A compilation of articles submmitted by Suan A.
Mormon church near Sacramento vandalized in wake of…
By Chelsea Phua
Sacramento Bee
Sunday, Nov. 09, 2008
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Sacramento (Calif.) Bee reports that three days after voters approved a proposition to ban same-sex marriage in California, vandals targeted a Mormon church in Orangevale.
Vandals spray-painted the words “No on Prop 8” at the church’s property on Hazel Avenue sometime between late Thursday and early Friday, Sacramento County sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Tim Curran said.
The church’s building was tagged once and the sidewalk multiple times, Curran said. Sheriff’s officials say they have not characterized the crime as the work of those opposed to Proposition 8, an amendment to the California constitution that limits marriage to between a man and a woman.
Curran said the department has not received similar reports of vandalism in the county.
Read the full story at sacbee.com
LAYTON — Police are searching for whoever is behind a vandalism spree at LDS chapels in Davis and Weber counties.
Glass doors and windows have been shot out at churches stretching from Layton to Ogden. The latest vandalism was reported Monday morning at a chapel at 2025 E. Antelope Drive, said Layton Police Lt. Quinn Moyes.
“It’s all the same type of damage,” he told the Deseret News. “You’ve got the front glass doors that were shot with a BB gun. Those glass doors are double-paned and tempered. They were shot four times. It shatters but stays intact.”
Three churches were hit sometime between Saturday night and Sunday morning. They were at 60 W. Gordon Ave., 2160 W. Gordon Ave. and 1290 N. Church St. The vandalism wasn’t noticed until church members began showing up for Sunday services. The total damage to all four churches is about $2,800, Moyes said.
Ogden police had one church with windows shot out at 5191 Old Post Road early Sunday morning.
Weber County sheriff’s deputies also were investigating a shattered window at an LDS chapel reported Saturday night at 5855 S. Skyline Drive, near South Ogden. Weber County Sheriff’s Lt. Klint Anderson said doors were broken, but no one went inside.
Layton police said all four incidences of vandalism are believed to be connected, but investigators said they have no evidence it is a hate crime. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has recently been the subject of protests because it heavily supported the controversial Proposition 8 in California, which banned same-sex marriage.
“There’s a lot of opinion that it’s connected with the Prop. 8 in California and this is a hate crime,” Moyes said. “But we do not have any evidence to substantiate that this is a hate crime. Until we can have some evidence that we can link that, then we are not making that connection.”
Other police agencies agreed. Police also do not have any suspects at this time. Anyone with information is asked to call the Layton Police Department at 801-497-8300.
Meridan Times- Nov 11, 2008
Prop 8 Protesters Grafitti the outside retaining walls of the LDS Los Angeles Temple.
According to reports, an activist called the temple saying they would be protesting outside the temple permanently until there is gay marriage.
Outside the temple, grafitti was scrawled on the walls and signs from the fence read, “Go back to Utah,” and “Go to hell Mormons.”
Protesters promised to go after the Church’s tax-exempt status and harass Mormons who had donated to the cause, listed on a website Mormonsfor8.com. The promise was to make the Mormons pay for their role in the passage of Prop 8.
Prop. 8 gift gets theater’s leader in a ruckus
By Marcus Crowder
mcrowder@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2008 | Page 1B
Gay and lesbian artists called Monday for an artistic and audience boycott of California Musical Theatre after learning that its artistic director donated $1,000 to a campaign that backed banning gay marriage in California.
Scott Eckern was not available for comment Monday as the revelation has gained stunning momentum on the blogosphere. The California Musical Theatre produces the Music Circus, presents Broadway Sacramento, and recently opened “Forever Plaid” at the capital’s newest performing venue, the Cosmopolitan Cabaret.
Richard Lewis, the organization’s executive producer, said the board of directors will conduct an emergency meeting on the matter this afternoon. He said it was too early to tell how this would affect Eckern’s 25-year employment with California Musical Theatre.
In a statement released Monday, Lewis said: “Any political action or the opinion of Scott Eckern is not shared by California Musical Theatre. We have a long history of appreciation for the LGBT community and are truly grateful for their longstanding support.”
Links to Eckern’s official donation information began appearing Thursday on sites such as the gay political activism site www.goodasyou.org and the more informal conversational forum www.datalounge. The measure was Proposition 8 on the Nov. 4 ballot.
Local openly gay composer Gregg Coffin, who has written nationally produced musicals “Convenience” and “Five Course Love,” found it initially difficult to express his feelings about the situation.
“I feel so sad that someone from within my field and someone from within my community, who actually knows me, would contribute to an initiative that reduces me to second-class citizenship,” Coffin said.
“I feel so sorry that he chose to support divisiveness and hatred rather than equality and inclusion; especially a man of the theater who works with gay actors, dancers, directors, designers and staff at CMT. The duplicity of it makes me so incredibly sad.”
California Musical Theatre is the capital’s oldest professional performing arts organization and California’s largest nonprofit musical theater company. It has 32 full-time employees and its budget for 2007 was $16.5 million.
Eckern was named CMT’s artistic director in July 2002 after longtime producing director Leland Ball stepped down. Eckern also holds the post of chief operating officer.
“Hairspray” composer Marc Shaiman called Eckern Thursday to discuss his donation. “Hairspray” closed this summer’s Music Circus season.
In a post on one Web site, Shaiman relayed what he told Eckern: “The idea that your donation came from a salary that for a short amount of time was drawn from profits from a show I wrote upsets me terribly and I would never allow anything I write to play there and will encourage my colleagues to consider doing the same.”
Shaiman has contacted colleagues in the theater, including Jeff Whitty, whose show “Avenue Q” comes to Broadway Sacramento next spring. Whitty’s Web site, www.whitless.com, details a telephone conversation he had with Eckern on Friday.
“There’s a great degree of hue and cry over getting Mr. Eckern fired,” Whitty wrote. “I’ve searched my soul about this. I’m instinctively not comfortable with the idea of his dismissal, though my activist side still whispers, ‘Punish!’
“I fear for what Mr. Eckern’s dismissal would say about theater: that there’s only room for the pro-gay crowd. In a way, if we only allow people we agree with, if we only allow people who share a broad sympathy for the human condition, then we become one of those dreaded fantasy ‘elites.’ ”
Others were much more vitriolic in their condemnation of Eckern on online message boards.
The theater site Broadwayworld.com has picked up the story, and the political antigayblacklist.com has published Eckern’s name and professional affiliation along with those of others who made contributions.
Editor’s Note: This article has been changed from the print version to correct a quote wrongly attributed to Marc Shaiman.
Threats from Blogs Target Christians
A Worldnetdaily.com article noted that blogs have been boiling with threats toward Christians. Burn their [blank] churches to the ground, and then tax the charred timbers,” wrote “World O Jeff” on a blog. On another website “Tread” wrote, “I hope the No on 8 people have a long list and long knives.” On another website, a contributor wrote, “Can someone in CA please go burn down the Mormon temples there, PLEASE. I mean seriously. DO IT.”
On another website “scottinsf” wrote, “Trust me. I’ve got a big list of names of mormons and catholics that were big supporters of Prop 8. … As far as mormons and catholics … I warn them to watch their backs.”
Matt Barber, director of cultural affairs for Liberty Counsel called the statements “hate crimes” for their intent to create violence against someone based on their beliefs and called on the Human Rights Campaign, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and “other leaders within the homosexual lobby” to call for an end to such threats.
Lawsuits against Prop 8
At least three lawsuits have been or are in the process of being filed protesting the passage of Proposition 8.
