Despite the enormous victory for President-Elect Obama (and out country), I am writing you today regarding Prop 8 in California.

Despite all the blood sweat and tears that the gay community has put in to defeating Prop 8, it looks like the cause of marriage equality in this country has been dealt another blow. Another defeat. Another example of the commingling of church and state and the “tyranny of the majority” that our founding fathers fought against. Blah, blah, blah.

I think there are many gay and lesbian citizens who, like me, are enraged by the campaign in support of prop 8. As you know a large chunk of the funding came from the Mormon Church. Instead of just bottling our rage, let’s all get on planes and trains, and in automobiles, and go to Utah. The plan would be for gay and lesbians to visit Utah en masse to make the point that if religious folk are going to encroach on our lives, we will encroach on theirs.

I’m envisioning hoards of drag queens tastefully posing in front of statues of Joseph Smith. Chirping bottoms singing “We are Family” and dancing on that well manicured lawn in front of the Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City. Above all, I’m seeing gay couples everywhere HOLDING HANDS in front of the very people who financed this attack on us. I think we need people wearing pink triangles and leather daddies to get the point across, not preppy HRC pencil pushers.

Yes, yes. I know that not ALL Mormons were for Prop 8. And I know that not ALL the money for Prop 8 came from the Mormon Church. However, this excursion is not about protest or even changing minds. It’s about preserving the collective mental health of the gay community through catharsis. I can’t think of a better “FUCK YOU!!” than to litter Salt Lake City with santorum-laced condoms.

Your thoughts?

Stephen G.

It sounds like a hell of a lot more fun than Gay Days at Disneyland or gay cruise, SG, and if someone out there wants to organize “Gay Days in Salt Lake City” and get it off the ground, I’ll help promote through the column and I’ll attend.

62 replies on “Savage Love Letter of the Day”

  1. I will not spend a penny in Utah nor SLC. What all Gay-Americans should do it constantly call their law makers and Insist that Mosques/Synagogues/Churches that speak about, fund, promote, collect signatures for, or otherwise touch a political issue be required to pay taxes on all income. THAT is the way to deal with Church sleeping with State.

  2. Yes!! Fantastic Idea!!! Just riffing on some slogans, off the top of my (still hungover) head:

    The Million Mo March

    Ya can’t spell ‘Mormon’ without ‘MO’!!!

    Utah QueerTrek: “Putting the ‘Mo’ in Mormon since 2008”

    Okay, so those are lame, but you get the idea….

    Let’s get this thing done!!!!!!!!!

    😀

  3. Yes! Fantastic Idea! Okay, I’m just riffing some possible slogans off the top of my (still hungover) head:

    The Million Mo March

    Ya Can’t spell ‘Mormon’ without ‘MO’

    Homos for Provo

    Utah Queertrek – Putting the ‘Mo’ back in ‘Mormon’ since 2008

    Okay, so those suck… But you get the idea…

    Let’s make this thing happen!!

    😀

  5. On tax exemption: 501c3 organizations are enjoined from campaigning from a *candidate.* They are allowed an unlimited amount of generic “voter education” and a limited amount of direct lobbying, both to the electorate and legislative bodies, so long as they meet one of the following standards, at *their* option: the lobbying does not constitute a substantial portion of their activities (with “substantial” being nebulously defined), or that they do not spend over $1 million, which they didn’t, I don’t think.

    Relatedly: unlike what some other commenters have proposed, church members *did not* get tax deductions for giving to Yes on 8. The church, itself, gave little money to the campaign. They encouraged their members to do so, but their members can’t deduct for political contributions.

    All of that said, Mormons do give tons of money to the church for non-campaign purposes, and a loss of tax exempt status would hurt both the church, itself (loss of money to taxes) and its members (loss of ability to deduct contributions to the church), and perhaps there’s some way to make a case on the “substantial portion” front, if they’ve spent more than the expenditure limit on lobbying, this year.

  8. I live in Salt Lake City and can assure you that, if you travel here, you will find a vibrant and welcoming gay and lesbian community. Some of us even know what we’re doing. Salt Lake City is a magnet community for homos throughout the entire mountainwest region, so please don’t regard us as totally hopeless.

    We’re actually very mainstream in the city, but we maintain a tasty bit of that alty-underground vibe, living as we do under the dark shadow of the oppressive Mormon Church–you might find this to be perversely refreshing compared to your own big-city, balls-out, blatant lifestyles.

    We manage to produce the the state’s second-largest parade (second to the Mormon clusterfuck July 24 “Days of ’47 Parade”) in mid-June every year without being thrown in Guantanamo.

    So, just sayin’, if you want to organize a big group-mooning of the Salt Lake Temple, and any number of other fun activities, please look us up–we’ll be more than happy to facilitate and participate in your plans. (Plus we’ve got lots of cute, eager ex-Mormon fags, cowboys and dykes who are very, very hospitable!)

  9. I don’t care if people are gay and I don’t care if people are Mormon, though I do disagree with ANY/ALL organized religions. Why can’t all of you just shut up and live your lives?

    Mormons… get, and keep, your noses out of anyone elses affairs but your own. Most men dumb enough to get married have PLENTY to worry about with just one wife… you’d think with MANY of them you’d have no time or energy for anything else. You’ve got plenty of child-screwing problems to deal with as well. You’ve got compounds that you apparently love… stay there? How bout it?

    Gays… shut up and quit bitching about marriage and other meaningless BS. Why do you care if the government recognizes your marriage? You wanna be gay, fine, be it, but shut the hell up about it! Come up with a commission or whatever where the gay community chooses its own “sign” of marriage. One that lets ALL other gays (and everyone else) know that you’re gay, proud, and married… something subtle, like a ring on the “ring finger”. But shut up with the protests, the parades, the gay-this, gay-that… just LIVE your damn lives. Most backlash against your community isn’t because people really care if you’re gay (‘cept from religious nuts… who are, well, nuts!)… but for the rest of us it’s that you ALWAYS insist on being so loud and demonstrative about it to anyone that’ll listen.

  12. I am mormon and am stronly against prop 8. If you go to Utah and prance around them you will only make them feel more strongly about their stand on the situtation. Trust me. If you go to Utah and Idaho (huge mormon land) and show how monogomous gay couples can be and show how loving gays can be toards their children then this might work. Mormons do NOT know other gay people. They only know what the church tells them or other gay mormons who are so depressed withtheir state of mind. These gay people in the mormon community are in danger of suicide… They need to get away. Idaho is a place where are the mormons who think Utah is not mormon enough go to escape all the nonmormons. Mormons keep to themselves and dont try to socialize amongst non mormons. If there is a movement against the church I WANT TO BE INVOLVED~!

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