Don't Let the Mormons Tell You How to Vote on Gay Marriage

You know those ads that are running night and day on TV channels all across California?  You know the ones - telling you that they're gonna come after your church, your kids, your core beliefs if you don't rush to the polls in November and vote yes on Prop 8?

They're paid for, lock, stock and barrel, by the Mormon Church.  Of the $25 million recently reported to be raised by the Yes on 8 proponents, an astounding $19 million has come from Mormon church members, many of them out of state.

And a recent article in the Sacramento Bee let us know that these Mormon families are willing to sell out their own children's future by donating a huge chunk of the family savings - $50,000 from one family of seven - to keep marriage out of the hands of gay and lesbian couples.

Consider that for a minute - if you vote Yes on 8 because you're afraid the gays will come for your children, you're doing exactly what this right-wing religion out of Utah wants you to do.

What's interesting, too, is that the arguments advanced are all about the supposed legal consequences of allowing gay marriage.  There's no overt mention of religion in these pitches.  But look at what the Mormon church representatives are saying to their own people:

"Marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God," Ballard said. "It has the natural biological power to create life. Its misuse undermines the fabric of society."

Wouldn't play with swing voters, though, so we get these soft-peddle legal claims that have already been debunked by the media.

What's really infuriating, here, beyond the fact that our state is being manipulated by a religious group form outside the state, is that both of their ads are based on the outdated notion that being gay is a choice, and as such it is something that we must protect the children from even hearing about.  At its core, this is a homophobic message, and no number of "I have gay friends" or "I don't hate gay people" statements can mask that.

Consider these statements, where we've substituted "black" for "gay" and tell me that they are not racist.

"Christians must oppose any who would tamper with our state's laws and our culture's dictionary by advocating [mixed race] marriage."

"So, either the " creator" booby traps the genetic code, making certain people "[black]" when the genetic code was flawed, or NATURE does the same thing. Either way its not "normal"."

"She said she has [black] friends and said she is not anti-[black]. “I just feel, if anything, we need to strengthen marriage. And I think this weakens it.”

"If [blacks] and [whites] want to live together as couples, those unions should be called something else."

"He gave $100 in support of Proposition 8 because changing the definition of marriage is “too much of a cultural aberration for me.” He resident has a black sister. He has black friends. He has had black co-workers. He is not against blacks, McNeill said."

This has happened before - back in 2000, the Mormon Church flexed its muscles in Hawaii when the Supreme Court was considering legalization of gay marriage there.  The court dithered, and the Mormon Church ran nasty, negative ads that scared the bejesus out of the Hawaiians and convinced them to pass an anti gay marriage constitutional amendment before the court got around to ruling on the issue.

Now there's a new ad from the Yes on 8 prople featuring a couple from Massachusetts who lost a court battle to not have their child taught about gay marriage.  Only catch?  In California, the school districts decide on the curriculum to be taught, not the state.  And there's no law saying kindergarteners must be taught about marriage at all, let alone gay marriage.  And parents have the right to have their kids opt out of teaching they don't agree with.

But the real kicker here?  The couple in question is, you guessed it, Mormon.

It's very sad that this Mormon attack on gay couples may well win again here.  Fear is a powerful weapon, and the Mormon Church knows how to wield it.

Lost in this whole debate is the fact that gay men and lesbians are the real victims here.  We're the ones who have been slandered, stabbed, beaten up, shot, discriminated against, spit upon, and denied equal rights for hundreds of years, often by the very religious groups who now have taken the mantle of victim-hood upon themselves.

When you get into the voting booth, please don't let your vote be determined by irrational fears fanned by an out-of-state religious group.

Don't let the Mormons tell you how to vote on gay marriage.

--Scott