Mormons for Marriage

til [they know] too many people have died?
I spent the evening remembering young gay Mormon men and women like Todd Ransom who have committed suicide. Three this month in Utah. And the list was already too, too long. Adding on to the toll was the accidental death of two matriarchs of the [...]

About half way through 8:The Mormon Proposition, a handful of quotes attributed to Mormon church leaders fade on to and off of the screen.  Were the quotes accurate?  Were they taken in context? Were they recent or ancient?  You decide.  There are a couple of quotes missing, but I didn’t want to leave you hanging [...]

Folks watching 8:The Mormon Proposition for the first time this week have been coming up with questions and concerns about the movie’s claims.  Here’s a little bit of fact checking and contextualization for those of you looking for it.
Satellite Broadcast Training
Reed Cowan begins this movie with clips

While there are certainly some significant flaws, there is much to appreciate

To Elder Dallin H. Oaks, of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
We agree with your recent statement that members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) “must insist on our constitutional right and duty to exercise our religion, to [...]

There’s been some concern the past two weeks over an incident on the LDS-Church-owned Main Street Plaza in Salt Lake City where a gay couple was handcuffed and cited for trespassing after they refused to honor security guards’ requests to cease and desist from kissing on the Plaza. There are two versions of the [...]

California’s courts have spoken in a 185-page 6-1 decision, and it is time for all of us to acknowledge the weighty matters our Supreme Court justices deal with on a regular basis. The work they do is hugely important to each and every California resident, and early analysis of this decision indicates that, although Californians [...]

Now that the holidays are over, here are some links about the Prop 8 legal challenges. There are two sets of cases, one that was filed in California’s Supreme Court which is attempting to invalidate proposition 8 on the grounds that it is actually a revision, rather than an amendment, to the State Constitution. [...]

Some readers have requested a bit of fact-checking on the recent field trip some San Francisco first-graders took to see their teacher married. So here you go.
About the School:
Creative Arts Charter School is a K-8 school that focuses on an arts-integrated, project-based curriculum. Children in grades K-5 spend two years with the same [...]

By Morris A. Thurston
I have received a copy of William Duncan’s response to my “Commentary on the Document ‘Six Consequences . . . if Proposition 8 Fails.’” I must say that I am disappointed and somewhat bewildered by both the tone and content of his piece. He misrepresents the point of my Commentary and [...]

By Morris A. Thurston
The Family Research Council Video
and the Massachusetts Case of Parker v. Hurley
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Several people have asked me to comment on a video currently making the rounds concerning school children in Massachusetts who were exposed to materials promoting tolerance of same-sex marriages.  The video is narrated by Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council [...]

We’ll have more up before Friday, but here’s a spot to discuss the broadcast on this site.  What were your reactions?  How many people were there?  Have you checked out the Church’s new site for Yes on 8 materials?
As with all things at MfM, honest, thoughtful comments are welcome, but please be polite and considerate [...]

Guest post by Morris A. Thurston
An anonymously-authored document titled “Six Consequences the Coalition Has Identified if Proposition 8 Fails” is currently being distributed by a coalition of churches and other organizations in support of Proposition 8, an initiative on the November 2008 California ballot. The intent of Proposition 8 is to overturn the California Supreme [...]

Several versions of a document entitled, “The [insert number here] Consequences of a Loss on Prop 8″ have been circulating on blogs and emails for about a month now.  There are many places online where rebuttals have been posted, with varying degrees of rancor, including here.
For a link to Part 2, the document created by [...]

Leland Chan received his law degree from the University of California at Berkeley in 1989. He is also a BYU graduate.
Guest poster Leland Chan provides some commentary on the LDS Church’s Press Release, “The Divine Institution of Marriage,” as well as some “food for thought.” Both the press release and Leland’s comments [...]