Anti-Gay LDS Activities     

Consider the line drawn. That's the attitude of a growing number in Salt Lake City's gay community following the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' directive that California members use their time and money in the fight against gay marriage.

As it's now widely known, the LDS church writes very large checks when it comes to fighting even the slightest possibility that gay people might one day legally marry. Last year, the church contributed $500,000 and $600,000 for political efforts banning same-sex marriage in Alaska and Hawaii respectively. But the church's recent call for Golden State members to write checks in support of the Knight initiative, which would rewrite state law to read that "only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California," has created enough critical mass for political action from the other side of the debate. Just as LDS wards in California are hosting pro-Knight fund-raising parties, so are local gays, lesbians and heterosexual allies hosting anti-Knight fund-raisers here at home.

Clearly, one person's holy war is another's Inquisition. Beyond check-book activism, hitting the streets in protest is also in the works. So is support for church members working to remove their names from official rolls, some of whom allege harassment on the part of the LDS church after sending their letters of resignation.

Educate, organize, fund-raise: It's almost certain to be a familiar mantra on both sides of the battle, especially as the March 7 Knight initiative primary election ballot approaches in California.

Recently, The Trapp nightclub in Salt Lake City raised $2,600 during a fund-raising event to benefit Californians for Fairness, a group working to defeat the Knight initiative and counteract the numerous religious groups supporting it.

"There's always been a sense of outrage when the church sent checks to Hawaii and Alaska, but this has really hit people," says Joe Redburn, owner of The Trapp. "I'm sure this is just the beginning of fund raising in the Salt Lake community."

Even if it isn't, those who can't write checks are hitting the streets in protest: right in front the church's downtown office tower. Last week local gay activist Kathy Worthington assembled a rag-tag group of sign-wavers to razz the church's membership records department for refusing to immediately remove the names of members angered over the brethren's recent actions in California.

Worthington says she's heard from as many as 40 people locally and nationwide alleging harassment by church officials after they sent notarized letters of resignation to church headquarters in Salt Lake City.

"I think it's a control issue," Worthington says. "The church doesn't like it when people aren't willing to accept its authority and control. But for a lot of people this is just the last straw, and it feels good to say, 'This is not my church anymore and I'm walking away from it.'"

The church has justified its actions against gay marriage as divinely inspired. Although IRS rules prohibit a tax-exempt religious organization from using the majority of its budget for political purposes, the church defends its right to intervene in issues it sees as vitally important. Gay marriage, viewed by the church as a threat to traditional families, is obviously one of those issues.

The church is also adamant that matters of membership be handled by local bishops, not top administrative brass in Salt Lake City.

"A caring bishop who calls to verify a member's wishes and soothe hurt feelings is simply doing what the Lord taught--showing concern for his congregation," LDS church spokesman Mike Otterson said in a faxed statement. "Ultimately, any member who wishes to leave the church has the right to do so."

But to those looking for a a more speedy process, phone calls and delays constitute a form of harassment for which they have neither the time nor energy.

Brian Burke, an environmental attorney in San Francisco, has had it with the church's rigmarole. He sent his resignation letter by registered mail to Salt Lake City Aug. 26, and is still getting calls from his bishop. A lawyer, Burke says he knows he's well within his rights to have his name immediately withdrawn from church records without hassle. Legal precedent, notably Guinn vs. Church of Christ of Collinsville, says so.

"The case law is very clear that when any church fails to recognize a resignation, any activities taken after that constitute harassment," Burke says. "I think [the LDS church] is deliberately trying to make it difficult to exercise a fundamental right: the freedom to withdraw from a church. I don't know how I could have made my letter of resignation any clearer to them."

Burke has no plans to visit with his Bay Area bishop, but he won't rule out a class-action lawsuit with others seeking resignation if the church won't honor his request to leave. "I'd certainly consider it," he says.

Susan Loder of Mason City, Iowa, is also losing patience with the church over her request to leave. Like Burke, the consumer researcher and mother of three sent her letter in late August. She's talked with her local bishop several times already, but doesn't see her request being processed any time soon. The church's active backing of the Knight initiative is one of many reasons she wants to leave the Mormon fold after converting six years ago.

"When my sister left the church they held onto her resignation letter for one and a-half years," Loder says. "That concerns me. I don't think this is going to be easy."

Even before last week's small gathering at the church office building, others in the gay community met at the offices of the American Civil Liberties Union to plan a peaceful protest outside Temple Square on the last day of church conference, Oct. 3. Jared Wood, chairman of Utahns for Fairness, a sister group to Californians for Fairness, encouraged those attending to write letters to newspaper editors, and generally spread news about the protest date. Many there had already organized their own "potluck political party" fund-raisers for Californians for Fairness.

Wood, himself a former member of the church, made it clear that the efforts and actions of the gay community aren't directed at Mormons generally, but church hierarchy specifically. He also emphasized that October's protest will be quiet and non-confrontational.

"We're just going to hold our signs and smile," he said. "If we plant a few seeds in a few good hearts after church conference, that's a good place to start."

And if the church is at all surprised that gays and lesbians are starting to act after a long silence, it shouldn't be, Wood says. "It's unfortunate when a church that's experienced bigotry and stereotypes continues to do the same with other minorities."

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