Source: Salt Lake Tribune, KSL TV, KTVX
Signs at a Salt Lake City rally protesting Mormon support for Prop. 8
photo: KTVXOpponents of a measure that put an end to marriage equality in California took their outrage to the spiritual hub of Mormonism on Friday.
A quickly-arranged protest near Salt Lake City's Mormon Temple attracted up to 5,000 protesters, according to an early police estimate. They swarmed downtown Salt Lake City to march past the temple and church headquarters, protesting Mormon involvement in the campaign for California's Proposition 8. The measure, which defined marriage as exclusively between a man and a woman, passed this week.
A church-owned TV station, KSL, reported as the protest started that only 200 people had gathered near Temple Square at around 6 pm, but KTVX offered its far higher estimate of the crowd as "thousands" in a 7:44 (MT) report.
In a 7:35 (MT) report, KSL significantly revised its crowd estimate: "Though the crowd started out small, police estimate it has grown to somewhere between 2,000 and 5,000 people."
A sea of signs in City Creek Park, where the march began, screamed out messages including, "I didn't vote on your marriage," "Mormons once persecuted . . . Now persecutors," and "Jesus said love everyone." Others read, "Proud of my two moms" and "Protect traditional marriage. Ban divorce."
Former Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson and three openly gay state legislators, Sen. Scott McCoy and Reps. Jackie Biskupski and Christine Johnson, spoke out in support, Salt Lake Tribune reports. At one point, the crowd took up the mantra made famous by the country's new president-elect: "Yes, we can!"
Salt Lake protesters said they are marching solidarity in with supporters of equality in California who have marched around the Los Angeles LDS temple.
Then, the masses headed west, weaving between cars, waving at those who watched from windows in the LDS Church Office Building and shouting chants such as: "What do we want? Equality! When do we want it? Now!"
Morgan Smith of Salt Lake City, who identified himself to the Tribune as an active Mormon, said he hope the attention will encourage Mormon officials "to show greater love for its gay and lesbian members."
He demonstrated alongside Salt Lake City's David Nielsen who said he wants to see "more exposure and more shame to my church."
While members of the LGBT community came out in force, there were plenty of others who stood with them.
Eli Isaac, 61, of Salt Lake City, felt compelled to come out because of the war he fought. The disabled Vietnam veteran joined the crowd, "to support these people's rights, the rights I fought for. I fought for all Americans."
Across the street from the church offices on North Temple, a group of about 50 -- the majority not LDS members, according to the Tribune -- defended the church's support of the successful ballot measure. "The people voted," they shouted at the protesters. "YOU are intolerant!"
Others screamed: "Marriage is between a man and woman. You'll never be a man and woman!"
Some marchers offered heated arguments to the counterprotesters, others responded by kissing their partners. The romantic moments were greeted with cheers.
Protesters are upset that the financial support The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gave to support the pro-Proposition 8 group.
They are pointing at the politically powerful church because they say Latter-day Saints donated a majority of the money raised to push the vote through. Protest organizer Jacob Whipple says 77 percent of all donations for Proposition 8 came from the Church.
Whipple told KSL that the issue is personal for him and thousands of others. "I can't get married now, and we want the Church to know that we're tired of them putting their politics into our lives when we're not members of their congregation," Whipple said.
Now several national gay activists have proposed boycotting Utah and challenging the LDS Church's tax exempt status, Salt Lake Tribune reports.
"The main focus is going to be going after the Utah brand," John Aravosis, an influential Washington, D.C.-based blogger, told the Associated Press. "We're going to destroy the Utah brand. It is a hate state."
But attacking a religious organization rarely works, said Joe Mathews, a senior fellow at the New America Foundation, a political think tank in southern California.
"In fact, it's counterproductive," said Mathews, who supports gay marriage. He said he understands why opponents of the ballot measure would target the LDS Church.
"Mormons are unpopular and the church went a long way in diving into this issue," he said. "But it doesn't make long-term strategic sense. You are appealing to religious bigotry and I don't think that's a good idea. You need to convince people of faith that they're not under attack."
ACLU of Utah released a statement in response to a call from LDS church leaders for "civility" from those who object to having their rights removed by a popular vote:
he American Civil Liberties Union of Utah expresses dismay over the passage of Proposition 8 in California, which seeks to amend California’s Constitution to exclude a single group of people, same sex couples, from the fundamental right to marry.
The ACLU of Utah acknowledges the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ recent statement calling on everyone, on both sides of the debate, to act in a spirit of mutual respect and civility towards each other and to request that parties refrain from subjecting others to erroneous information.
In the interest of disseminating accurate information, we feel it is important to highlight that the choice between religious freedom and equal rights is a false dichotomy. As an organization long dedicated to protecting and promoting religious liberties and equal rights, even when those rights appear to be in tension with one another, the ACLU of Utah asserts that it is misleading and inaccurate to claim that recognition of same-sex marriage by the state of California in some way infringes on the religious liberty of the LDS Church or any other religious institution.
Source: Thousands protest LDS stance on same-sex marriage | Salt Lake Tribune
Fewer protestors than expected show up for rally at Temple Square | KSL
Same-sex marriage protest held near LDS Temple Square | KTVX