Mike Signorile and I were IMing and talking about the disastrous PR the LDS church is experiencing right now, in the wake of Prop 8 passing. It made me think of a few questions about the whole shebang.

* Since Bill Marriott is freaking out about the fact that the homos don’t want to stay in or do business with his hotel chain, why doesn’t he clear the air and answer these questions (via Mike):

– Does he oppose Prop 8?

– Does Marriott as company oppose Prop 8?

– Does he give 10% of his income to the church?

* Where is Mitt Romney on this issue?

– Has he been interviewed about Prop 8?

– Has he donated to it?

– Did he tithe?

– How does he feel about the Marriott situation, since he served on its board?

* Has the Mormon church responded to Equality Utah’s call for it to endorse civil unions legislation?

The LDS Church has articulated it is not “anti-gay” but rather pro-marriage and it “does not object to rights for same-sex couples regarding hospitalization and medical care, fair housing and employment rights, or probate rights.” On November 5th, Elder L. Whitney Clayton stated the LDS Church does not oppose “civil unions or domestic partnerships.”

In response to these statements, Equality Utah is drafting legislation for the 2009 General Session of the Utah Legislature to address each of the issues mentioned by the LDS Church. During this press conference Equality Utah will be asking the LDS Church to demonstrate its conviction on these statements as well as its willingness to secure such rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Utahns.

* Where’s the Mormon church when it comes to defending loyal members of its flock who did its bidding? Look at El Coyote’s Marjorie Chrisoffersen. The church has issued zero statements in support of her or others who now face boycotts due to “following orders” from it. Gee, do you think the news about the 1997 memo and the complaint filed against the church means it’s going to toss them under the bus?

* Where on earth was HRC during the initial protests (or most of the advocacy orgs, for that matter)? Silence, you didn’t see anything about them. I suppose, though, that many of you didn’t care one way or another if the org had weighed in, but the silence was telling. The late-to-the-party letter from Joe S. didn’t add anything to the conversations that were already occurring in the blogosphere. This tentative nature gives more credence to the notion that our advocacy organizations are not equipped to deal with grassroots activism. Or, more likely, that the powers-that-be don’t want to rock boats, such as addressing the involvement of the LDS church in this mess for fear of appearing anti-religion, which is ludicrous given what has come out about the activities of the church.

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FYI, here’s the link to Andy Towle’s latest Prop 8 roundup.

Mike was interviewed by ABC about the NY march.

At noon ET today I will be on The State of Things on WUNC to discuss the Join the Impact marches and the Equality NC conference.