8: The Mormon Proposition

Mormon Prophet Thomas S. Monson issued a decisive call from Salt Lake City, urging millions of Mormons worldwide to take action to ensure Proposition 8's passage. The call was crafted using secretive language from Mormon temple ceremonies, which carries significant weight within the faith. This wasn't merely a suggestion, it was presented as a religious command that many members felt compelled to follow.

Within days of Monson's command, hundreds of thousands of Mormons across the United States contributed approximately thirty million dollars to the Yes on 8 campaign. The Church's hierarchical structure and authoritative command from the Prophet created a sense of religious obligation among members. This massive financial mobilization was coordinated through the Mormon National Organization for Marriage, which orchestrated both the funding and the grassroots get-out-the-vote efforts.

Before the Mormon Church became involved, evangelical groups were actively fighting against marriage equality but were losing ground in California. The religious right lacked the organizational infrastructure, financial resources, and centralized leadership needed to mount an effective campaign. Once the Mormons entered with their massive funding and coordinated grassroots network, they provided the missing elements, money, organization, and credibility, that turned the tide in favor of Proposition 8.

Tyler Barrick and Spencer Jones are direct descendants of Fredrick G. Williams, a close associate of Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon Church. This historical connection adds profound irony to their situation, their ancestors were persecuted for practicing polygamy, yet generations later, the same Church that defended polygamy was actively fighting to deny them the right to marry. Their story represents a painful cycle of discrimination from the very institution that shaped their family history.

The opposition is deeply ironic because the Mormon Church itself historically practiced polygamy, which was considered an alternative form of marriage. Former missionary Reed Cowan explicitly noted his disbelief that a church which 'worships the practice of alternative marriage' would become the leading force against marriage equality. The Church's ancestors were persecuted by the U.S. government for polygamy, yet the institution now advocates for denying marriage rights to another group, a parallel the documentary highlights as a profound betrayal.

Stuart Matis was a gay Mormon man who tragically took his own life on the steps of a California Mormon Church during the Church's active campaign against Proposition 8. His suicide became a devastating symbol of the real human cost of the Church's political stance against marriage equality. The documentary uses his story to illustrate the psychological harm inflicted on LGBT individuals when their own faith community actively campaigns against their basic civil rights.

'Spencer's boys' refers to a clandestine group of gay BYU students who allegedly met secretly with Mormon Prophet Spencer W. Kimball. The documentary makes the claim that these covert meetings occurred, though the exact nature and outcome of these interactions remains part of the Church's disputed history. This revelation suggests high-level awareness within the Church regarding the struggles of gay members decades before the Proposition 8 debate.

The documentary revealed that BYU, under Church oversight, enforced extreme practices on gay men including electric shock therapy and frontal lobotomies. These so-called 'conversion therapies' were intended to change sexual orientation and were carried out by Mormon security personnel at the university. These accounts represent some of the most disturbing examples of institutional abuse directed at LGBT individuals within the Church's own educational system.

Mormon Bishop and Utah Senator D. Chris Buttars compared gay individuals to radical terrorists and claimed they represent 'the greatest threat to America.' He also made derogatory remarks about gay people engaging in 'pig sex.' These inflammatory statements triggered coordinated responses from LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations including HRC and GLAAD. The backlash was so severe it resulted in thirty thousand emails to the Utah Senate President, crashed the Utah Senate computer server for three days, and ultimately forced Buttars to resign as chair of Utah's Senate Judiciary Committee.

Documentary producer Reed Cowan emphasized that the Church's direct involvement in political campaigns, particularly the massive financial contributions and organized get-out-the-vote efforts, could jeopardize its tax-exempt status as a religious organization. Non-profit religious institutions are generally prohibited from participating in political campaigns, and the documented thirty-million-dollar mobilization represented a significant departure from that boundary. Cowan warned that if the Church escaped consequences for this, it would set a dangerous precedent for other groups to purchase political influence.

The documentary highlighted that a significant portion of Utah's homeless teen population are LGBT individuals who were disowned by their families after coming out. This crisis represents one of the devastating real-world consequences of the Church's teachings and political activism against LGBTQ+ rights. The hundreds of homeless LGBT youth in Utah serve as a tragic indicator of the harm caused when religious institutions actively promote discrimination against queer individuals.

After Proposition 8 passed by a narrow margin, LGBT activists directed their anger toward Mormon temples across the nation. The Church, which had claimed credit for the victory, quickly found itself facing significant public backlash and protests at temples nationwide. This response highlighted the unintended consequences of the Church's very public political involvement, a sharp irony given that the Church then complained about being persecuted for its actions.