Boycotting Supporters of Prop 8
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is crying foul as they now somehow feel singled out by the GLBT community protesting the passage of Proposition 8. In a statement released by LDS; “It is disturbing that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is being singled out for speaking up as part of its democratic right in a free election…it is wrong to target the Church and its sacred places of worship for being part of the democratic process.”
It’s very nearly laughable that LDS and it’s members are now shocked and dismayed by the GLBT backlash, even though Mormons led a distinct grass roots effort to pass Prop 8. To this date regarding contributions, of those, 3,365 (51%) have been identified as Mormon/likely Mormon. These donations represent $15,305,050.17, or 48% of all donations including political contributions from all fifty states and more than twenty foreign countries. It is a fact that LDS chapels across the country had special donation forms in every foyer of their chapels, and individual were encouraged to use the donation forms so that wards and stakes would “get credit for” specific goals and assessments.
Members themselves admit that without the massive fundraising and organization of LDS, the measure would have failed. Now the church is somehow shocked that their efforts to secure the use of government to impose their world view on people who do not share their faith, have distinct repercussions. Translation, we didn’t think our involvement would create such a public relations nightmare yet call into question actions that cross not only an ethical line but a civil one, seeing as religious institutions misused their resources largely guaranteed from tax exemptions to promote laws that limit civil rights.
Lets not forget the moral implications of funding directed toward promoting laws that restrict the rights of others to be treated equally and calls into question the religious idea of brotherhood, i.e. time and energy away from helping the poor, destitute and hungry. It is unconscionable that a donation in the name of your god, your leader, your bible or doctrine meant one less meal, one less dosage of medicine, for those less fortunate. The zealousness of those seeking total integration of religious law into the daily lives of fellow Americans via their checkbook is appalling, fanatical, and Un-American.
But really, lets give credit where credit is due, there’s been plenty of funding and equal opportunity homophobia to go around. Allow me to present a small yet handy dandy take it with you guide to the those who donated money to restrict your individual and civil rights.
#1. Catholic Organizations – Jesuit raised and educated, this one pains me to no end and causes my blood pressure to blow through the roof. To me, it’s appalling that at a time when Catholic diocese around the U.S. are closing hundreds of urban and inner city schools and churches, this group can ill afford to be spending millions to legislate hatred and bigotry. Facts are that Catholic Organizations, represented the second largest group of donors who helped pass Prop 8. Knights of Columbus (www.kofc.org) whose founding principles are charity, unity, fraternity (but not bigotry) gave nearly 2 million to the fight. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and The Saint Andrews Alms fund round out the group of homophobes.
#2. National Organization for Marriage – Maggie Gallagher is the President of this Non-Profit that’s been set up as a national resource for marriage related initiatives happening on the state and local level (www.nationformarriage.org). This group gave over 1.5 million to enshrine homophobia in California.
#3. Fieldstead & Co – According to The Daily Beast’s “The Man Behind Proposition 8″; “Few Americans have heard of Ahmanson—and that’s the way he likes it. He donates cash either out of his own pocket or through his unincorporated Fieldstead & Co. to avoid having to report the names of his grantees to the IRS. His Tourette’s syndrome only adds to his mysterious persona, as his fear of speaking leads him to shun the media. While Ahmanson once resided in a mental institution in Kansas, he now occupies a position among the Christian right’s power pantheon as one of the movement’s most influential donors.” Fieldstead and Co gave nearly 1.5 million.
#4. Elsa Prince – This one’s really charming, Elsa Prince is the widow of Michigan-based Christian backer Edgard Prince who co-founded the Family Research Council, and the mother of Erik Prince, founder of the controversial mercenary firm, Blackwater. I’ve found conflicting numbers on the size of her donation but it sits over a half million and might even be approaching a million.
#5. American Family Association – Donald Wildmon, Chair. (www.afa.net), (AFA) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that promotes conservative Christian values. Widely known for their efforts advocating censorship of print and electronic media. The group fights against same-sex marriage, and opposes equal-rights and hate-crime legislation that would include sexual orientation and gender identity. They’ve repeatedly tried to criminalize homosexuality through various legislation. Their donation tops the half million dollar mark.
20 comments20 Comments so far
I’ve linked to this, Jim. There aren’t really any surprises here, though I’m darkly amused by the connection with Blackwater. And I wonder how Fieldstead’s Tourette’s syndrome manifests itself…
I work with a Mormon. All his server passwords are bible verses. He’s allowed to play the Mormon tabernacle choir non stop every day in a shared office space. I work at Ohio State University – A state institution. The Mormon leadership seems more bent on thought control than anything spiritual or religious IMO.
I can’t understand why they think it is “undemocratic” for gay people (or anyone for that matter) to stick up for themselves against zealots who go out of their way to hurt other citizens that aren’t doing anything to them. Of course, I’ve come to expect out right lies issued as press releases from the Mormons if it suits their own twisted ends.
And haven’t the Catholics condemned treating homosexuals poorly?
I’m just glad that my pursuit of happiness is so antithetical to these nutters.
Just venting but how is it going to keep their failing institution of marriage together by protecting it from people who… um… want to get married?!?!
Why not protest Howard Ahmanson’s office?
It’s in Irvine at 2699 White Road.
Visit http://74.125.45.104/search?q=cache:oitbcHoodcIJ:www.cityofirvine.org/civica/filebank/blobdload.asp%3FBlobID%3D6147+fieldstead+irvine+city+ken&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=us
to verify the recluse Fieldstead’s address (Fieldstead, Inc., 2699 White Road, Suite 101, Irvine, CA 92614)
Brilliantly argued and presented Jim. As you stated, all that money completely wasted and taken away from true charitable needs. Horrifyingly sad.
i’m sure this is making the rounds, but just in case you haven’t seen it, keith olbermann’s comment is as awesome as you’d expect: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnHyy8gkNEE
@jeff: we’d say the religionists’ campaign induced us to donate money for our side, but they’d just say we started it all by asking for marriage rights in the first place. I don’t know how to break the circularity of that blame game. Both groups would claim they had to raise money to defend their stance against the other, and the ante just kept going up. Certainly neither party would back down just for, say, Darfur’s sake.
Why is the sacred place of Mormon worship being used for political purposes?
Don’t boycott, MARCH. It’s working. More young gay people need to get out there. Tell America you expect to marry your sweetheart someday like gay people do in other countries! Equality before the law. American equal rights. Sunday mornings are a great time. The bigger and more famous the Temple/Cathedral//Church the better. Remember the point is not revenge; we need support from the public and from the law makers. Beautiful young gay people (that means all of you)marching with serious intensity is very effective. Say what you feel without obscenity and be LOUD! GO!
Let’s start using their tactics. Someone or some group should compile a list of all Mormon owned business, like the Marriott Hotel Corporation, and all businesses owned by people that support/contribute to the other organization. Publish the list nationally and call for a boycot of all of them.
Look up Huntington Hotel Group, a hotel company out of Utah that owns franchise hotels…several in California (not to be confused with the Huntington in Pasadena). The owner donated $20,000 to the prop 8 group. They’ve taken down their website but you can find the hotels through the Google listings.
I say MARCH and BOYCOTT. It’s money that ultimately sways the vote, no matter the subject matter.
Even smaller individual contributions to Prop H8 have become lightning rods. One of the owners of El Coyote Restaurant in Los Angeles – a major gay and celebrity, cheap and cheerful food mecca (where Fabio and George Clooney got into their dust-up) – donated $100 to the Prop.
This woman and her family have made millions off of the gay community for decades – fully 50 to 75 percent of the patrons are gay on Thursday through Saturday nights any week of the year. But her explanation was that she donated at the behest of her church – the LDS church, of course. Now she’s got a major PR nightmare on her hands and she’s doing an ‘outreach’ brunch today, hoping that’ll make it all right. There’s a protest in front of El Coyote this Thursday evening, which should really generate some press and awareness. What a slap in the face this one was …
How about we enact legislation to remove tax-exempt status for these churches who are now clearly stepping over the line and waging political campaigns? If they feel they are merely engaging in the democratic process, then they should be expected to have their tax-exempt status removed as a result of becoming, basically, a 527 group.
@Latebrosus: I know how to break the circularity of the blame game. How could all of these religious organizations have spent so much mad money for the so called protection of “marriage.” Are they out of their minds? I guess I’ve answered my own question. I don’t even want to think about what a positive impact the same amount of money that they spent could have made just helping the poor and needy in the state of California. They have lost sight of what they should be concerned with and have embraced an uncompromising dogma. I understand the concept of escalation but the religious groups went way beyond with what they should have been involved with. Shame on them. They care about their righteous positions and don’t care about actual people. The Mormons have no right to imposed their concept of marriage on anyone and the right wing Catholic organizations really needed to stay on of this debate and focus on actually helping the human state at large, but of course I’m asking too much from these organizations. Can we all please move forward into twenty first century.
Yours is the most concise report on this issue I’ve read online as of yet. The interesting thing to me, as an old ActUp queen from the 80’s, is the rally last night in New York, which brought out seven to ten thousand people, set up on facebook with three days notice.
!
When I was in ActUp we spent weeks wheat-pasting around NYC, (risking arrest under cover of night) to get a few hundred to gather at city hall for a die-in or whatever. This is really an interesting new age for activism, and it was funny to see some of us older ActUp people at the event marveling at the positive, youthful vibe and general “Yes We Can-ism”. We’ll see how far it goes…the AIDS epidemic had an immediacy about it I’m not sure this issue has. But the blogosphere has brought this issue from zero to sixty in about four days,which is an amazing start…
Thank you for bringing up the effective guerilla tactics of ActUp – the organization that knocked down the wall of invisibility that existed for much of the 80s. While I hesitate to put myself into the “older” generation, it is time for the “younger” generation to step into the role of learning (and generating new) tactics to maintain the newly minted level of awareness that seems to exist around both Prop 8 and the ability to change public policy. Keep up the good work people!
The “Yes on 102″ sign I removed here in Arizona lists the following:
- Pete King Corporation $100,000
- Focus on the Family Action (Protestant)
- United Families International (Christian)
- Center for Arizona Policy (Protestant)
Other major funders of 102 were:
- Crisis Pregnancy Centers (Christian) $100,000
- Knights of Columbus (Catholic)
- Wilford and Kathleen Andersen, Mesa, $100,000
- LeSueur Family Trust, Mesa, $100,000
- TTEE’s Wagner Family Trust, Peoria, $100,000
- Jeff and Holly Whiteman, Mesa, $100,000
- Derek and Danielle Wright, Peoria, $100,000
As a gay man,I find it hypocritical of the mormon’s who supported financially to support this particular prop and the right winged catholic organizations that followed as neither one of these groups have a foot to stand on when both have immorality running rapid amongst their fellowship.I personaly think in most cases the church or religeios fanatics use their religion to fit their own ideoligy.not neccessarily how it was writen in their books like the bible.I actually took time out to read a few arguments to see (the other side of the spectrum) however what I found was alot to be desired through the eyes of the church,if they see truth through the bible etc then they are actually condoning issues like slavery,rape ,bigamy,these issues are throughout the bible, but no one tells this side of it.we are called immoral and evil,what gives them the right to pass judgement upon anyone?Why should I be 2nd class citizen?I pay taxes just as well.I applaud all the marches and agree we need to do this when we can actually make a difference ,during businesss hours and on Sundays at the morman tabernacles, churches.. I will continue to fight for basic human rights and equality for all.
BTW, I found out that Howard and Roberta Ahmanson are far from being the first to have the mindsets about gays that they do have. I ran smack into a jolting article on Yahoo with the title of “Dangerous Radicals of the Religious Right” which exhibits some others who thought the same way and had the audacity to call themselves “Americans” and even “Christians”! Perhaps you all can get on here with comments that can put those people in their place. Can you imagine there are still folks who think the country should be guided by the Holy Bible? Lynda
i agree we SHOULD BOYCOTT AND MARCH!!!!