Comments on: Neff: Boycotting Utah

By: DJ

DJ — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 08:32:34 +0000

Rodney Moore: “Even liquor stores and coffee shops are Mormon own, despite LDS prohibition on drinking coffee and alcohol.”

Careful with what you throw around as fact. I am from Salt Lake City and not Mormon–Coffee shops are run by anyone who wants to open one and liquor stores are run by the state which is NOT the Mormon church. Taxes from Starbucks and the State Wine stores (Some of the best anywhere)do NOT go to the Mormon church- I promise. Additionally, “When Utah makes money off of sales taxes, income taxes, gas tax, and a host of other indirect sources of income, the Church, being the landlord of much of the state, gets money.” Not true! Lease income from any building, etc. goes to the owner, whoever that may be- But the list of taxes you state go to Utah and municipalities, not the Mormon Church.

By: DJ

DJ — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 08:07:23 +0000

While the Mormon Church is headquartered in Utah, Utah is NOT the Mormon Church. I am gay, I live in Utah, I donated to NO ON 8. Boycott Mormons and work to get their tax exempt status taken away, but boycotting Utah as a state is not the answer. Sundance Film Festival? Very UNMormon in all aspects. Ski resorts? You won’t be supporting Mormons. National Parks? Nothing to do with any church. I live in the midst of this issue and know that Salt Lake City is not the Vatican of Mormonism. There is a high per-capita gay population here. I can and do live a very non-Mormon life. I choose on an individual level who I give my money to. Come to Utah and inundate the place with gay relationships! Staying away is exactly what they would want!

By: Silas

Silas — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 05:57:23 +0000

I agree with you Neff in regards to boycotting Utah, southern Idaho (Rexberg, Idaho is big time Mormon)and any other company that I know that is Mormon. Since the passing of Prop 8 I did not realize how many compnay’s the Mormons have their hands in! I will be very selective of where I buy and what I buy, and where I eat. As far as for the other religious groups that were involed in passing Prop 8 I will do the same. To begin with I don’t support religion and espically the RELIOUS RIGHT, even though my parents are still part of that faith. Enough said.

By: Lindsay Williams

Lindsay Williams — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 17:41:30 +0000

Dear cm:The people of Colorado through their legislature and their governor, Bill Ritter, to my way of thinking effectively atoned for the state’s
earlier passage of Amendment 2 in 1992 by passing and signing a non-discrimination bill that provides protection to my community, LGBTQs. Atonment should be praised and rewarded.
Mormon money contributions are the ‘mother’s milk’ that made the Yes on Prop 8 victory possible. Why are you defending religion and the Mormons sooo
strongly, are you Mormon or deeply religious???

By: Ramón

Ramón — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 17:02:19 +0000

mollye : Send us a postcard, or better yet, build a blog around all of the uplifting experiences you have while you’re converting Mormons in SLC. The rest of us will stay away.

By: mollye

mollye — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 13:32:10 +0000

I spent the summer in Salt Lake City, Utah and was shocked by its progressive, environmentally conscious, Obama supporting, and religiously alternative community. I can’t say it’s as free & radical as New York City, where I live.. but I was pleasantly surprised by its non-Mormon-centric attitudes & traditions. In this “Boycotting” article, then, it is not fair to bash all of Utah for its Mormonism. And have you heard of the gay Mormons becoming openly homosexual? It’s true. I know this Prop 8 catastrophe shames the Mormon community but we have to keep in mind that there are good freedom fighting people everywhere, even, or espeically in, the very cities and states where controversies emerge. If anything, I say GO SKIING , GO CAMPING in UTAH and speak your mind there! Boycotting a vacation there is only going to keep the Mormon community more insulated and unaware of the beautiful people they devalue. -mm

By: Nakhone

Nakhone — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 06:07:58 +0000

Well said Rodney Moore!

By: Rodney Moore

Rodney Moore — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 04:54:58 +0000

Why focus on the Mormons?

Simple, while the Mormons were not the only church, they were the ones who paid the Lion’s Share of the bill for Prop 8. The Mormon Church spent MILLIONS of dollars to attack the rights of people in the most personal and hateful of ways. Marriage, like religion, is a deeply personal commitment, between two people and the God of their choice. When the Mormon church, and countless others, barged into the private and personal contractual arrangement of marriage, they opened themselves up for all the backlash they get.

While I believe every single Church, person, company and religious that gay so much as a dime for Prop 8 should be targeted for payback. Revenge is a dish best served COLD, and when people lose their jobs, livelihoods and families over their bigotry then they deserve it.

I am over tolerating bigots, if you voted for, if you gay money in support of Prop 8, it’s open season on you. If you believe for ONE second that the right to vote gives you the right to vote away someone else’s rights, then by that same logic, the 2nd Amendment gives us the right to shoot and kill you. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.

By: Mike Welch

Mike Welch — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 02:45:27 +0000

Many churches besides the LDS are responsible for this, so they too deserve some push back. But that should not stop us from boycotting Utah and any organization that supported Prop 8 and other anti-gay measures. Will some innocent folk suffer in these boycotts? Probably. Does that mean we should not do it? No.

The lobbying and other measures we’ve used up to this point are no longer working. We’re moving backward. Time to change the game plan.

By: Ramón

Ramón — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 22:28:46 +0000

Rodney Moore : Thanks for laying out your persuasive argument in a concise manner.

spell check : Cut william some slack; he even THINKS in “tongues”! It’s not easy to type coherently when you’re writhing on the floor, in some paroxysmal possession.