Prop. 8 Stained Mormons Long-Term

The extensive involvement of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Proposition 8 may “frustrate the church’s image for years to come” and become a public relations problem akin to the church’s onetime support for polygamy and opposition to African-American men in the priesthood, according to an article from the Associated Press on Saturday.

The article cites multiple former Mormons, gay activists, and experts who suggest that Prop. 8 created a long-term public relations challenge for the 13 million–member church.

Church members donated tens of millions of dollars to the campaign to ban same-sex marriage in California last year, while the institutional church contributed nearly $200,000, which is now the subject of a state investigation.

Kate Kendell, executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, who was raised Mormon in Utah, is among those quoted. "What I hear from my community and from straight progressive individuals is that they now see the church as a force for evil and as an enemy of fairness and equality," she said.

The article also cites the story of Linda Stay, who quit the church after the passage of Prop. 8, along with her husband and 18 family members, including two children who are gay. Now an activist for LGBT rights, Stay will be a subject of filmmaker Reed Cowan’s forthcoming documentary, 8: The Mormon Proposition.

The difficult prognosis for the church appeared on the same day activists held the Great Nationwide Kiss-in to protest recent incidents including the arrest of two gay men for trespassing on Mormon Church property in Salt Lake City after the couple kissed on the cheek in July.