Aggressive Grassroots Activism is Needed

John Aravosis at America Blog has a great post that examines what the LGBT community needs to do to combat anti-gay elements who disingenuously spread fear and hatred against gays. He starts out talking about Perez Hilton's intent to not going to Sundance this year because of Prop 8. On his website, Perez states: You will support the Mormons if you go. You WILL support the taking away of equal rights for gays!

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Many will whine that boycotts do not work or that not all Mormons or all Utah residents supported Proposition 8, etc., and as a result those who work against equality get a free pass and are emboldened to seek to pass even more anti-gay laws and constitutional amendments. Only when the fear of economic reprisals and lost business become a very real concern will many businesses and decision makers avoid supporting anti-gay efforts. Our enemies will not back down for the right reason, so we need make them cease gay oppression out of the impact it has on their wallets. Here are highlights from John's thoughts:

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Go through the Prop 8 donor database, down individual donors and expose them to the light of day. Hold companies accountable for their support of bigotry. I was contacted yesterday by a Web site called BigThink that decided to partner up with the John Templeton Foundation. BigThink wanted me to promote some new thing they were doing with Templeton. Templeton gave $1 million to Prop 8. I told BigThink to stuff it . . . . then I e-mailed other top blogs to let them know not to publicize BigThink's embrace of hate. Activism should be about affecting change. I suspect BigThink, if enough of us let them know how they feel, may avoid Templeton in the future. We advance the cause of making Prop 8 donors a pariah. I'd like to see organizing in the wake of Prop 8 that specifically comes up with ways the grassroots can do things that have a practical real impact.

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We know the Mormons like to parachute into other states and drop a ton of bucks in order to take away the civil rights of gays and lesbians. But we also know the Mormons hate being the focus of attention. They hate having the public discuss, be made aware of, some of their more unconventional beliefs, such as Jesus being the brother of the devil, Jesus having had 3 wives including his mother, Native Americans being red and Africans being black because they're bad people, and so on. . . . . Why expose this? Because the Mormons fear this kind of exposure and will learn that there's a price to paid for their anti-gay activism. Perhaps in the long-run they'll decide that the price isn't worth it.

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Prop 8 donors and businesses, for example, and/or boycotting Utah or Sundance, if done right, keeps the story in the news and puts real pressure on those who are subsidizing this hate. It teaches Prop 8 donors not to make the same mistake twice.

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Local activists are trying to fill a void. No one is taking the lead on Prop 8 activism at a nation level. . . . Local activists have no choice but to assume leadership. And they have, and that's admirable. But they need to move beyond "cute." This is a war we're fighting. So fight it.

Mormons to Get 'South Park' Treatment

This development is too funny!! Not that I can say the attention - which I am sure will not be happily received - is not well deserved. I cannot say that I feel much sympathy - okay, I'll be honest, I feel NO sympathy - for a denomination that went to extraordinary lengths to impose its religious beliefs on all citizens in California. I wonder how rank and file Mormons will like the satire to which their fascist leadership has and is continuing to subject them. The Mormon Church consciously decided to discriminate against LGBT citizens and they deserve a decisive pay back. Maybe a few of its members will get the message that freedom of religion does not mean you can force your beliefs on others. Here are highlights from the Independent:

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They've tried noisy protests, consumer boycotts, and the odd act of minor terrorism. Now supporters of gay marriage have unveiled a new weapon in their war against the Mormon Church: satire. The creators of the cartoon South Park, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, are planning to stage a Broadway musical based on the lives and (many) loves of typical members of the Church of the Latter Day Saints.

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Cheyenne Jackson, an openly-gay Broadway star who appeared in the film United 93, said this week that he has agreed to play the lead role, a Mormon missionary, in the show, which is currently being work-shopped and is slated to open in 2009. "It's hilarious: very acerbic and biting," he told the New York Post. "It offends everybody, but does what South Park does best, which is [that] by the end it comes around and has something great to say."

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News of the potentially-controversial project comes at a tough time for the Mormon Church, which is fighting a propaganda war over its role in passing Proposition 8, the ballot measure that outlawed same-sex weddings in California this month.

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The Sundance Film Festival, which begins in January, is particularly threatened by the boycott, since it takes place in the Utah ski resort of Park City, just a short drive from Salt Lake City. Actors and producers have been urged to pull their films from a Cinemark Theatres complex providing four screening rooms to the Festical. The company's CEO, Alan Stock, contributed $9,999 to the Yes on 8 campaign.