more…)

A good friend emailed me this week:

I heard something on the news about Mormons marching in the gay pride parade this year?  What’s that about?

And I responded:

A few Mormons who actually “support” equality are trying to make a statement, but this is not an officially-sanctioned activity, by any stretch of the imagination.

They still think that “god loves the sinner, not the sin” so think it’s okay to be a practicing (e.g. active) Mormon — as long as you also practice celibacy the rest of your life.

No thanks.

Here is a LINK to the Salt Lake Tribune article.

ABC-4 reported this:

“What we’re trying to do is say we welcome you.  We want you to be part of our congregation.  We want you to feel safe in our pews,” Munson said.

She is also sending a clear message to other Latter-day Saints.  “We want people in wards all over the world to see us and say these folks are just like me,” said Munson.

The temple going, tithing paying, faithful who say they believe President Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God; want to share a message.  “We have been getting messages from our church leaders about reaching out with love, about never supporting bulling [sic], about being loving and kind to LGBT people,” said Munson.

Latter-day Saints only support marriage between a man and woman, but they also say they love those who support same sex marriage.  Jay Vann who is an active Latter-day Saint from Murray is thrilled about Latter-day Saints joining the gay pride parade.

“By marching in the parade it doesn’t mean that we have to move from our stance whether it’s right or wrong, but these are our brothers and sisters these are our friends our cousin [sic]. I think by marching with them I think what were saying is they deserve to be treated like human beings,” Vann said. [emphasis mine]

And of course, The Onion has an “American Voices” take, which is probably more accurate than is being reported in the mainstream media.

Led by the child who simply knew

The twin boys were identical in every way but one. Wyatt was a girl to the core, and now lives as one, with the help of a brave, loving family and a path-breaking doctor’s care.

LINK in the Boston Globe

The Salt Lake Tribune published an article over the weekend that detailed an LGBT event for LDS-oriented people. Apparently one self-invited speaker–Bishop Kevin Kloosterman–gave an inspiring talk that the Trib has titled “Mormon bishop says church responsible for gays’ emotional wounds“.

Some commentators are saying that the Trib is making too much of this and has missed the gist of his comments. To those, I submit a transcript of his remarks.

For me, these were the most confirming:

And as I read these stories and as I learned more about these issues, I began to see the emotional wounds and the scars that many of you still have today. And I seem to ask the question, “Where did you get these wounds?” and unfortunately the answer was, “In the house of my friends.”

Our brothers and sisters in New York were able to legally marry today.

LINK

Interesting story in today’s Salt Lake Tribune about a “gay BYU filmmaker”.

A lifelong member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the 41-year-old Wilcox has been the epitome of a good Mormon. He served a two-year mission to Barcelona, Spain, earned a degree from BYU, worked and taught Spanish at the church’s Missionary Training Center in Provo for five years, then joined the staff at BYUtv, where he has produced documentaries, talk shows and reality-based series.

He did it all secretly knowing he was gay.

I suspect that he will quickly find incompatibility.

LINK