"I am proud that the LDS Church has seen fit to lead the way in nondiscrimination. As a church, Mormons have a long history of being the victims of discrimination and persecution. They understand, more than most, the value and strength of creating a civil society that judges people by the content of their character and their ability to do a job."


Sen. Jim Dabakis, D-SLC


Man injure head, lose part of brain, think funny thought. Only explanation.

He is homosexual and a BYU graduate...I've met him several times. He's trying to pander to both sides...LDS Church and the LGBT community.

Can we say, "Politician?"

Oops, Susan does not allow this...

Hmmmm. I can't imagine why?

Breaking the law and lying about it? Polygamy? Polyandry? Failed bank? Stolen land? Murders?

Actively persecuting others. Prop 8?

If he is gay, he isn't doing the LGBT community any favors-unless he can be an advocate when the church starts throwing its weight and money into the "religious freedom" zone.

Jim Debakis has fought long and hard for LGBT rights in Utah, and he is a gay Demo in the Utah Legislature, and still has a long row to hoe.

He is putting the best spin possible on the LDS announcement, in the hopes of getting further cooperation from legislators and LDS leaders. He's no fool. He knows the realities here.

That is well-put, but there is no excuse for Dabakis saying that the Mormons are "leading the way." In fact, the LDS church leaders are only now approaching the rear of the ranks and doing so only reluctantly.

Brother Of Jerry Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> He is putting the best spin possible on the LDS
> announcement, in the hopes of getting further
> cooperation from legislators and LDS leaders.
> He's no fool. He knows the realities here.

"Best spin" shouldn't have to include flat-out lying about the church's history -- which is what he did.
He could have put "best spin" on it by calling their announcement a "great step towards tolerance" or something similar, without claiming they're "leading the way." They're not.

LOL! I'm so sick of hearing about how persecuted TSCC has been over the years. Never a word about all the people that they persecute or discriminate against. I guess its ok if you're doing it in the name of the Lord.

Honest mormon historians will admit that most of the problems the church members experienced in Missouri was of their own making. It's been pretty much the same for the other mormon claimed "persecutions" as well.

"Never a word about...."?

You must have missed the NYTimes article last week. LDS inc has had its fair share of rough PR sledding. I wouldn't want to be working in their PR department.

Its sad enough that they have to have a PR department, but you're right, I would NOT want that job. Too many icky things to cover up.

I am so offended by the "leading the way" statement. I belong to a church that actually has a program for congregations to be classified as a "welcoming" congregation. We had to make commitments, write it into our bylaws, participate in community affiars that promote LGBT rights and other things to get this designation.

We support the PRIDE festival, we donate to the local Gay and Lesbian community center, we go to the state capitol and participate in rallys, we write our Congressmen, we support marriage equality and even though it's not legal in our state, our minister performs wonderful commitment ceremonies where we can all back those in our community who have traveled somewhere else to get married. We throw them receptions, we accept all as full members of our congregation. In fact, our church might fall apart if some of the super involved LGBT members weren't there. And they are all very professional people, some with children, who are just living life and loving their families the same as all the rest of us.

As a side note, there are many churches in our community who participate in our superb PRIDE festival, including Catholic outreach. There never has been, and I never expect to see the mormon church acknowledging this event that celebrates diversity and inclusion.

I am glad there are some politicians in Utah who are working for inclusion in that state. But to say the Mormon church is leading the way, or even that they are supporting inclusion is nothing but deceitful. And it demeans religious people who really ARE trying to fight discrimination, fight for marriage equality and standing on the side of love.

If I lived where you lived* I would have to attend the church you always talk about so fondly.


* This place is rather off my target of places I'm looking at for retirement.

Yes, I found the goldmine of religious communities. Anybody who has this place on their list of target places for retirement, for no particular reason, would be crazy.

But I wouldn't go anywhere else now. Especially since I'll be on my own. This religious community is what made it livable the first few years. Well, that and the people I work with. But as the metro area has grown on me and I've learned to love many things about living here, my church is just the ace in the hole when I have been dealt a pretty good hand.

Luckily, I spent enough years living in Utah to appreciate the beauty of living on the Eastern side of the Mississippi--anywhere on the Eastern side, as an exmo (well, except Alabama and that little mormony part of Virginia and anywhere that gets below zero in the winter).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/03/2015 03:22PM by NormaRae.

Do you live in Utah? You know, even if TSCC doesn't believe in gay marriage, they should be for people having the right to do an believe as they wish. Giving anyone the power to take away somebody's rights opens us all up to have our rights taken away if someone doesn't agree with what we do. TSCC should realize this more than anyone since they can't stop talking about how 'persecuted' they have been for their religious beliefs. Gay marriage doesn't hurt anyone in TSCC, nobody is saying they need to practice it or perform the marriages in their temples.

Sounds like the choco rations are going up

Sounds like a(nother) morMon doesn't (even care to) know HIStory. Wishful thinking, at best.