- Title: USA: New film documents Mormon involvement in banning gay marriage in California
- Date: 9th June 2010
- Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (JUNE 08, 2010) (REUTERS) VARIOUS EXTERIOR OF AMERICAN CINEMATHEQUE AT EGYPTIAN THEATER VARIOUS OF POSTER FOR "8: THE MORMON PROPOSITION" VARIOUS OF PARTICIPANTS IN DOCUMENTARY FILM "8: THE MORMON PROPOSITION" INCLUDING DUSTIN LANCE BLACK (SOUNDBITE) (English) DUSTIN LANCE BLACK, NARRATOR OF "8: THE MORMON PROPOSITION," SAYING:
- Embargoed: 24th June 2010 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Usa
- Country: USA
- Topics: Domestic Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA4VTLIJSTZB4P8U4ADWUDHBUU2
- Story Text: A new documentary film about the Mormon church and its involvement in the push to ban gay marriage in California debuted in Los Angeles Tuesday evening (June 08).
"8: The Mormon Proposition" focuses on the money raised by the tax-exempt, Utah-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), and how millions in donations from church members helped to pass the 2008 California ballot initiative defining marriage as solely between one man and one woman.
Through several interviews with current and former Mormons, some of whom left the faith because of its stance on gay rights, the film paints the LDS church leadership as taking an improper role in recruiting members in the fight to pass proposition 8, and alleges that members were pressured to donate to the campaign or face expulsion.
Dustin Lance Black, the Academy Award-winning screenwriter of the 2009 film "Milk," about gay icon Harvey Milk, felt it was important to participate in the film as narrator because he wanted to aid in exposing the Mormon leadership.
"They, I thought, told a story about what happened in proposition 8 from the perspective of Mormon people finally, finally, I think, holding the leadership of the Mormon church accountable for what they did, the strategy that they perpetrated to take civil rights away from people in a completely different state," says Black, on why he participated in the film.
Black was raised Mormon, but has followed Milk in becoming a modern day gay rights activist since winning the Oscar. While Mormon-funded advertisements in 2008 alleged that gay marriage would do more harm to society than good, Black believes that not allowing couples to officiate their union in the eyes of the state hurts families more than helps.
"I say you ask any child who has to go to school, who's got two lesbian mothers if it hurts not being able to say 'my parents are married,' if that feels different, if it feels like their family is less than, and the answer is yes and you can tell by the tears in their eyes," says Black. "The word 'marriage' is meaningful, that's why we're fighting for it, this is a civil rights issue, and all couples should be recognized equally, and I don't think just on a state level like prop 8, but also on a federal level."
California voters in November 2008 ended a summer of court-allowed gay marriage by enacting a ban on same-sex unions by a 52 to 48 percent vote. The move by the trend-setting state enthused social conservatives and stunned lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender supporters nationwide.
Linda and Steve Stay, whose son Tyler was among the first same-sex couples to legally marry in California, were subjects of the film, and left the Mormon church after the election of 2008. They said that although it was difficult to lose friends and family over their gay rights beliefs, they had to support their son.
"Well, for us, it's a human rights issue, and really when you look at it, and check in with your heart, why in the world not? How can anybody with really love in their heart, say 'I deserve this, but you don't,'" says Linda Stay. "It just, it doesn't add up, it doesn't seem right, so that's the way we've always looked at it because it's a human rights issue, it's not a Mormon issue, it's not a religious issue, it has to do with what this country was founded on."
Fred Karger, also a participant in the film, is a gay rights activist and Mormon watchdog who filed a complaint with a California ethics board and instigated an investigation into the funding practices behind the proposition 8 battle. He has founded Californians Against Hate, and continues to fight back against Mormon leaders who claim they never donated any money to the cause.
"They're not to be believed, they will look you straight in the eye and tell you that they were not involved as they did to KGO television in San Francisco, the ABC affiliate, 19 months ago, they said 'we gave zero dollars to pass prop 8.' Well, that's not the case," says Karger. "This movie is going to do a tremendous job of exposing their arrogance and their illegal campaign practices, and more importantly, what they do to their members, how they treat gay mormons and shun them and do horrific things to these young men and women."
The filmmaker, Reed Cowan, who did not attend Tuesday's premiere, had originally set out to make a film on the high suicide rates of young gay men and women in Utah. A portion of the documentary is devoted to telling the story of several former Mormons who had survived suicide attempts in their teens.
A San Francisco federal court now is weighing whether the U.S. Constitution prohibits Proposition 8, which defined marriage as a union of a man and a woman. That battle is expected to be appealed up to the U.S. Supreme Court.
"8: The Mormon Proposition" will be released in 15 U.S. cities and through video-on-demand distribution on June 18. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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