Date: Thu, 14 Aug 1997 10:03:53 -1000
From: lambda@aloha.net (Martin Rice)
Subject: SA 152:  LDS/ANTI-GAY VIOLENCE

Aloha awakea kakou.

Thought I would share this with you.  It was written by kaikua`ana Jeff
Harris in Seattle (jph@halcyon.com).



Martin,

The Latter-day Saints Church [Mormons] has a much longer history of anti-gay
political
activity. Not all of it is as focused on public policy as this report
implies. Mormons Church leaders Boyd K. Packer has even  used the Church's
General Conference in Salt Lake City to encourage young Mormon men to beat
up gay men. 

For those who are not familiar with him,  Boyd K. Packer is a
high ranking LDS or Mormon Church official; he is now the "acting president"
of the  Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. It would be hard for anyone to claim
that his views were not endorsed by the Church.
 
In his October address to 1976 General Priesthood Meeting  --Every Mormon
male  age  12 and over  is a member of the priesthood--,  Packer portrayed
gay men as sexual predators and encouraged young Mormon men to physically
assault any male who  "who tried to entice them to join them in these
immoral acts." Packer gave an example of a Mormon missionary who knocked his
assigned companion to the floor for showing  a sexual interest in him.
According to Packer,  "Somebody had to do it."   Packer told the group that
his position as general authority in the church was all that prevented him
from striking gay missionaries. That no young man should feel regret about
beating up anyone who demonstrated an interest in his same sex.
 
Mormon missionaries are all at least 18. They are not children. Sex,  gay or
straight, is a normal part of adult life. Saying, "no" would be  enough to
stop most advances from a friend or assigned missionary companion, if
someone is not interested. There is no justification, ever,  for striking
anyone  gay or straight,  simply for expressing an interest.  Packer did not
tell young men to say no if anyone showed interest, then if they persist hit
them. Nor did he  tell them to slug women who made sexual advances.  He
encouraged the priesthood to hit gay men.  

You can find Packer's remarks in _Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day  Saints_, October 1,2,3 1976 with Report of Discourses: Salt
Lake City: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day  Saints, 1976.
 
Michael Quinn notes in _Same Sex Dynamics among Nineteenth Century America_:
University of Illinois Press that the First Presidency deleted  Packer's
sermon from the Conference Sermons printed in the Church's official magazine
_The Ensign_. However, they did print Packer's advice to young men  to hit
gay men in a brochure that year,  titled:  _To Young Men Only_. The brochure
was reprinted in 1980.
 
Not only is the  LDS Church  spending millions on lawsuits 
and lobbying efforts in Hawaii and California to deny basic freedoms to gay 
citizens in those states. Gay students there have been banned from meeting
in public schools and accurate, scientific  information about sexual
orientation is has also banned from Utah's schools.  

In 1997 the LDS Church still promotes so called conversion therapies
--through Evergreen International-- that are nothing less than psychological
and physical torture,  performed by practitioners who have bias against gay
people, in order to propagate its anti-scientific beliefs that sexual
orientation can be changed. This torture is perpetrated  ignoring all
scientific and claims about the great harm these quack, so called therapies
do.  

As Martin Luther King once said, the problem lies not only with the truly 
hateful people, but with the multitude of otherwise good people who refuse 
to speak up against injustice. Many people who have remained silent as well
members of the LDS Church, who have only heard their smarmy stories  about
the Church protecting families,  might  speak out against these injustices
rather than  abetting them, if they are presented with Packer's call for
violence against gay men. It is irrefutable  evidence of the Church's intent
to do harm.  

-Jeff Harris

    "Capital punishment is our society's recognition of the 
     sanctity of human life." --Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT)

 
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  "My son was not . . . a high-class male prostitute. 
  He had a Catholic upbringing; he was an altar boy."
                                    --Modesto Cunanan
                        ~~~~~~
                   Fred and Martin,
            strangers before all but 16.7%
             of the law, and fading fast.
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~