tagged w/ Latter Day Saints
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Chad Hardy is, above all things apparently, an entrepreneur. When Hardy started selling the unexpectedly popular "Men on a Mission" calendar, featuring Mormon beefcakes recently returned from church-required missions, he suffered the consequences.
Not only did the Mormon stronghold of Brigham Young University deny Hardy's degree a month after he participated in the graduation ceremony, but the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) full-on excommunicated him. That's no small thing in a church that encourages followers to disconnect from wayward family members. But did Chad Hardy repent and try to get back into the church's good graces? Nope. He just got cracking on another hot calendar idea -- this time featuring the female side of the church.
Hardy's new calendar, "Hot Mormon Muffins: A Taste of Motherhood," features LDS women in sexy pin-up style poses celebrating both their outer beauty and their family values by including favorite recipes for tasty muffins. There's no way he's not going to make money on this thing. And obviously the church is not going to be amused.
The Associated Press reports that church spokesperson Kim Farah declined to comment on the new calendar Monday. But if the church was angry enough to excommunicate Hardy, it would appear likely that the 12 moms (ranging in age from 26 to 53) appearing in "Hot Mormon Muffins" will have to watch out.
At least one of the models has already expressed her defiance. Tami Roberts, 35, of Idaho Falls, Idaho, said she did the calendar, in part, because she wants her 3 daughters to "know that everybody is not the same and it's OK to make your own choices." Roberts read about the "Men on a Mission" calendar last year, and decided that she wanted to be a part of the new project after reading about Hardy's punishment.
"That made me mad, I did not agree with that," the cover model said. "The pictures are tasteful, and it's fun. I don't see why people can't have a sense of humor. I just don't think it's a big deal."Chad Hardy is, above all things apparently, an entrepreneur. When Hardy started... more
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"If Salt Lake County is able to follow its new master plan, arts lovers could see cultural hubs in the suburbs, upgrades to beloved amphitheaters from Murray to Draper, the reincarnation of a defunct sugar factory in West Jordan and a film center in the capital's downtown.
Dueling visions of a 2,500-plus-seat playhouse in Salt Lake City or Sandy might even have a shot at county funds. But those proposals were given less weight in the plan, which concluded the demand for Broadway entertainment in Utah is being met.
On Tuesday, the County Council unanimously agreed to "accept" the $300,000 blueprint that will guide the multimillion-dollar development and use of arts venues for decades to come.
Midvale Mayor JoAnn Seghini, who helped shape the plan, told the council she was impressed by the willingness of arts groups to share facilities, when possible.
"What we found out ... is there is a great appetite for facilities of any size all over our county that will allow people to get together and experience the arts," she said. "It was overwhelming."
Prepared by AMS Planning & Research's California office, the master plan provides an inventory of 130 existing cultural facilities, which the county plans to make available online. The study also recommends the county consider helping 16 potential projects to join the lineup, although all proposals are welcome to apply for county funds.
About half the "master-plan projects," including a film center and Ballet West academy, are in Salt Lake City, which is deemed the county's "cultural core."
But the study envisions three suburban regional cultural centers, similar in size to Salt Lake City's Rose Wagner Center, four amphitheater upgrades, a renovation of Magna's historic Empress Theatre and a transformation of West Jordan's defunct sugar factory into an arts center.
That geographic breadth demonstrates the study's "very balanced approach," County Council Chairman Joe Hatch said in an interview.
"Most significant arts facilities should be centered in downtown Salt Lake," Hatch said. "In addition, though, [the plan concluded] that there is a huge crying need for smaller, regional cultural facilities throughout the county."
The $300,000 study -- the LDS Church kicked in $100,000 of the county's tab -- did not answer one mega-question: Should a mega-theater be built in Salt Lake City or Sandy?""If Salt Lake County is able to follow its new master plan, arts lovers could see... more
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In the light of recent events that have taken place in the state of California, many people have decided that it’s time to take matters into our own hands. We will not sit back and let the rest of the world decide what we can and cannot do in America the Free.
We have borrowed from the Chicano movement and modified their "Day without a Mexican" into "Day without a Gay."
This concept is simple, but makes a huge impact.
On December 10th, 2008 we ask that all people in the LGBT community and all of our supporters call in sick to work and do not attend school. We ask that you do not purchase anything that day. We want California to see how many of us there are, and that there may be a person in their life that they didn’t know was gay.
Please join us. I know, personally, how extremely difficult it can be to come out and be open about yourself. I have overcome my fear, and I hope that all of you are able to as well.
We need to stand strong in California, and around the country. We need those that oppose us to know that we are strong and that we will NEVER GIVE UP.
Join us, and gain your equality. **this is not restricted to California**
The Official Website: day without a gay * orgIn the light of recent events that have taken place in the state of California, many... more
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On friday November 07 2008, thousands of people gathered in downtown San Francisco, during rush hour, in order to protest against the new Proposition 8, which strictly bans gay-marriage. We followed the crowd throughout the city asking the protesters about their opinions on the whole issue.On friday November 07 2008, thousands of people gathered in downtown San Francisco,... more
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Osain
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1 year ago
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SAN ANGELO, Texas — Kept together at large west Texas sites for two weeks, the first of more than 400 children taken from a polygamist compound boarded buses Tuesday bound for group homes and other faraway foster care facilities...
Authorities are trying to map the tangled family trees that authorities came across while investigating a teenage girl's allegation of abuse by her much older husband.
Lawyers inside San Angelo Coliseum who were meeting with their adult or child clients said state Children's Protective Services workers installed tight security, allowing no one in or out while the children, 114 of them by day's end, were loaded onto the buses.
The remaining 300 children at the coliseum were still undergoing DNA testing and could be moved on Thursday, said Guy Choate, a state bar official who has been coordinating the attorneys brought from all over the state to represent the children.
State District Judge Barbara Walther signed an order Tuesday allowing the state to begin moving the children into temporary foster care while the state completes DNA testing of the 437 children and at least 175 adults and develops individual custody and treatment plans.
Their lawyers said many were reluctant to offer samples for testing they believe is invasive and unnecessary.
Arriving in pickup trucks and sport-utility vehicles a few at a time, the parents came to allow technicians in lab coats to swab inside their mouths as they fight to regain custody of their children...
"We've told them to cooperate, but there are a lot of people who are reluctant," said Cynthia Martinez, a spokeswoman for the Legal Aid attorneys who represent dozens of mothers. "There's a perception there that the state will be using it to separate them" rather than reunite them with their children.
Susan Hays, an attorney for a toddler in state custody, said many of the fathers are reluctant and some may have left the state, fearing that the tests are really designed to help prosecutors make criminal abuse cases.
The state won the right to put the children in foster care on suspicion that members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints pushed underage girls into marriage and sex and that all the children raised in the church are in danger of being victims or becoming predators.
The children have been removed from the Yearning For Zion Ranch, the renegade Mormon sect's compound in nearby Eldorado; they stayed at historic Fort Concho in San Angelo before being moved to the larger coliseum last week.
CPS spokesman Darrell Azar said child welfare officials want to get the children in a more homelike setting.
"They need to be out of the limelight," he said. "Children can't get into a normal routine in a shelter."
CPS said in its placement plan — attached to Walther's order — that it will try to place mothers under 18 with their children and will try to keep sibling groups together. Some of the families may have dozens of siblings.
Boys ages 8 and older will likely be placed in a setting similar to that where dozens of teen boys were taken last week, a Boys' Ranch near Amarillo in the Texas Panhandle some 250 miles from Eldorado...
Walther ordered all 437 children taken from the compound two weeks ago be given DNA tests after child welfare officials complained they couldn't identify the children and parents, who lived in enormous log-cabin style homes with their "sister wives" and other children and relatives. The judge ordered any known or suspected parents to also get tested in one of the largest custody cases in U.S. history. Results will likely take a month or more.
All the children are supposed to get individual hearings before June 5 to help determine whether they'll stay in state custody or that parents may be able to take steps to regain custody of their children...
The main Mormon church does not recognize FLDS and disavows polygamy.
SAN ANGELO, Texas — Kept together at large west Texas sites for two weeks, the... more
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SALT LAKE CITY – Utah's growing tourism industry and the star-studded Sundance Film Festival are being targeted for a boycott by bloggers, gay rights activists and others seeking to punish the Mormon church for its aggressive promotion of California's ban on gay marriage.
It could be a heavy price to pay. Tourism brings in $6 billion a year to Utah, with world-class skiing, a spectacular red rock country and the film festival founded by Robert Redford, among other popular tourist draws.
"At a fundamental level, the Utah Mormons crossed the line on this one," said gay rights activist John Aravosis, an influential blogger in Washington, D.C.
"They just took marriage away from 20,000 couples and made their children bastards," he said. "You don't do that and get away with it."
Salt Lake City is the world headquarters for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which counts about 62 percent of Utah residents as members.
The church encouraged its members to work to pass California's Proposition 8 by volunteering their time and money for the campaign. Thousands of Mormons worked as grassroots volunteers and gave tens of millions of dollars to the campaign.
The ballot measure passed Tuesday. It amends the California Constitution to define marriage as a heterosexual act, overriding a state Supreme Court ruling that briefly gave same-sex couples the right to wed.
The backlash against the church — and by extension Utah — has been immediate. Protests erupted outside Mormon temples, Facebook groups formed telling people to boycott Utah, and Web sites such as mormonsstoleourrights.com began popping up, calling for an end to the church's tax-exempt status.
Church spokeswoman Kim Farah said in a statement about the temple protests Friday that it is "disturbing" that the church is being singled out for exercising its right to speak up in a free election.
"While those who disagree with our position on Proposition 8 have the right to make their feelings known, it is wrong to target the Church and its sacred places of worship for being part of the democratic process," Farah said.
The church had said in a statement after Tuesday's vote that "no one on any side of the question should be vilified, intimidated, harassed or subject to erroneous information."
Aravosis is the editor of the popular americablog.com, which has about 900,000 unique monthly visitors.
He is calling for skiers to choose any state but Utah and for Hollywood actors and directors to pull out of the Sundance Film Festival. Other bloggers and readers have responded to his call.
"There's a movement afoot and large donors are involved who are very interested in organizing a campaign, because I do not believe in frivolous boycotts," said Aravosis, who has helped organize boycotts against "Dr. Laura" Schlessinger's television show, Microsoft and Ford over gay rights issues.
"The main focus is going to be going after the Utah brand," he said. "At this point, honestly, we're going to destroy the Utah brand. It is a hate state."
More at Link....SALT LAKE CITY – Utah's growing tourism industry and the star-studded Sundance Film... more
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LA Times has this breaking news story and KTLA is airing it live.
Hundreds of protesters marched near the landmark Los Angeles California Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Westwood today to protest the church's strong support for Proposition 8.
Opponents of Proposition 8, which outlawed gay marriage in California, were waving banners and chanting. A similar protests occurred on Wednesday night in Hollywood and West Hollywood.
[more behind link]LA Times has this breaking news story and KTLA is airing it live.
Hundreds of... more
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The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been a major player in organizing and funding a proposition to outlaw same-sex marriage in California. As of Oct. 28, Mormons accounted for 46 percent of the total support for Proposition 8, according to the Mormon-run Web site MormonsFor8.com.
But as the money has flowed into California, divisions have emerged within the Mormon community about the church's role. Mormons should be mere members, rather than the linchpin of the Protect Marriage coalition, some Mormons say, lest their primary goal of missionary evangelism be tainted.
Others are opposed to Proposition 8 altogether. While many Mormons have heeded the call from their elders to contribute generously, knock on doors and staff the phone banks in support of Proposition 8, individuals such as Laura Compton have been vocal in their dissent.
Compton, a married mother of two young boys, is in complete disagreement with her church's involvement in the push to get Proposition 8 passed. She started MormonsForMarriage.com to give Mormons who support same-sex marriage a way to know, as her Web site says, "You are not alone. We especially want people who may be feeling estranged from the fellowship of their local congregations [to know] that they are not alone."
Mormons may disagree with the "Yes on 8" campaign for different reasons — some believe in marriage equality; some think the money on the campaign could be better spent on social welfare projects; and others believe in separation of church and state.
But the matter has opened a significant fissure in a church that is usually seen as monolithic.
Lifelong Mormons Lee and Carol Oldham are anguished about the split their opposition to Proposition 8 has caused in their LDS ward. Lee Oldham, a tall, bearded man with silver hair, says the opprobrium directed at people who oppose the measure is so great, he has stopped going to church altogether, "at least until the election is over."
His petite wife continues to go, but she has to steel herself to walk through the doors. She feels tolerated, not welcomed. But she goes, and she wears a small rainbow pride pin, "so that someone who might be gay knows there's someone who cares about gay people."
There have been several requests by congregants in the Oldhams' ward to make calls for Proposition 8 — but not to the Oldham household. "No one asked us," Carol Oldham says quietly. "They know how we feel."
Much of the Mormon money has been funneled into ad campaigns that observers say have been very effective in narrowing the gap between Proposition 8's passage and failure. Two months ago, it looked almost certain that Californians would reject the measure, feeling that it stripped fellow citizens of an important civil right. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been a major player in organizing... more
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