Same-sex marriage rowdies single out Mormons

Police arrested two people, and photographs from the scene show angry crowds and violent confrontations in front of the Los Angeles Mormon temple yesterday as part of continued protests over the passage of California's Proposition 8 banning same-sex marriage.

As WND reported, since the ballot measure was approved by voters earlier this week, supporters of same-sex marriage have made profane and violent threats against Christians and churches.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, however, has become a focused target of anger after the church's leadership urged members to support the Yes on 8 campaign and opponents of the measure, according to the Los Angeles Times, estimate LDS members gave over $20 million to pass the ballot initiative.

Lorri L. Jean, chief executive officer of the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center, was at yesterday's massive demonstration, which swarmed the Mormon temple with an angry mob of an estimated 2,000 protesters.

"It is a travesty that the Mormon church bought this election and used a campaign of lies and deception to manipulate voters in the great state of California," Jean told the crowd, according to KTTV-TV in Los Angeles. "Today we will send a message to (LDS) President Monson that we will not tolerate being stripped of our equal rights in the name of religious bigotry."

Jeff Flint, strategist for Yes on 8, however, told the Times, "I am appalled at the level of Mormon-bashing that went on during the Proposition 8 campaign and continues to this day."

The Times reported dozens of the protesters screaming "Bigots!" and "Shame on you!" through the temple's closed gates. The newspaper's website shows dozens of photographs of protesters scaling the fences around the temple, waving signs and being restrained by police during some isolated, violent confrontations.

"As protests go, this one is remarkably long," Los Angeles Police Department Lt. John Romero told KCAL-TV in Los Angeles, four hours after the marches began. "When we talk about anti-war or immigration rights, (it) typically (lasts) one hour, two hours top."

The LDS church has been a lightning rod for anger after its role in passing Proposition 8. Last month, protesters parked an SUV painted with hate messages in front of a Mormon family of seven's home. WND reported a television commercial in which Mormon missionaries were depicted barging into a lesbian couple's home, explaining their mission to "take away your rights."

David Loder, a business manager and member of the Mormon church, told the Times his Yes on 8 yard sign was vandalized and he heard about the protest on the radio.

"As a member of the LDS church we have known [and still do] the feeling of being ridiculed and mistreated because of our faith," he said.

Still, Rick Jacobs of the Courage Campaign, which produced the "Home Invasion" commercial, told the Times he does not believe his group was bashing Mormons.

"This is not about religion," said Jacobs. "This is about a church that put itself in the middle of politics."

Jean, whose Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center organized the rally outside the temple, now says she plans to continue protesting the Mormon church's involvement.

During the rally she announced plans for a new website to raise funds for advocating same-sex marriage in California. For every $5 donated, Jean said, her organization will send a postcard to LDS President Thomas S. Monson condemning "the reprehensible role the Church of Latter-day Saints leadership played in denying all Californians equal rights under the law."

LDS officials yesterday issued a statement asking for "a spirit of mutual respect and civility."

"The church acknowledges that such an emotionally charged issue concerning the most personal and cherished aspects of life – family and marriage – stirs fervent and deep feelings," church spokeswoman Kim Farah wrote in an e-mail to the Times. "No one on either side of the question should be vilified, harassed or subject to erroneous information."