THE INDEPENDENT: Gay activists were furious with the Mormons after same-sex unions were banned in California. Now they are venting their anger in the church's spiritual home. Guy Adams reports from Salt Lake City
Sister Sugiyanto's guided teatime tour of Temple Square, the world headquarters of the Mormon Church, was rudely interrupted by the sound of emergency sirens and police helicopters hovering over central Salt Lake City.
A suspicious package containing white powder had been opened by a clerk in the Church Administration Office, prompting FBI agents wearing chemical warfare suits to swiftly evacuate the building. Across town, news was coming in that eight local churches had been vandalised. One, in a family neighbourhood, had obscene graffiti scrawled on its walls. The other seven, in the nearby towns of Layton and Ogden, had windows shot out, apparently with a BB gun.
The brouhaha on Thursday was severely testing the happy demeanour of the sister, a visiting missionary from Indonesia whose informative trips round the Mormon Church's 45-acre HQ culminate in a not-so-subtle attempt to recruit you. "I feel we are being picked on," said Sister Sugiyanto. "We are not the only group that supported this proposition, so why do they only blame us? Last week, thousands came here to protest. It made me sad, more than anything."
The proposition in question is Proposition 8, a ballot measure outlawing same-sex marriage in California that was backed by 52 per cent of voters on 4 November. The "they" refers to gay rights activists upset by the Mormon Church's role in the campaign to push the measure through. Modern morality and religious doctrine have collided in spectacular fashion, and nowhere more so than here in Utah.
To liberal America, the Church of the Latter Day Saints and its 12 million members around the world are suddenly public enemy number one. They stand accused – and, it must be said, it is an accusation they strongly deny – of thinly-veiled homophobia, using their massive financial muscle to help railroad the ballot measure. >>> Guy Adams | November 15, 2008
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