Op-ed: An Open Letter to Mitch Mayne on Living Openly (a very good read)

[William769]

First, Mitch, congratulations on being appointed to a high-ranking position in your church. I was impressed last fall to hear that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon Church) had actually called on an openly gay member to serve. So of course I read with great interest your op-ed, “Gays and Mormons, Do Unto Others,” in The Advocate on January 6.

I take some credit for the Mormon Church’s new ways toward gays. I am not sure if you are aware, but I was the person who uncovered the fact the Mormon Church had taken over every aspect of the campaign to pass Proposition 8 in California four years ago. I was following the money of all the big donors for my new organization, Californians Against Hate — now Rights Equal Rights. Suddenly all these huge contributions began pouring in from individuals whom I had never heard of. When we Googled the names, we discovered that they were all Mormons. I gave the information to Mark Schools at TheWall Street Journal, who spent a month researching and broke the story on September 20, 2008, “Mormons Boost Antigay Marriage Effort.”

Then we tracked all the money, which jumped from a few thousand dollars per day to over $500, 000 per day. It turned out that the members of the Mormon Church, at the urging of church leaders, gave 75% of all the money raised or roughly $30 million! I wrote many op-eds, did several press releases, and talked to lots of reporters about this, all to shine a spotlight on the LDS Church. One you should read is “Mormon Power Grab: Tearing Families Apart.”

Then, after its successful campaign to take away the right to marry for millions of LGBT Californians, the Mormon Church filed its final campaign report with the California secretary of state. The Mormon Church said that it spent only $2,078 to pass Proposition 8.

http://www.advocate.com/Politics/Commentary/Oped_An_Open_Letter_to_Mitch_Mayne_on_Living_Openly/

[joeybee12]

1. knr