Over 200 people gathered on Sunday for a second kiss-in supporting gay couple cited and detained on LDS property last June. Some protestors clashed with members of the anti-gay/pro-religion group America Forever, who were on hand pushing their pro-religion, anti-gay message. From the Salt Lake Tribune:

After 20 minutes of shouting between members of America Forever and protesters at Sunday’s event, several gay couples moved to the plaza for kissing and hand-holding, along with straight couples such as Peter Saunders, a Salt Lake City software designer, and his wife of 37 years, Gerda.

“There’s no need for controversy and hatred, especially in a beautiful environment like this,” said Saunders, raising his right arm toward the temple.

LDS Church members in support of the protest, and troubled by their church’s support last fall for California’s Proposition 8, also made a showing. One handed out fliers promoting an online petition for reconciliation between the church and the gay and lesbian community. Another, 25-year-old Brigham Young University graduate Kate Savage, attended with her boyfriend, Tristan Call.

“It’s as if the doctrine of the importance of families we’re taught is used to destroy other people’s families, and we don’t understand that,” Savage said.

Counter-protesters led by America Forever’s Sandra Rodrigues held their ground, even if unsuccessful in preventing protesters from entering church property. “This is a staged scenario,” Rodrigues said. “These people just want to embarrass the church.”

Clips from the protest below.

The Salt Lake City PD finally issued their report yesterday on a gay couple that was handcuffed and detained last month for refusing to leave after being harassed by LDS security guards for briefly kissing on church property. The full report, available here, appears to contradict the story told by LDS security guards at the scene.

Spokesmen for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Salt Lake City police department have thus far declined to specify the behavior that prompted guards to ask Matt Aune, 28, and his partner, Derek Jones, 25, to leave the plaza at 50 E. North Temple. Aune said that the guards “slammed him to the ground” while detaining him; a guard disputed that claim, according to the police report.

Aune and Jones said they have seen heterosexual couples holding hands and kissing without incident on the plaza. Church spokeswoman Kim Farah has said the Aune and Jones were not singled out for being gay and that they were “politely asked to stop engaging in inappropriate behavior.”

However, the police report does not indicate the men were given the option to stay if they stopped kissing or hugging. It states only that the guard told the men that “they need to leave [church] property for the behavior and that [it] is unwanted,” and that the men were detained when Jones said he would not leave.

Last weekend, nearly one hundred  protestors staged a “kiss-in” on church property in support of the couple. While LDS security was present, no arrests were made. Another kiss-in is scheduled for noon this Sunday.

As a civil unions bill winds its way through the Hawaiian legislature (currently in hearings in the Senate judiciary committee), a fierce battle rages outside the state capitol between equality advocates and those against any form of same-sex union.

Lesbian blogger Keori, who has been liveblogging for Pam’s House Blend, relates her post-hearing experience …

(please note I have added a link below for reference)

You know, it gets really tiresome to be called diseased and a pedophile and a rapist and an abomination and a threat to America three dozen times in one day. It infuriates me to hear that yes, heterosexuals have special rights (at least they admitted it finally!) and that is how it should be because The Big Book of Bronze Age Fairy Tales says so. To hear little old ladies screaming that they would rather see their grandchildren commit suicide than “be part of that disgusting, filthy, evil lifestyle”, isn’t even remotely amusing anymore.

Even better is to, due to the concussion headache beginning to blind me, forget to take off my little green and gold “equality” sticker on the way out of the building, and be followed to the bus stop by a bunch of red shirts with signs. Three 6’5″, 200 pound Islander guys with signs saying “Gay marriage is wrong” and “John 3:16” followed the lone little white girl with her laptop case across the street, yelling at me, “Repent!”, calling me a bitch and a whore, telling me, “You just need a real man to fuck you straight.” Nothing I haven’t heard before.

Then one of them said, “We know who you are now, and what you drive. We saw you last Thursday. You better watch yourself, fucking haole bitch.” Not one of the 20 people standing around the bus stop said anything to them. I got on the first bus that came along, got off three stops down the street, and caught my right bus a few minutes later. I rode home all alone, with my headphones on, praying no one bothered me. I don’t want to ever hear another fake apology from these people saying that they don’t actually hate queers, they’re just “protecting traditional marriage”. It’s just the latest lie in their christian hate grab bag.

The last time we were in Hawaii was back in 2001. While there we visited the Polynesian Cultural Center, which we later learned was owned and operated by the Mormon church. Considering recent events here in California,  it is a mistake we will not repeat. And if this civil unions bill fails to pass, we won’t make the mistake of vacationing again in Hawaii either.

Hate truly knows no borders.

Mormon church officials have now disclosed $190,000 in contributions to the Yes on Prop 8 campaign… this is up from $30K reported earlier in the week.

The church had previously denied any financial support for the campaign beyond a $2000 expense for a visiting Elder of the church.

The report, filed with the secretary of state’s office, listed a variety of California travel expenses for high-ranking members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and included $20,575 for use of facilities and equipment at the church’s Salt Lake City headquarters and a $96,849 charge for “compensated staff time” for church employees who worked on matters pertaining to Prop. 8.

“This is exactly what we were talking about when we filed the suit,” said Fred Karger of Californians Against Hate, which opposed the same-sex marriage ban. “They spent money on the campaign and were supposed to report it.”

Church officials have yet to comment.

More on the recent disclosure.