The Protests

Last Thursday, there was an all-day, massive protest/march against the passing of Prop 8. I mean, massive. I took pictures with my cell phone, but I haven't figured out how to transfer them to the internet. I shamelessly stole this picture from my friend's blog. Both sides of Santa Monica Blvd. (waaaay busy street for you non-LA-ers) were closed, there were helicopters flying over head, SWAT teams, dozens of police cars/motorcycles/bikes. Now, let me start off by saying that I totally understand why the protesters are angry. I even understand why my faith was targeted. I don't begrudge their right to protest, even to protest in front of the temple. And I am frankly embarrassed by members of my faith who tore down their signs off our temple gates and exchanged hateful words with the protesters. However....

However, I must express my beef. Yes, members of our faith donated a lot of money to the campaign, and were even encouraged by eccliastical leaders to do so. However, Mormons are 2% of the California population, not all of them active Mormons. Not all of them donated to the Yes on Prop 8 Campaign, and not all of them even voted Yes... Many voted No. The money donated went towards.... crappy commercials? Honestly, the No campaign had way better commercials. I had friends who were firm "Yes" voters say that if they were fence-sitting on the issue, they would vote "No" on the commercials alone. But since general public opinion is that Mormons are weird, and many members did donate money, we are an easy target.

But I digress. Again, I am upset that my faith was singled out, but probably not more upset than the LGBT people who felt they were singled out and discriminated against. My main problem is with the minority of prop 8 opponents who are making a personal campaign against not just the church but the members. I can appreciate the cleverness of the sign that says, "I just want 1 wife," or my personal favorite, "Chickens -1; Gays - 0." However, when they attack the church in other ways, I get sad. How does it help your cause to vandalize church buildings, to send packages with an "unidentified white powdery substance" to 2 temples, to call people with "yes on 8" signs bigots or send them "death wish" letters, to take pictures of the license plates of people who are exiting the LDS chapel on Sunday, to boycott an entire state including a film festival that most Mormons have nothing to do with. The list goes on.

Anyway, I could go on... I needed to vent. Again, I don't begrudge their right to protest, but I do have a problem with the "terroristy" tactics that a few use. They are not helping their cause, and it's another case of the minority of people making the majority look really bad. I am sure that while the majority of LGBT people are really upset, angry even, with the outcome, they are not resorting to such extreme reactions. In general, you don't find LDS people picketing outside a gay marriage or funeral, taking pictures of an LGBT's license plate, sending fear-provoking substances to an LGBT church, vandalizing a gay club, etc. I am sure there are some who have, but I don't know them. There are people who hate in every group of people. What if they took a picture of a license plate and later vandalized the car of someone who voted No? I could go on, but this is turning into a rant.