Box Turtle Bulletin
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobby“Now you must raise your children up in a world where that union of man and box turtle is on the same legal footing as man and wife…”
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobbyJuly 15th, 2008
Chad Hardy, the creator of a the calendar that featured shirtless Mormon missionaries was excommunicated following a disciplinary meeting with LDS church leaders in Las Vegas.
The “Men On A Mission” calendar includes pictures of 12 returned Mormon missionaries. The men also were photographed in traditional missionary garb, as well as in shirtless poses. Nearly 10,000 copies have been sold. Hardy, 31, described the project as an exercise of breaking down stereotypes:
“The project is about stepping outside the stereotypes and stepping outside of the image,” Hardy said. “Not everybody fits the image and I let them know we’re not trying to portray an image for the entire church.”
Some may argue that a calendar like this would be a good recruiting too, but the church didn’t see it that way. Some of the 12 models have also been called to disciplinary meetings, although none reportedly have punished.
Chad Hardy said he doesn’t hold a grudge against the church. “I felt like I spoke my truth. Bottom-line, they still felt the calendar is inappropriate and not the image that the church wants to have.”
Latest Posts
Featured Reports
In this original BTB Investigation, we unveil the tragic story of Kirk Murphy, a four-year-old boy who was treated for “cross-gender disturbance” in 1970 by a young grad student by the name of George Rekers. This story is a stark reminder that there are severe and damaging consequences when therapists try to ensure that boys will be boys.
When we first reported on three American anti-gay activists traveling to Kampala for a three-day conference, we had no idea that it would be the first report of a long string of events leading to a proposal to institute the death penalty for LGBT people. But that is exactly what happened. In this report, we review our collection of more than 500 posts to tell the story of one nation’s embrace of hatred toward gay people. This report will be updated continuously as events continue to unfold. Check here for the latest updates.
In 2005, the Southern Poverty Law Center wrote that “[Paul] Cameron’s ‘science’ echoes Nazi Germany.” What the SPLC didn”t know was Cameron doesn’t just “echo” Nazi Germany. He quoted extensively from one of the Final Solution’s architects. This puts his fascination with quarantines, mandatory tattoos, and extermination being a “plausible idea” in a whole new and deeply disturbing light.
On February 10, I attended an all-day “Love Won Out” ex-gay conference in Phoenix, put on by Focus on the Family and Exodus International. In this series of reports, I talk about what I learned there: the people who go to these conferences, the things that they hear, and what this all means for them, their families and for the rest of us.
Prologue: Why I Went To “Love Won Out”
Part 1: What’s Love Got To Do With It?
Part 2: Parents Struggle With “No Exceptions”
Part 3: A Whole New Dialect
Part 4: It Depends On How The Meaning of the Word "Change" Changes
Part 5: A Candid Explanation For "Change"
At last, the truth can now be told.
Using the same research methods employed by most anti-gay political pressure groups, we examine the statistics and the case studies that dispel many of the myths about heterosexuality. Download your copy today!
And don‘t miss our companion report, How To Write An Anti-Gay Tract In Fifteen Easy Steps.
Anti-gay activists often charge that gay men and women pose a threat to children. In this report, we explore the supposed connection between homosexuality and child sexual abuse, the conclusions reached by the most knowledgeable professionals in the field, and how anti-gay activists continue to ignore their findings. This has tremendous consequences, not just for gay men and women, but more importantly for the safety of all our children.
Anti-gay activists often cite the “Dutch Study” to claim that gay unions last only about 1½ years and that the these men have an average of eight additional partners per year outside of their steady relationship. In this report, we will take you step by step into the study to see whether the claims are true.
Tony Perkins’ Family Research Council submitted an Amicus Brief to the Maryland Court of Appeals as that court prepared to consider the issue of gay marriage. We examine just one small section of that brief to reveal the junk science and fraudulent claims of the Family “Research” Council.
The FBI’s annual Hate Crime Statistics aren’t as complete as they ought to be, and their report for 2004 was no exception. In fact, their most recent report has quite a few glaring holes. Holes big enough for Daniel Fetty to fall through.
“Google” is a trademark of Google Inc.
© Box Turtle Bulletin. All Rights Reserved.
Posts 
Posts via daily email:
cowboy
July 15th, 2008
There’s probably more to this story. You don’t get excommunicated for printing a mildly provocative calendar. Methinks Mr. Hardy had other compromising aspects about his membership in the LDS Church. And, it’s not about paying tithing and it’s not about not wearing temple garments. I know plenty of Saints who don’t wear their temple garments and don’t pay a full tithe and they’re not excommunicated.
If I could postulate: Chad is gay. That’s the determining factor in his excommunication and not the calendar, per se.
Evan
July 15th, 2008
calendar is so frickin’ hot…
Regan DuCasse
July 16th, 2008
If anything, he’s right about stereotypes and assumptions. Don’t uber religious people ever get that they are SO beige, boring and ultimately retread beyond reason?
Don’t get me wrong, I think the ceremony in temples and churches, the music, the comraderie is priceless.
And religion has motivated gorgeous art and architecture.
But…c’mon, if anything…let’s just say, that if such young hotties were romantic rivals for the young women those randy old prophets want to keep for themselves, I think a REBELLION is in order.
And perhaps, that’s exactly what those randy old elders are afraid of.
Woof!
Leave A Comment