Mormons Threaten To Leave Boy Scouts

Last night the Mormon Church issued a press release in which they threaten to end their relationship with the Boy Scouts over the end of the ban on openly gay leaders.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is deeply troubled by today’s vote by the Boy Scouts of America National Executive Board. In spite of a request to delay the vote, it was scheduled at a time in July when members of the Church’s governing councils are out of their offices and do not meet. When the leadership of the Church resumes its regular schedule of meetings in August, the century-long association with Scouting will need to be examined. The Church has always welcomed all boys to its Scouting units regardless of sexual orientation. However, the admission of openly gay leaders is inconsistent with the doctrines of the Church and what have traditionally been the values of the Boy Scouts of America. As a global organization with members in 170 countries, the Church has long been evaluating the limitations that fully one-half of its youth face where Scouting is not available. Those worldwide needs combined with this vote by the BSA National Executive Board will be carefully reviewed by the leaders of the Church in the weeks ahead.

The Mormon Church is the nation's largest sponsor of the Boy Scouts with over 30,000 LDS chapters comprising about 15% of total membership.

HRC Slams LDS "Truce" On LGBT Rights

Via press release from the Human Rights Campaign:

“Symbolically, seeing the church leaders advocating so openly for these protections will no doubt be deeply meaningful to Mormon families with LGBT members, and provide encouragement to LGBT youth in the church,” said HRC Legal Director Sarah Warbelow. “But, as a matter of public policy, it appears deeply flawed.” Doctors would still be allowed to deny medical care. Pharmacists would still be allowed to refuse to fill valid prescriptions. And landlords, as well as business operators, would still be allowed to reject LGBT people. All in the name of religion.

“We share the church’s commitment to freedom of religion. We embrace the principles of the First Amendment and believe churches do and should have the right to make determinations about who fills their pews. But non-discrimination protections only function when they are applied equally,” Warbelow said. "It should be stated that there are countless LGBT Mormons, and Mormon allies, who support equality, not in spite of their faith but because of it."

The Mormon church in recent years has been adjusting its language around LGBT people to be kinder, more accepting. Today’s announcement reflected that, but falls far short of embracing full inclusion and equality for LGBT people. “All Americans should have the right to be employed, receive housing and services in environments free of discrimination,” Warbelow said. "We await the day the church embraces that fully, without any exceptions or exemptions.”

My post on today's press conference by Mormon Church leaders is here.

UTAH: LDS Church Backs LGBT Rights In Return For Stiffer Religion Carve-Outs

Via Salt Lake City's Fox affiliate:

In at least one big and bruising culture-war battle, the Mormon church wants to call a partial truce. Convening a rare press conference on Tuesday at church headquarters in Salt Lake City, Mormon leaders pledged to support anti-discrimination laws for gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people, as long the laws also protect the rights of religious groups. In exchange, the Mormon church wants gay rights advocates — and the government — to back off. “When religious people are publicly intimidated, retaliated against, forced from employment or made to suffer personal loss because they have raised their voice in the public square, donated to a cause or participated in an election, our democracy is the loser,” said Elder Dallin Oaks, a member of the church’s Quorum of Twelve Apostles. “Such tactics are every bit as wrong as denying access to employment, housing or public services because of race or gender.”

At today's press conference Oaks cited Houston's subpoenaing of pastors as a recent example of Christians being oppressed. In 2009 the Mormon Church backed an LGBT rights ordinance in Salt Lake City and while they say they still oppose same-sex marriage, today's announcement is meant to indicate support for similar legislation elsewhere. With one condition.

UPDATE: Openly gay Utah state Sen. Jim Dabakis just sent us a statement.

"I am proud that the LDS Church has seen fit to lead the way in non-discrimination. As a religious institution, Mormons have had a long history of being the victims of discrimination and persecution. They understand more than most the value and strength of creating a civil society that judges people by the content of their character and their ability to do a job. Since serving as a Senator, and as the only LGBT member of the Utah legislature, I can say one of the joys of the job has been to meet and enjoy the company of LDS officials. I know that together, we can build a community that strongly protects religious organizations constitutional liberties and, in addition, creates a civil, respectful, nurturing culture where differences are honored and everyone feels welcome. Now, lets roll up our sleeves, get to work and pass a statewide Non-Discrimination Bill."

Dabakis is the co-founder of Equality Utah. Hours after same-sex marriage became legal there in December 2013, he married his husband in a ceremony officiated by Salt Lake City's mayor.

Anderson Cooper On The Gay Agenda

UNSHOCKING: Study Shows "Ex-Gay" Mormons Have Very High Divorce Rate

Via the Salt Lake Tribune:

The LDS couples profiled on TLC’s "My Husband Is Not Gay" may find these statistics sobering: Marriages like theirs — same-sex attracted husbands and straight wives — are two to three times more likely to end in divorce than others. That finding and others come from a newly released in-depth survey of 1,612 self-selected LGBT/same-sex attracted Mormons and former Mormons, thought by researchers to be the largest study ever conducted with this population. Rather than tapping a random sample, John Dehlin, a doctoral student at Utah State University, and Bill Bradshaw, a retired Brigham Young University professor, with help from Renee Galliher, also of USU, solicited responses via various websites, including pro-Mormon outlets such as North Star International and those more critical such as Dehlin’s own "Mormon Stories" podcast. The study found that between 51 percent and 69 percent of mixed-orientation Mormon marriages end in divorce, well above the roughly 25 percent of LDS couples who split up.

Mind-blowing, huh?

More On My Husband's Not Gay Flap

Via Media Matters:

TLC denies claims that its newest show, "My Husband's Not Gay," helps promote the discredited notion that gay men can choose to be heterosexual. But one of the show's stars has a history of promoting "ex-gay" therapy, even acting as a spokesman for a major "ex-gay" organization. But one of the stars of TLC's show - Preston "Pret" Dahlgren - has a history of speaking on behalf of "ex-gay" ministries, repeatedly using his testimony to promote organizations that promote reparative therapy. Dahlgren is the former chairman of Evergreen International, a Salt Lake City-based ex-gay organization which catered to the Mormon community. The group promised to help people "diminish... same-gender attractions and overcome homosexual behavior," largely relying on the work of the notorious National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH). At a 2012 Evergreen Conference Fireside, Dahlgren gave a speech defending efforts to help people overcome same-sex attraction, stating that "same-sex attractions are almost invariably rooted in deeper issues."

Dalgren is now on the board of new "ex-gay" Mormon group called North Star International. He and his wife have made a video for them too.

HomoQuotable - Sara Gilbert

"I think if you're on a show called My Husband's Not Gay, then your husband's gay. But I also think there is a reverse bullying in the gay community where you can't do it a certain way and - I'm sure this is controversial - but I think if a guy is attracted to guys and he wants to try to live a straight lifestyle that is as much his prerogative than somebody who wants to live a gay lifestyle." - Sara Gilbert, responding to criticism of the coming reality show.

Yesterday Truth Wins Out pointed out that the show's cast is "deeply involved" with the "ex-gay" brainwashing movement.

Truth Wins Out today expressed dismay over TLC’s upcoming special, “My Husband’s Not Gay,” set to air Sunday, January 11, which purports to show the lives of Mormon men who have chosen to marry women despite the fact that they are attracted to men. Advertisements for the show depict a curious look into the unique lives of these men, but, as is the case with TLC’s show “19 Kids And Counting,” a much darker agenda lies under the surface. Seven members of the cast of “My Husband’s Not Gay” are deeply affiliated with North Star, a radical Mormon “ex-gay” group. Jeff Bennion, one of the stars of the show, is so extremist that he has written that “it would have been wrong to ordain a black person in May of 1978, even if you knew with a certainty that is changing the next month,” referring to the fact that, before 1978, black men could not be Mormon priests, and that both black men and women were generally prohibited from full membership in the church. Bennion has also written extensively in support of the deeply harmful practice of “ex-gay” therapy.

A Change.org petition which calls on TLC to cancel the show currently has over 90,000 signatures. From the petition:

The men featured in this show deserve to be shown compassion and acceptance. Perhaps even more importantly, TV viewers need to know the horrific consequences of trying to change who you are. Instead, TLC is presenting victims’ lives as entertainment, while sending the message that being gay is something that can and ought to be changed, or that you should reject your sexual orientation by marrying someone of the opposite sex. This message is harmful to both LGBT people and communities of faith, and I call upon TLC to stop spreading such dangerous misinformation by cancelling “My Husband’s Not Gay” immediately.

The show has also been denounced by GLAAD.

VIDEO: Via Gay Star News, here's the discussion about the show on yesterday's episode of The Talk.

TRAILER: My Husband's Not Gay

Via The Wrap   

TLC will air a special in January called “My Husband’s Not Gay” that follows four men living in Salt Lake City, Utah, who don’t identify themselves as homosexual despite having an attraction to men. The show focuses on three married couples: Jeff and Tanya, Pret and Megan, and Curtis and Tera. Joining the cast is 35-year-old Tom, the bachelor of the group who enjoys fishing and baseball andserved as a missionary in Long Beach. All cast members are devout Mormons belonging to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The special will follow the cast as they navigate life while explaining to outsiders their unique marriages. “I get a little defensive when somebody calls my husband gay,” one wife says in the debut trailer.

(Tipped by JMG reader Lulu)

Mormon Church Confesses: Yes, Joseph Smith Married As Many As 40 Women

The Mormon Church has finally formally acknowledged that its founder Joseph Smith married as many as 40 women, one of whom was only 14 years old at the time.

Elder Steven E. Snow, the church historian and a member of its senior leadership, said in an interview, “There is so much out there on the Internet that we felt we owed our members a safe place where they could go to get reliable, faith-promoting information that was true about some of these more difficult aspects of our history. “We need to be truthful, and we need to understand our history,” Elder Snow said. “I believe our history is full of stories of faith and devotion and sacrifice, but these people weren’t perfect.” The essay on “plural marriage” in the early days of the Mormon movement in Ohio and Illinois says polygamy was commanded by God, revealed to Smith and accepted by him and his followers only very reluctantly. Abraham and other Old Testament patriarchs had multiple wives, and Smith preached that his church was the “restoration” of the early, true Christian church. Most of Smith’s wives were between the ages of 20 and 40, the essay says, but he married Helen Mar Kimball, a daughter of two close friends, “several months before her 15th birthday.” A footnote says that according to “careful estimates,” Smith had 30 to 40 wives. The biggest bombshell for some in the essays is that Smith married women who were already married, some to men who were Smith’s friends and followers.

The revelation notes that Smith probably didn't have sex with all his wives as some of them were merely "sealed" into being his eternal wife in the next life. And on the next planet.

LDS Explains Mormon Underwear

Via the Washington Post:

For years, the Mormon Church’s undergarments have been mocked and misunderstood. Often referred to jokingly as “magic Mormon underwear,” the garb, which resembles a T-shirt and shorts, has been ridiculed on Broadway, referenced in political campaigns and exploited online for profit. That’s why the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) has come forward to explain one of its most sacred Mormon mysteries. The church released a four-minute video on its Web site, comparing the white two-piece cotton “temple garments” to the priest’s cassock, nun’s habit, Jewish prayer shawl, Muslim’s skullcap and Buddhist monks’ saffron robes. It rejected the perception that the garments have protective powers. The term “magic underwear” is “not only inaccurate but also offensive,” the video said. “There is nothing magical or mystical about temple garments, and church members ask for the same degree of respect and sensitivity that would be afforded to any other faith by people of goodwill.”

Brigham Young Boots Gay Greeting Cards

Brigham Young University has told Hallmark to get those gay greeting cards off of the racks.

Placed by Hallmark, the cards reading "Mr. and Mr." and "Mrs. and Mrs." were quickly removed when bookstore staff discovered them after photos surfaced online. The outside vendor stocked the shelves without realizing the school wouldn't want to sell the cards marketed to buyers celebrating unions between two brides and two grooms, BYU spokeswoman Carri Jenkins said. Asked why they were removed, Jenkins referenced the BYU honor code. It states that while being attracted to people of the same gender doesn't violate the honor code, acting on those feelings is a violation. "Homosexual behavior includes not only sexual relations between members of the same sex, but all forms of physical intimacy that give expression to homosexual feelings," it states.

Michigan Clergy: Gays Are Our Enemy

Via USA Today:

Declaring "the fight is on," a formidable coalition of conservative Christian groups filed legal briefs in federal appellate court Wednesday supporting Michigan's ban on gay marriage. Representing potentially millions of worshippers in the state, the Michigan Catholic Conference, the Thomas More Law Center in Ann Arbor, Mich., and a national coalition of Baptists, Lutherans, Mormons and evangelicals led by Catholic bishops filed three separate briefs Wednesday in the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati. The briefs back Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette in his efforts to defend the state's voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage, which was overturned earlier this year by a federal judge in Detroit.

The rant below is really something.

UTAH: Gays Banned From Mormon Parade

The Salt Lake Tribune reports:

Days of ’47 Parade organizers have denied a float application from Mormons Building Bridges, saying an entry from the group founded to improve relationships between Latter-day Saints and the gay community would be too controversial. "The parade is very specific in its requirement that no float can enter that will create controversy," Executive Vice President Greg James said Tuesday. "We wouldn’t have the Mormons Building Bridges float in there any more than we’d have the NRA [National Rifle Association] or something else that might turn people off." The July 24 event, which celebrates the Mormon pioneers’ 1847 arrival in the Salt Lake Valley, is Utah’s biggest parade. "We’re nonpartisan. We don’t take a position on any issue," James said. "One of the problems in the country right now is everyone is too polarized. We’re just trying to stay as neutral as we can."

Other groups rejected for the parade: PFLAG, Utah Pride, Equality Utah. (Tipped by JMG reader Chris)

One Million Moms Vs TLC

From the economic terrorists at One Million Moms:

Joe, TLC obviously enjoys promoting immoral reality shows with unethical lifestyles! The new reality show, "My Five Wives," promotes another polygamist family airing on Sunday evenings at 10:00 p.m. (ET/PT) and 9:00 p.m. CT on TLC. The family in the show consists of one husband, five wives and their combined twenty-four children. Not only is their unconventional family structure absurd and confusing, but their living arrangements are as well. These five women are constantly discussing how difficult sharing a husband is and have to stick to a schedule on who gets the husband on which night to keep jealousy to a minimum, especially concerning time spent together. This is their solution on how to function without chaos.

TLC implies that the loving, tight-knit family has established a cohesive, loving unit. In other words, everything is fine and dandy, and nothing is morally wrong with their lifestyle choice. Instead of TLC airing programs that are enlightening and encouraging- after all they are The Learning Channel- they have decided to stoop so low as to show this controversial content, again. TLC doesn't seem to mind that this lifestyle is illegal, nor that it is ethically wrong. Please send an email letter to the sponsors of this week's "My Five Wives" asking that they pull their support immediately from a program that degrades family and marriage. This week's national sponsors were: Subway, Realtor.com, Arm & Hammer (Church & Dwight Co.), Evolution of Smooth (eos), Capri Sun (Kraft Foods) and Cracker Barrel Cheese.

Editorial Of The Day

From the Salt Lake Tribune:

In rapid succession, the official Utah position on same-sex marriage has gone from mainstream conservative to merely retrograde to downright nasty. The arguments put forth Thursday by Utah’s hired legal eagles in the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals will soon be brushed aside, if not by that tribunal, then by the U.S. Supreme Court, and by the march of human progress. Meanwhile, the state is engaged in a rear-guard action against families it does not like. It is trying to block the adoption petitions filed by at least two of the some 1,200 same-sex couples who were legally wed after Judge Robert J. Shelby ruled in December that Utah’s Amendment 3, banning same-sex marriage in the state, was unconstitutional. The fact that the state is going out of its way to stop the legal formation of two — or more — secure, intact and loving families clearly puts the lie to the argument that the official defense of Amendment 3 is not, in lawyer-speak, "animus" against same-sex couples and their households, but a reasonable state effort to encourage the legal formation of, well, secure, intact and loving families.

Read the full editorial.

Trestin Meacham has The Arizona Sadz

(Tipped by JMG reader Sena)

UTAH: Discredited Researcher Mark Regnerus Files Tenth Circuit Court Brief

Discredited researcher Mark Regnerus today filed a brief with the Tenth Circuit Court in support of Utah's defense of its ban on same-sex marriage. Another familiar name on the Utah brief is Professor Douglas Allen, of Canada's Simon Fraser University. Allen sits on the board of directors of NOM's former hate-satellite, the Ruth Institute. Allen is a supporter of Regnerus and claims to have analyzed a 2000 census and come to the conclusion that "children being raised by same-sex couples are 35% less likely to make normal progress through school."

Also signing the brief is Professor Joseph Price from Utah's Brigham Young University.  Last year Price and four other (presumably Mormon) members of the Brigham Young social sciences faculty filed an anti-gay SCOTUS brief against the overturn of DOMA.  Their brief denounced the APA's position that gay people make fine parents. From the brief: "Boys who do not regularly experience the love, discipline, and modeling of a good father are more likely to engage in what is called 'compensatory masculinity' where they reject and denigrate all that is feminine and instead seek to prove their masculinity by engaging in domineering and violent behavior." In other words, lesbian parents produce violent boys.

Read the full Utah brief. (Via Equality Case Files)

RELATED: All three of the above have been called as "expert witnesses" by the state of Michigan in its defense of a marriage equality lawsuit. Last week the plaintiffs in the Michigan case filed a motion to exclude Regnerus from testifying. That motion has not yet been ruled upon.

ALSO RELATED: Regnerus' anti-gay studies have been cited in numerous US-based cases and have also been quoted from in foreign countries that are using his work to support brutal anti-gay legislation.

UTAH: State Cites Debunked Regnerus Study In First Brief To Tenth Circuit Court

Late last night the outside counsel hired to defend the state of Utah in its same-sex marriage case filed its first brief, which relies heavily on the widely-debunked study by discredited Texas researcher Mark Regnerus. Via the Salt Lake Tribune:

Utah has chosen a definition of marriage that is "principally a child-centered institution, one focused first and foremost on the welfare of children rather than the emotional interests of adults," the state said. "And by reinforcing that understanding, the state gently encourages parents to routinely sacrifice their own interests to the legitimate needs and interests of their children." That definition is not designed to demean other family structures "any more than giving an ‘A’ to some students demeans others," the state said. But redefining marriage in "genderless" terms likely would result in lower reproductive rates and fewer children being raised in the ideal environment provided by biological, opposite-sex parents, the state said. The state filed the 120-page brief at approximately 11:30 p.m., beating its deadline by 30 minutes.

Aaaand once again, the gays are causing straights to have fewer babies. Oral arguments in the case are scheduled for April 10th. Read the full brief here.  (Via Equality Case Files)

UTAH: GOP Rep Intro's Bill Creating Tax Form Check Box To Fight Gay Marriage

GOP Utah state Rep. Merrill Nelson has introduced a bill to create a check box on the state income tax form for citizens who'd like help pay the legal costs to fight gay marriage.

HB48 would create a check-off on forms for a "Marriage Defense Fund." It would also allow direct donations to the fund via cash, check or credit card — and would direct the state to conduct a marketing campaign to help raise money. "I see it as a way to placate proponents of same-sex marriage who have complained about the cost" to taxpayers for the state’s ongoing appeals to defend Amendment 3, said Nelson, an attorney for Kirton McConkie, whose clients include The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. "I see it as a peacekeeping measure.... I see this as a way to placate both sides." He added, "I’ve had several individuals and groups tell me they would like to donate to the cause. It’s a way for them to show their support." Besides the tax form check-off, the bill would allow direct contributions to the fund by "cash, credit card or check."

Earlier this month Utah hired outside lawyers to plead their case before the Tenth Circuit Court. That legal team has agreed to cap their fees at $300,000.

UTAH: State Special Counsel Says He Took Marriage Case As A Religious Duty

The Human Rights Campaign reacts: "It’s alarming that the reason Gene Schaerr gives for taking this position has nothing to do with the U.S. Constitution or the legal issues at play. Schaerr’s entire motivation for taking this anti-equality case is to impose a certain religious viewpoint on all Utahns – and that’s wrong. When you become an attorney, you take an oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution, not any particular religious doctrine. It’s interesting that his stated motivation for the new position is not one of the arguments made by the State of Utah. It’s fair to question whether all of the arguments they have made are just an elaborate front for some other agenda."