8: The Mormon Proposition

Plot synopsis:
As California's anti-gay marriage proposition 8 languished in the polls, Mormon Prophet Thomas S. Monson issued a call from Salt Lake City to millions of Mormons all over the world. His was an order to action containing the secret code language of the highly secret Mormon temple ceremony. The action alert commanded Mormons in and out of California to do all things necessary to insure the passage of California's Proposition 8. Within days, hundreds of thousands of Mormons all over the United States funneled thirty million Mormon dollars in to California coffers to purchase the passage of California's anti-gay marriage Proposition 8.Before the Mormons and their participation in the passage of Proposition 8, evangelicals were flopping in the fight. After Mormons got involved, the fight flourished.During the fight, the Mormon Church media-engine, including mega-million dollar public relations and political consulting firm support, barraged Californians with a suffocating number of misleading television and radio ads and door-to-door campaigns manned by the Mormon NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR MARRIAGE.When Prop. 8 passed in California by a slim margin, Mormons were quick to take credit for the success. But when backlash from LGBT citizens targeted Mormon temples throughout the United States, the Mormon Church was the first to complain that they were the ones being persecuted.In the wake of it all, documentary producer Reed Cowan was collecting secret recordings, secret documents and never before seen footage exposing Mormon efforts to quash ANY rights for LGBT citizens anywhere in the world. 'As a former Mormon missionary, I am appalled in knowing that a church which itself worships the practice of alternative marriage (polygamy), would become so vehemently involved in the marriage debate,' says Director Reed Cowan.8: The Mormon Proposition follows the story of many LGBT citizens seeking marriage equality. One of the couples Cowan follows is Tyler Barrick and Spencer Jones. Barrick is the direct descendant of Mormon founder and Prophet, Joseph Smith's right hand man Fredrick G. Williams.The Barrick-Jones family history tells tales of Mormon ancestors chased from state to state because of their own practice of alternative marriage (polygamy). Now, decades later, the Barrick-Jones family is experiencing cultural and governmental discrimination of the same kind that haunted their ancestors. Only now, they're at war with their own religion of Mormonism and the people their religion seduced in to voting against their union.'When 8 passed, I called my mother crying--why did the Mormons do this to us? Why would our own people do this to us? They have turned their backs on us, ' says Barrick-Jones.8: The Mormon Proposition exposes decade's-long campaigns against LGBT rights, not only working behind the scenes to unseat political leaders who advocate for marriage equality, but also abuse against their own people through electric shock therapy and frontal lobotomies for BYU men arrested by Mormon security police. For the first time in history, the film goes on record about alleged prurient meetings between Mormon Prophet Spencer W. Kimball with a secret group of gay BYU students who called themselves 'Spencer's boys.' The film chronicles the hundreds of gay-Mormon suicides, including the story of Mormon Stuart Matis, who shot himself on the steps of a California Mormon Church during another of the church's work against marriage equality during the days of California's Knight Initiative.Long before its official completion, 8: The Mormon Proposition has already received considerable international press coverage. During the filming of 8, Reed Cowan interviewed Mormon Bishop and Senator D. Chris Buttars, who compared gay people to radical Muslims and said 'gays represent the greatest threat to America going down today.'Buttars characterization of gays engaged in so-called pig sex, brought on an HRC action alert, a scolding from GLAAD, and the eventual ouster of Utah Senator Buttars from his position as chair of Utah's Senate Judiciary Committee.In the days during the media backlash following Buttars interview with Cowan for 8, major media outlets and programs like FORBES, WASHINGTON POST and THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW picked up on the story with considerable coverage that resulted in thirty thousand e mails to the Utah Senate President and the crashing of the Utah Senate computer server for three days.8: The Mormon Proposition also reveals the truth about Utah's gay homeless youth and the fact that the lions-share of hundreds of homeless teens on the streets in Utah, are LGBT youth who have been kicked out after coming out to their families.Finally, in the telling of the Mormon Church's risk of losing their tax-free status, 8: THE MORMON PROPOSITION is a call to action not only to LGBT citizens, but all citizens everywhere to not only stand up for human rights, but also to pay attention to where the money and the information is coming from whenever a ballot measure picks up uncommon speed, money and heat.In the words of Reed Cowan, '8: The Mormon Proposition puts on record one of the greatest election shams in the history of the United States. If the Mormon church gets a pass on this one, we're in grave danger as a society of letting other groups purchase votes and we're putting power behind their so-called 'secret combinations' to do it again. This can never happen again. Never.'

Tags: romantic, queer

Review:
Obviously, this is a movie that I wanted to see because I had these two elements of my life fighting with each other, both in private (in my own mind) and in public (LDS Church vs.
A lot has to be said for the documents from the 1990's proving that the anti-gay marriage group in Hawaii was created, staffed, and funded through Mormon means.
On this count only is the previous poster on IMDb correct.But the film is about something important- or maybe many things crammed into 80 minutes (this, too, is something of a flaw, but not a major one)- which is that the rights of people were taken away from them because a largely select group (over 70% of funds donated to get Prop 8 passed were from Mormons or groups affiliated with them somehow) see that gays and lesbians don't choose to be gay, and are unholy and so on and so on.
It should be more complex, but in reality it just comes down to money, and an effective (hateful) ad campaign.Contrary to what the previous poster said, I don't think the film actively sets out to paint all Mormons as hateful, or that the film itself is hateful.
I don't even think, after seeing the film, that every single Mormon out there is bad or intends harm.
That this was such a passionate deal to have so much money funneled into the campaign is an insult to the masses of people who just want to marry, for love or (in other cases) for the same protections and rights that marriage affords.
There's a large chunk of the film, for example, that delves into the suicide rate of Mormons, and the horror for someone who is Gay and a Mormon (specifically a few are interviewed whose parents donated for Prop 8), and those who are homeless or on the streets as teens who are gay and rejected from their homes.
This ultimately worked for me because the film is as much about the people and the high emotions running through the issue for all involved (those who are reasonable about it and those who are, well, Senator Buttars and his foaming-at-the-mouth ilk), but the film definitely works best when it tells this story of Prop 8.
This is a film about denial of basic human rights and the out-of-state religious organization that donated millions of dollars to put an end to those rights.
In fact, more than getting a sense of hatred towards Mormons, the documentary gave me a sense of sadness for the many gay Mormon teens that were driven to suicide or the Mormon families that were forced to donate upwards of $50,000- their whole livelihood- to a campaign so that they would not lose their membership to their church.But more than anything, this film gave me a strange sense of hope.
But seeing all of the happy marriages and learning that basically the only reason it did pass was because of the LDS Church gives me hope for a future of equality.
Nothing will make you believe in gay marriage like Tyler Barrick and Spencer Jones (interviewed in the film).
Cowan's compelling film-making makes this a one-of-a-kind look into the dirty politics of religious groups who have an axe to grind with people they disapprove of.
What I found most true to life about the film was that it did not paint all Mormons as anti-gay or hateful, but it exposed the level of power the Morg has over it's members, and how the leaders of the church are willing to exert that power to their own ends.
This is an outrageous hypocrisy by a church that claims such strong beliefs in a person's right to free will and agency.I am tired to seeing everyone call this film "biased." Simply taking a stand on an issue does not make it biased - it does not unfairly or inaccurately represent the opposing argument or its proponents; that would make it biased.
This was Cowan's main point - that the LDS church did wrong in giving so much money, and now the IRS is validating the claims Cowan showed in the film.I highly recommend this film, and if you like this I also recommend Kirby Dick's Outrage, Sandi Simcha Dubowski's Trembling Before G-d, and Daniel G.
This film brings it all around full circle---well, BYU not being invited to join the PAC 10 as an affiliate is really a powerful example of "what goes around, comes around," since this is a church that keeps it foot planted squarely on the necks of gay people but looooves it's football.
Out of state Mormon influence and money flooded two state campaigns, Hawaii and California, and managed to sway the election to their political and religious agenda.
Regardless of your personal beliefs on the Gay Rights Issue, this film is really more about how our system of elections can be subverted by deceptively diabolical political marketing practices.
Clearly, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is acting as a political action committee, and this form of ethical extortion by a rich and powerful tax exempt organization needs to be stopped.
Frightening documentary on how the Mormons got Proposition 8 (making same-sex marriages illegal) passed.
It shows a church secretly getting out the message to all Mormons that gays and lesbians are evil and don't deserve to be married.
It covers this with interviews with people involved in the battle and shows how much Mormons hate gays and lesbians.
Here, in this film, we see the Mormon Church joining with the Catholic Church to raise millions to fight against human rights for gays and lesbians in California.This spectacular documentary shows how these churches hid behind a shell group to fight Proposition 8.The hate messages of the Mormon faithful was obvious.
They are no different today as the Catholic Church was in the 16th Century.The bottom line is that the Mormon Church will see that their $22 million spent to spread hate will be money wasted..
Reed Cowan's "8: The Mormon Proposition" looks at how the Mormon Church contributed to the infamous Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage in California.
Interspersed with focus on Prop 8, the documentary looks at life inside Mormonism, and how many gay youths end up homeless in Utah (that Chris Buttars is a REAL CREEP).A strange irony to this supposed "defense" of marriage is that gays and lesbians can love each other just as much as heterosexuals can (to be certain, Massachusetts, where same-sex marriage is legal, has the lowest divorce rate in the country).
Also, another person involved in pushing Prop 8 was Rick Warren, who more recently encouraged the law in Uganda that called for executing gays.No, it's not the best documentary of all time, but still one that I recommend, just in case people thought that homophobia was dying out.
Well, then you're either a logical human being or, more likely, simply not a member of the Mormon church.So God said that one guy making out with another guy is wrong, so it HAS to be an absolute truth, right?
Sure, some of the mythology from some religions are interesting from a purely story telling aspect, loves me some Norse mythology, but to read a book and take every word written as factual truth is just beyond ridiculous and, obviously, dangerous to the rights of human beings.Watching the documentary, and seeing the Morons, I'm sorry, Mormons go from door to door surveying people one can't help but recall the treacherous and manipulative methods of the Ku Klux Klan in the early 1900s; they would go from door to door and ask people vague questions; do you love your country?
This idea that if homosexual couples are allowed to marry will bring about the demise of the United States and all it stands for, you know...the whole every man born equal thing, is so unbelievably absurd that it's making Camus role over in his grave.I'm not a Stalinist Atheist.
I don't feel that if you eliminate religion from the world it would make it a better place (I don't have enough faith in the human condition to be so naive.), you can believe whatever you want, you can preach whatever you feel to be your seriously hilarious truth (like not allowing blacks into your religion until 1978) but once you take your beliefs and use them to manipulate the public into voting for something that is in your best interest then you're a problem through and through.
The documentary didn't tell me anything I didn't already know from reading noted science fiction author Orson Scott Card's appalling essay railing against homosexual rights; the fact that these people think that sexuality is a choice that can be reversed just goes to show how intensely they're living in their own little worlds, if this is the case, if something born into a human being is actually a choice....well, in that case you better start rounding up the blind, the deaf, the autistic and, gosh golly, why not the horizontally impaired?
Yes, the Mormon church, proponents of eugenics: fantastic.Oh well, no matter if the church was involved or not the people of California VOTED for the proposition to be put into play; yeah, and Hitler was elected in a democratic system..
The narrator claims that Latter-day Saints believe God was once a human being and that after he died he "became a god where he began marrying spirit wives and having spirit offspring" and that "we, too, can become gods on our own planets, filled with our own spirit wives and children." In reality, they believe that marriage must be performed on Earth, not after death, and that women will be resurrected as well as men (hence no "spirit wives").Also, the film mentions that gay children "can't have children biologically".
It clearly has lot of bad and no good to say about he Mormons, and is strongly pro-homosexual rights.Indeed, it puts an unfair amount of blame on the Mormons for Prop 8.
I believe in equal rights for everyone whether they be white, black, gay, straight, poor, rich, shark, or bear...but that doesn't change the fact this movie is a giant pro gay marriage, anti-LDS commercial, anyone thats read a paper in the last 3 years already knows everything this movie has to offer therefore I cant give it more than a 5/10 its heart is in the right place, but it's execution is preachy, melodramatic, and long winded....never good for a documentary in my humble opinion.
As a voter living in SoCal, I'm tired of hearing that I should be barred from making whatever legal donations to political and social causes that I wish because I'm LDS (Mormon).
As repeatedly stated without refutation, the LDS Church contributed a total of about $200k to defending marriage in Prop 8's victory -- most of which was non-cash support.
Under what pretense am I to be denied my right to participate?Please consider the following:* 10% more money was contributed to oppose Prop 8 than to support it ($44 million vs.
Now we have this film that would have us believe that the side spending *less* money bought the election.* Donations from outside of California opposing Prop 8 were double the amount supporting it.
It would be more reasonable to complain that the losing side donated too much, based upon their spending per vote.* The total adult Mormon population in California only equals about half Prop 8's margin of victory.
The Church supports equal civil rights for homosexuals, including parity of civil unions: the Salt Lake City council recently passed an anti-homosexual-discrimination measure.
The LDS Church endorsed it; apparently, there wasn't room in this film for this inconvenient truth.* Polls showed that 70% of California's black voters and ~ 52% of our Hispanic voters supported Prop 8 and their votes -- not the pro-Prop-8 90% of the 2% Mormons make of California's population -- are enough to account for Prop 8's margin of victory.* Prop 8 garnered 1 million more votes in favor than did the similar Prop 22 in 1998.Film makers are free to write and produce whatever they want.
"8: The Mormon Proposition," a fatuous movie claiming to be based upon Prop 8's campaign and election is released.
Forget the fact that this movie demonizes the Mormon church in that they portray that it terrorizes gays.
Unless of course you want to watch two guys crying half the time about losing their rights to marriage--even though they are still legally married.
Threaten the Mormon church with losing their tax-exempt status so they will abandon future plans to block the gay agenda.
Before I saw this documentary, I knew that the Mormon church had poured money into California to get Prop 8 passed.
What I did not know before I saw this documentary is the depth to which the Mormon church is involved, and the horrible way they have treated their own different children.
In this case, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is portrayed as the big, bad villain stepping on a minority group's civil rights.Never mind that it has consistently supported employment and housing rights for those with same-sex attractions even when the Utah legislature itself has not.
I challenge them and any rational person to watch this film and yet fail to realise that marriage equality is a necessity as an option for all - not a pipe dream, nor a nicety.While our Federal Law defines that we deserve discrimination, the Churches who hate us will continue to feel vindicated in active oppression, and too many youth will be rejected, or feel rejected, will self-harm or suicide, as a direct result."8: The Mormon Proposition" affirms that it's a case of you're either on the side of equality, which includes equality in marriage rights, or you're on the side of the bigots and must accept partial blame for all the harm caused by their intolerance.This film will do good wherever it is viewed in the world..
Though this movie brought up valid points towards how religion takes too much of a "front seat" approach to bringing their own clouded views to a political issue as gay marriage, most of the movies "knowledge" of the Mormon church was greatly misleading.
I being a Mormon myself do support gay marriage.
Unfortunately this movie is little about being pro gay anything and more about masking a church's belief into a 1939 Nazi propaganda film.
This whole notion that was forced throughout the film on how the Mormons are easily brainwashed into believing anything that's told to them by the church is ridiculous.
I gravitated to this film on the notion it would talk more about the issues of gay marriage and church standings, but unfortunately it turned into a religious bashing almost halfway through it.
No matter what camp you belong to, don't waste your time and money on this one.The bad part isn't that it is wildly inflammatory hate film.
Seems like the film focuses on money that the Church spent on proposition 8.
I recognize that Mr. Cowan when he created this documentary was attempting to take on the Mormon church with a personal hatred that you could almost taste while watching this film.
And then I see movies like this.If there is ever a good argument about why the silly notion of letting Churches have tax exempt status should be put by the wayside, this is it.The Church of Latter Day Saints spent 70% of the money supporting Proposition 8, yet hid behind front groups and other useful idiots to promote their agenda of hate.The delicious irony is that the courts have not only struck down 8, but if they appeal to the Supreme Court, they may well make it legal for the whole country.
Without even referencing this movie, it's a well known fact that the LDS Church at one time spoke against and violently disavowed peoples of foreign colors.
I never, ever take any documentaries at face value, so I can't say the entire movie made me anti-Mormon religion; the Church's Elders do a fine enough job on their own.
What I do respect is when a filmmaker gives both sides, and they did as good of a job here as I could tell.Not to say it was perfect, but at least I got to hear the opposing ads (and the making of's) and by opposing, if you hadn't figured out yet, I mean "YES on 8." Also, we saw the other side of the picket fence and heard them, as well as that BUTTars (God, that always reminds me of Butters from South Park) and his Buffoon speech against homosexuals.I must report: this movie does have an agenda, and it is blatantly against the Mormon Church and anyone who (IMHO: Close-minded individuals) voted for Prop 8.
These stories were told by the very people that live there, and were not told in any religious context, but just because it happens too much.The absolute bottom line is that Prop.
The passage also suffered in the wake of Obama's historic election on November 4, 2008.The news did shatter the myth of California liberalism as the Proposition denying Gay marriage rights passed 52% to 48%.
$22 million in Mormon money funded a campaign of half-truths and outright lies to have the Prop placed on the ballot to forward the Mormon ideal of marriage.
After the Prop passes (about 2/3rds through) the film takes a nasty, completely unnecessary turn to Mormon-bashing.
Adding anything beyond exposing those views in a film about Prop 8 goes to the filmmaker's agenda.Perhaps if the Doc focused on the Mormon's overall agenda.
"The Mormon Proposition" gives us nothing the news haven't already: in an effort to defeat the gay equality in California, the Mormon Church spent millions and millions of dollars and helped pass Prop.