Prop 8 Documentary '8-The Mormon Proposition' Makes It Into Sundance; Protests Being Planned By Anti-LGBT Forces

The documentary 8 - The Mormon Proposition, which chronicles the passage of the first ever voter-approved initiative that stripped existing rights way from a segment of the U.S. population, has made it into the Sundance Festival in Salt Lake City, Utah, home of the Mormon Church.

From their press release:

DAVID v. GOLIATH PRODUCTIONS announced this week that their new and highly anticipated documentary, 8: THE MORMON PROPOSITION, a film by Reed Cowan & narrated by Oscar-winning writer of MILK, Dustin Lance Black, will debut its world premiere at the world renowned SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL in January 2010.

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Months ago, in an interview with THE ADVOCATE magazine, SUNDANCE's John Cooper said: "I think we're going to see a lot more hard-hitting political documentaries. Prop. 8 was sort of a wake-up call. I can see that fire in the belly to finish this thing off, to get to the next phase in American life."

Everyone involved with 8: THE MORMON PROPOSITION is honored to be a part of what Mr. Cooper was talking about. 8:TMP is indeed the hardest-hitting political documentary to be released in years. It is to Mormons and their anti-gay allies what Fahrenheit 9-11 was to the Bush Administration.

That's why our team will have a ground presence in Park City and Salt Lake City the likes of which has never been seen before through our SLC manager Jacob Whipple. For that, we'll be enlisting the help of thousands of people ... details to come.

Director Reed Cowan, who is gay and was raised Mormon, told the Salt Lake Tribune, "We're bringing the pain of this home."

"It's really well done, and it's really thorough," festival director John Cooper said. "[Cowan] goes very deep, into the Mormon Church and its relationship to the anti-gay-marriage movement, all the way back almost before it really started, all the way back to the '90s."

Standard Net Live is reporting that the documentary's acceptance into the film festival will spark protests and boycotts from anti-LGBT forces.

Gee, what a shock.

Utah Gov. Huntsman on Equal Rights. NOM Irrelevant.

From Chino Blanco:

General impression: NOM is in serious trouble - derision hurts, but irrelevance is fatal.

Random notes:

Interesting framing from Richard Piatt of LDS-owned KSL: "Given the past power of the ultra-right on this issue ..."

Huntsman: "If it equates to equal rights for all of our citizens, it's a conversation we need to have."

Lisa Riley Roche (Deseret News): "Do you support that [NOM] campaign that seems to be suggesting there's an increasing threat to the American way of life by people seeking equal rights?"

Huntsman: "I haven't given that [campaign] a second's thought."

Ouch.

Irrelevance.

Read the rest at Chino Blanco.

Utah LGBT Community Counters Mormon Conference with Good Will

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will be hosting a general conference in Utah, but instead of throwing a protest, the local LGBT community, through the All for One Initiative, plans to lead by example with the General Service Weekend.

"General Service Weekend is not to detract from the LDS general conference; it is to reaffirm Christian acts of kindness in the community," organizer Jacob Whipple told the Desert News.

Occurring on April 4 and 5, the community plans on delivering much needed furniture to refugee families, cleaning parks and putting together medical packets for humanitarian causes. All members of the public are encouraged to attend.

Go to the Facebook event page if you want to attend and stay in the loop. If you want to help, All For One Initiative is in need of trucks and gardening tools. Contact organizer Jacob Whipple at AllForOneInitiative@yahoo.com.