I know Brad and Alaina Stewart; my ex-husband is married to Brad’s sister. I’ve only seen them and interacted with them at family gatherings. My three children of course enjoy seeing their kids and other relatives-by-marriage; they are, amongst family, and other church members, what one would consider a perfect example of all the right LDS attributes and values, all the typical warm ‘family fuzzies’, etc.

Just before this issue of Time hit the newstands, I got an email from Brad’s sister. She sent me the link for the article, and she sent it to other relatives/friends. I was encouraged to forward it along in turn and share it, so that others could see what a fine, sterling example of “family values” was being upheld by this praiseworthy and admirable family.

Yes, they were all proud and thoroughly unashamed. I no longer have the email, but I still remember the kicker: not only were they thoroughly convinced of the ‘rightness’ of what they were doing, they were proud of having the whole family on display in the photos accompanying the article. The children’s grandmother “Nana”, was especially pleased to see them featured, and was so proud of the photo of her grandson seated at the piano.

No, I am not making this up, and yes, it truly beggars any attempt at comprehension.

Anyway. I am in the process of leaving LD$ Inc; the only reason I haven’t done so much sooner and aggressively is because I have a family of three children who go between my household, and a household where acts such as this are encouraged as positive role modeling and behavior. By the end of this year, it will be a done deal, and I will be out for good.

I already know how this is going to go over, but it’s time for me, and thousands of others like me, to stand up and say: NO MORE.

Nothing is worth the complete and total sacrifice of one’s integrity, honesty, decency, and accountability. It will be an ongoing and perhaps, a life-long process for my children to move beyond this institution themselves, but they are strongly individual and intelligent; they have a mother who has many gay friends and professional associates that are openly supported. They associate with gay and lesbian friends at school, and have a few friends who have two moms or dads.

The great hope we all have for the future, is our youth. And their intelligence. We have the internet, and access to information that used to be hidden and kept in the dark. Young people like my children have the opportunity to balance what they are told by reading the actual facts. Like it or not, the LDS church will continue to lose its best and brightest, because the light shines in the darkness, exposing the hypocrisy, deception, the lies, and the apalling bigotry and hatred that has existed under the surface of this organization since the beginning.

To all those who have been rejected, lied to, harassed, manipulated, threatened, or cruelly, cruelly damaged, by the reprehensible doctrines, actions, and viewpoints of the LDS Church, its leadership, and individual members, I apologize from the depths of my being.

I have the most profound respect and admiration for so many of the articles and comments written by those at Box Turtle; I’ve been reading them quietly and anonymously for some time, and you have opened my eyes and enlarged my understanding more than I could ever have imagined. My gratitude is too deep to properly express.

Blessed be, for all the good you have done, and continue to do, for gays, lesbians, bi-sexual and transgendered individuals, and all the straight men and women who become your allies, one day and one person at a time.

Keep up the good work, and know that you have a true friend and supporter in me,
~Marguerite L. Morris~

I’m not being disingenuous. I’m only responding to slander. You understand you can’t misconstrue things about me and then not provide the evidence so I can defend myself. And then you say: I’m “disingenuous”?

That’s not fair.

Put up or shut up and since you haven’t shut up and continued to insult me with the “man up” comment…you certainly won’t get any rapport with me.

Thanks. I did read the original article after I made that orignial post. (I was just so pleased to see the whole Mormon thing laid out for me). Stewart is a real piece of work. While lamenting her “on the out’s” predicament, she led an ugly and dishonest campaign against an elementary school tolerance program designed to decrease school bullying. She lost, thankfully.

She’s not sorry. She has no regrets. She loves the spotlight and loves being the public face of anti-gay hate in Alameda. Alameda is a liberal place though and we’ve had others before her. The previous haters were at Central Baptist Church. Their leader eventually stepped down and the new guy isn’t anywhere near so vocal. Now it is the Mormons that we will have to focus on. Trust me, the average member won’t like the attention and will soon tire of this disgusting bigot’s antics.

Actually, John, if you read the article in it’s entirety it was Stewart who made the second quote, not Teuscher. No need to guess. Van Biema didn’t hide anything.

Here is how I can qualify saying Mormons are racists: Even though they (my family, my neighbors and my co-workers) say they welcome African-Americans into the LDS Church and they can receive the full benefits of membership and Priesthood callings…the LDS Church has never explained or even officially apologized for its past racist policies. Never apologized! Keep telling your Mormon “friends” they can’t ignore the past and wish it had never happened. That doesn’t absolve the racist issue.

Plus, I have an African-American secretary who can vouch for that. She has lived in Utah for most of her life. She can tell you almost daily examples of some subtle and some not-so-subtle experiences she has had. There are still vestiges of the Mormon racist heritage here.

Mormons are bigots: Really! You can say that to their faces and they won’t flinch one bit. In their close-mindedness they mask their bigotry by projecting it as only following their Prophet. They can’t see the obvious civil-rights issue at stake here. Ask the next Mormon you meet why gays cannot marry and they will give you a response that won’t pass any civil law muster. My co-workers tell me I can have all the benefits of being married if I find a girl to shack up and play pretend love. Perhaps they don’t understand what bigot means.

But I need to mention: There are Mormons who are unhappy with how this gay-marriage brouhaha has played out. I get glimmers of hope from reading mormonsformarriage.com, from reading opinions from lawyers who are Mormon and question the legality and the tactics of supporters of anti-gay propositions. I’m encouraged by public pronouncements from high-profile leaders (Utah Governor Huntsman) who can recognize where equality is needed for its gay population.