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Summarized by Kent Larsen
For Some, Mormon Stance on Gay Issue Creates a Crisis of Conscience
Salt Lake Tribune 5Mar00 N1
By Dan Egan: Salt Lake Tribune
TRACY, CALIFORNIA -- With the vote in California on Proposition 22
approaching, the Salt Lake Tribune interviewed the LDS family of Alan
and Yvette Hansen, who say they are good Mormons, but that they are
opposed to proposition 22 and the Church's support of the measure.
Alan Hansen says that his speaking on the issue has lead to an
"informal probation" imposed by local Church leaders. But Hansen says
he continues to oppose the measure, because he says it could lead to
discrimination against homosexuals and a loss of rights for children
of gays.
"I obviously believe God doesn't want me to vote 'yes,' he wants me
to vote 'no,' " says Alan Hansen. He says he's surprised to find
himself at odds with the Church on an issue, "This is the first time
I've found myself left of center. I'm a pretty conservative guy." He
says he isn't attacking the Church, just criticizing its stand on the
issue. But his stake president, Rex Brown of the Manteca, California
Stake, doesn't see it that way, "People certainly are free to say
whatever they'd like to say in regards to Proposition 22," Brown
says. "The real issue is speaking out against the church." But Brown
refused to comment on Hansen's standing with the Church, saying that
such matters are confidential.
The Hansen's are not alone in opposing the Church's stand. The
suicide of 32-year-old returned missionary and celibate gay Stuart
Matis came after he had spoken out both locally and in the BYU Daily
Universe against the issue. But his family says his suicide had
nothing to do with proposition 22. Many others are also opposed to
the measure, but refused to give their names, fearing repercussions
like those that Hansen claims. Some LDS Church members don't even
feel comfortable discussing the proposition privately. One Southern
California member says, "The issue is so sensitive. It's just pretty
doggone touchy and people don't want to betray themselves to somebody
who might report them. In ways, it's like what I imagined it was like
living in Russia, where people acted as the eyes and ears of
government."
Meanwhile, local members report that local efforts to encourage
donations and support continue, with letters read in sacrament
meetings each Sunday soliciting support and asking members to put Yes
on Proposition 22 signs in their yards, "The ecclesiastical pressure
has been enormous," says one former bishop, who continues to hold a
high church leadership position in the Bay Area. "We've never seen
anything like this."
But the LDS Church says that proposition 22 is a moral issue, and
that it calls for political activism. And local leaders claim that
support for the Church's position has been overwhelming. "When the
prophet [Hinckley] speaks, we listen," says LDS Bishop Brent Newbold,
a Sacramento area dry cleaning store owner. "It's caused people to
make a decision -- [to state] where they stand." Newbold says nine
out of 10 in his ward are following the Church's position. But he
does admit one woman quit attending the ward because of the issue, "I
don't call her in and give her a hard time," says Newbold.
"Hopefully, she'll come back."
Unfortunately, the issue also seems to be the last straw for many
people. Former LDS Church member Kathy Worthington, a Utah gay-rights
activist, says she has heard from more than 300 people who are
seeking to have their names removed from LDS Church records. She
claims to have copies of more than 100 notarized letters sent to LDS
Church headquarters seeking removal over Proposition 22. LDS Church
spokesman Michael Purdy couldn't confirm or deny Worthington's claims.
Alan Hansen, who claims to be on "informal probation," may be among
them eventually. A returned missionary who served in Japan, he says
he has been released from a teaching position in the Church and told
he needs to apologize for a letter he wrote to the Tracy Press
criticizing both Proposition 22 and the Church's support of the
measure, "The bishop has said I need to make a public apology for my
comments," he says. "I haven't said anything that is not the truth,
and a person should not be punished for telling the truth."
His wife worries that he could be excommunicated, but Hansen says he
won't stop lobbying against the proposition, "I was asked -- if it
came down to [my position on] Proposition 22 v. my church membership,
which would I choose," he says. "I'd choose both. If I couldn't
choose, it would be out of my hands. It wouldn't be my choice."
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