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Loading ...Neff: Boycotting Utah
My family comes from a place in western Illinois where great efforts have been made to remedy the persecution of a group of people.
My dad grew up on a farm in Ferris, Ill., not far from Nauvoo, a beautiful little town founded by Joseph Smith, who founded the Church of Jesus Christ Latter-Day Saints.The town grew as the Mormon population grew.
And around the town, unease about Mormon lifestyle, political influence and religious beliefs grew to open warfare — homes were destroyed, crops were burned, lives were threatened, leaders were jailed. Eventually the Mormons were forced to abandon their homes in Nauvoo — the largest forced migration in U.S. history, 1,300 miles across the plains to Utah’s Great Salt Lake.
The Illinois Legislature, by resolution, apologized for the forced expulsion of a people in 2004, 159 years after the crimes.
The resolution said the “goodness, patriotism, high-moral conduct and generosity” of the LDS church enriched the landscape of the nation.
Today, I can’t see the goodness, patriotism, high-moral conduct or generosity in a church that has known persecution but continues to persecute a group of people.
The Illinois Legislature’s resolution said “the bias and prejudices of a less enlightened age … caused unmeasurable hardship and trauma for the community of Latter-day Saints by the distrust, violence, and inhospitable actions of a dark time in our past.”
Today, the LDS church is guilty perpetuating bias and prejudices causing unmeasurable hardship and trauma for gays and lesbians.
The church has long funded anti-gay campaigns, especially efforts to legally recognize same-sex unions and establish equal marriage rights in the state.
In 1998 the church invested an estimated $600,000 in the campaign to ban same-sex marriage in Hawaii and $500,000 in Alaska. The investment continued in state after state, as ballot measures to specifically ban same-sex marriage were put to votes. The church played a big role in an anti-gay ballot measure in 2000 in California, and it played a big role in passing Proposition 8 in California earlier this month.
In June, the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sent a letter for church leaders in California to read all congregations:
“A broad-based coalition of churches and other organizations placed the proposed amendment on the ballot. The church will participate with this coalition in seeking its passage. Local church leaders will provide information about how you may become involved in this important cause.
“We ask that you do all you can to support the proposed constitutional amendment by donating of your means and time to assure that marriage in California is legally defined as being between a man and a woman. Our best efforts are required to preserve the sacred institution of marriage.”
And donate they did — providing about 70 percent of the financing behind the Prop. 8 campaign.
The church is savvy at media relations, at disseminating propaganda. Its leaders will have the world believe that the church now is being persecuted for its involvement in Proposition 8. The First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints issued a statement as gays and lesbians nationwide demonstrated against the passage of Prop. 8. He wrote, “People of faith have been intimidated for simply exercising their democratic rights. These are not actions that are worthy of the democratic ideals of our nation. The end of a free and fair election should not be the beginning of a hostile response in America.”
Of course vandalizing a church is wrong and violence against people is wrong.
But challenging the church is right, entirely just and necessary.
I think we can start with calling for a federal investigation into how a church with a tax-exempt status can be so heavily involved in a political campaign — how can that make for a free and fair election?
And I think, too, we must make sure we do our best not to drop even a penny into the accounts of people or institutions that will use that money to rob gays and lesbians of their equal rights and delegitimize their families. Planning a winter ski break on a Utah summit a summer excursion through hiking Utah canyons? Reconsider.
I have to heartily disagree with you on this Ms. Neff. If we boycott a state for the intolerance of a church headquartered there why are we not boycotting say Virginia? Idaho actually has more Mormans per capita then Utah does. Should we avoid Idaho too? What about all the good folks who are the supporters in those states? What about the gays and lesbians in the states we boycott simply because their neighbors are Mormans? I have a friend who lives in Utah with his three kids and is not Morman but his wife is. Am I supposed to tell him that because of the actions of a church HQed in his state and his neighbors that his family must suffer even though they themselves are supporters? We must reverse these generalizations and get specific. We must identify gay-friendly businesses and exploit their goods and services for mutual gain and not focus on the negative. It is by getting general and advocating sweeping boycotts that we build enemies and not gain and encourage friends to stand with us.
Our $$ is power in an economy this bad, but if we close off entire cities or states to our $$s we kill the growth of voices of tolerance and support with it.
Here, here. Boycotts however are only effective if the people/companies you boycot know the reason they have lost your business. So if you do change your plans to visit Utah, or not go to Cinemark anymore, you need to send an email to the company or travel agency etc and let them know the reasons. Otherwise, how will they know that it is their homophobic views and contributions that have cost them their profits?
Additionally, everyone who is disgusted with any of the church’s contributions (be it mormon or catholic or otherwise) should file a complaint with the IRS to have their tax exempt status revoked. SEE http://www.mormonsstoleourrights.com/
I am confused by conflicting info which is being directed to us from this website. I am strongly in favor of using only gay-friendly companies when I spend my money. In a previous article on this site we were told not to use Marriott and others. On the Human Rights Campaign website hrc.org it is stated that Marriott is rated 100% OK to use! I have
always liked Marriott Hotels but will not use them if asked to protest them!
I think selective and symbolic boycotting are both needed. Utah is a powerful symbol of Mormonism’s power. It’s the only state where the LDS church must approve of legislation in advance before it can be considered by the legislature. The slightest nod of disapproval can kill a bill faster than you can blink. In terms of selective boycotts, I urge people not to see the new movie, “Twilight.” The author is a devout practicing Mormon and she gives 10% of all her income from the movies to the LDS church. Where we can, we must avoid giving any money to Mormons because we know that it will be used against us.
After donating more money than I could afford to NO ON PROP 8, I am very much in agreement with you. What the Mormons have systematically done to gay and women’s rights is criminal. Their lying scare tactics about what might be taught in school actually worked. How sad is that?
While I am proud that No on Prop 8 ran an honest campaign. It is sad to see the lying side won.
Tom in Long Beach
I find it breathtaking that you’d spend an entire column speaking specifically about the LDS church, and then make the unconscionable leap to call for the boycott of an entire state’s tourism industry. Where’s the connection?
I cannot find any connection between actions of the LDS church and the Utah tourism industry, which has consistently shown itself to be very gay-friendly. If anything, it’s the tourism industry that’s bringing change TO Utah. This honestly makes no sense, and I can’t begin to understand how people who are from outside the state of Utah would propose boycotting an entire state because of one of its private institutions. This is damaging, poorly reasoned, and above all — HIGHLY ineffective. We might as well boycott all the states who have passed anti-gay measures these last 10 years and only spend our money in… um… Sweden.
Utah is widely recognized as the seat of the Mormon cult, therefore it is fitting to target the state. It goes without saying that the entire population of the state is not Mormon, but that begs the question: What have those individuals done to stem the subversive behavior of LDS?
Boycotting the entire state sends a strong unified message to the people that their meddling has not gone unnoticed, nor will it be allowed to continue without consequences.
Chris wrote : “This honestly makes no sense, and I can’t begin to understand how people who are from outside the state of Utah would propose boycotting an entire state because of one of its private institutions.”
It’s Utah’s most influential and recognized “brands”.
Gandhi once said: “Anger and intolerance are the enemies of correct understanding.” He also said: “They cannot take away our self-respect if we do not give it to them.”
Are we not employing anger and intolerance ourselves to cast a stone at our generalized “enemy?” Are we not giving them the satisfaction of religious intolerance as a rallying cry to their membership who might otherwise join our cause?
Martin Luther King Jr. who advocated the Birmingham Bus Boycott said once: “Nonviolence means avoiding not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit. You not only refuse to shoot a man, but you refuse to hate him.”
This boycott is more about hate by generalization then political protest. Many of us in the GLBT/LGBT community are reluctant witnesses to religion due to personal experiences and the continual misintepretation of the scriptures against us. However, we must not invoke punishment on an entire state because of it. We only betray ourselves by using intolerance against intolerance.
King and those who followed him boycotted a bus system but he did not boycott taxis, trains, cars, or sidewalks. Restaurants who forced the separation of the races were avoided while others benefited. Gandhi made his own salt instead of buying it in his great notable boycott. Our great leaders emphasized redirection and not blanket anger. We must remember that as we move forward and stir tension into anger and calls for retribution, because with every act of retribution an innocent may fall victim.
Our boycotts and protests must be targetted going forward not blanketedly vindictive. Ms. Neff is wrong in her call because it advocates an eye for an eye approach against our own call on our opponents to love thy neighbor. Last time I checked a “blinded” neighbor never sees passed his or her own “truth.”
In the end if we punish Utah for the “crimes” of the Morman Church and those who pay tithe to it, then who will we elect to march over to former pro-quarterback and Brigham Young descendent Steve Young’s home and take his “No on Prop 8″ sign down?
OK, Sean: We should not “hate” the Mormons, but can gently raise their consciousness level and remind them – in a gentle and caring way – that the gay community is going to keep its money in its gay wallets.
You really don’t have to sign on to this you know. You can visit your friends in Utah, ski Utah, and so forth.
Blaming the Mormon church for what happened in California, or any other group is scapegoating at it’s worst.
The church wouldn’t be selling anything, if people weren’t buying.
CALIFORNIANS voted against gay rights, NOT people from Utah. No one forced a Californian to throw the switch.
The areas of Utah that would be affected by an out of state boycott (mostly tourism) Would be the two most liberal parts of the state: Salt Lake City, and the Ski Areas. Boycotting would only hurt our allies.
The voters of California bear the real responsibility for this. They made the decision, and cast the votes.
If you want to boycott something, and have it make a difference, boycott a California wine, Hollywood Movie, or California crops.
I’ve never seen a boycott change someone’s religious point off view…
This battle needs to be fought,and won in California, not Utah. Utah Mormons did not cast the votes.
I watched the Dr. Phil show on Friday, the one dedicated to gay marriage, and it was painful to watch the anti-gay-marriage representatives out debate the pro-gay-marriage side. And the pro-gay-marriage side had some fairly accomplished and famous people: SF mayor Gavin Newsom, and HRC director Joe Solmonese.
In this particular debate, our side just did not have effective responses to the ads that ran in CA depicting the child who had been read the gay fairy tale in Lexington, MA. They kept trying to call the anti-gay-marriage folks “liars,” when the anti-gay-marriage people were citing a true incident that really did happen in MA. We alternated between taking a John Kerry-esqe nuanced position (some arcania about existing laws and what they have to do with education in the state) and overly-simplistic bombast (”they lie with their ads”).
But the reason why I’m entering this post attached to this article is because the other side was doing a VERY effective job of positioning the LDS as victims of anti-religious extremists in the gay community who were “not valuing religious freedom” and who were “discriminating against a religious minority.” Not only did our side not have an effective come back to these points, they ignored them altogether.
No wonder why we lost in CA.
I am concerned that a boycott of the LDS would strengthen their position as the victim in this case. Instead, I think it would be more powerful to continue to expose the level of political organizing they did, fight to get the law changed to outlaw that kind of political organizing (let them advocate from the pulpit…they cross the line when they spend money and funnel church members into political organizations), keep introducing (and re-introducing) our families to legislators and voters, work hard in the states where a win is possible in the near future, and get some effective “come backs” to “they’re going to teach our kids homosexuality in the school,” which is the latest (and, unfortunately effective) boogeyman our opponents are using against us. All of those things would, IMO, be more effective than any boycott in this situation.
Ramon, you go on, and on (and on) about “targeting” the Mormons all over these message boards. (I won’t even bother to address all your ‘cult’ *crap*).
When are you going to target the California Hispanics? Unlike the Mormons in Utah, they CAST votes for Prop 8, and helped get it passed.
How is “Targeting” people who didn’t cast votes, and calling them derogatory terms going to help?
Bring this anger home to roost – Californians made this vote. Not Mormons.
You know Ramon, I shouldn’t let you get under my skin, but your small mindedness does.
Saying we need to “target” the Mormon cult is about as helpful in the long run as saying “target the niggers and spics”.
Grow up, and get over it.
Something is wrong when we go to protest a church to get our rights back. Normally if the people has a problem with their civil rights they would go to city hall or the capitol. The government should take a closer look in their involvement in politics. It’s not fair, interfering in another state affairs where they only make about 2% of the population, it’s a mob culture. The church is clearly obsessed with gays, in finding every possible way to oppress us. I agree, Uttah should be boycotted at all cost. They have shown time and time again they hate, really hate, gay people. Is not a maybe, it’s not a could they, it is pure hate. Mormons can’t seem to accept us any way or form. But they seem to be really happy in taking our hard earned gay dollars to support their numerous business that seem to be connected to the church according to some reports. Suddenly I seem to prefer Fred Phelps “God hates fags” rhetoric, with all their disorganized, self alienating signs, rather than having a corporation with the facade of a church meticulously and passionately destroying what little progress we make.