Anti-gay political move by Mormon leadership upsets members

By JD Uy on June 28, 2008

”I thought by asking my family to do this, I was simply asking them to send a strong message to Salt Lake City that they disagree with the idea that any church has the right to entrench clearly religious dogma into the constitution of a state or country…. I was just asking them to defend my civil rights…. I wanted to remain a cultural Mormon…. I thought there was a way, an opening up, but then all of a sudden, the church decides this … and I’m not going to wait around.”

>Lester Leavitt, a lifelong Mormon who came out in 2004, discussing his reasons for sending a letter to his relatives in California. He asked them to walk out of their church services as a new message from the organization’s president, Thomas Monson, was to be read aloud in their congregation. The official letter from the Mormon leadership requests California members to donate money to fight same-sex marriage in their state. (Associated Press)

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