Californians will be voting on Proposition 8 this coming Tuesday. Considering how religious beliefs are the engine behind the anti-gay marriage proposition, and that according to numerous reports the Mormon Church has been fighting the fight to make sure that gays and lesbians never have their unions recognized by the state, I thought it only appropriate to post a clip from the 2003 romantic dramatic comedy Latter Days, which stars Steve Sandvoss as a Mormon missionary who — sit tight — is seduced and corrupted by the vile gay lifestyle.
Well, at least that's how his Mormon family sees the young man's coming out of the closet. Writer-director C. Jay Cox, a gay man who was himself a former Mormon missionary, clearly has a very different view.
About three minutes into the clip above, the young missionary, Elder Aaron Davis, is tried by Mormon Church elders, among whom is his own father.
"Dad, your grandfather had half a dozen wives," Elder Aaron says in his defense. "The same goes for every single person in this room. I'd say we [Mormons] were the original definition of alternative lifestyle."
"Are you calling us hypocrites?" his father asks him.
"No, we've gone way beyond hypocrisy, dad," Elder Aaron replies. "Now we're just being mean."
Needless to say, Elder Aaron will have been demoted to just Plain Aaron before the trial is over. If that weren't all, Aaron is then confronted by his pious mother, who tells him how "repulsive" his homosexual feelings are.
I recall reading several reviews after I watched Latter Days on DVD last year. Curiously, some reviewers bitterly complained that the film had a biased, anti-Mormon stance, as Latter Days portrays conservative Mormons as blatant anti-gay bigots. Considering that according to some estimates about 40% of the money for the Yes on 8 campaign came from Mormons, it's obvious that those reviewers weren't very well informed about the Mormon Church's stance on homosexuality — in all fairness, a stance that is quite similar to that of many other Christian denominations and of other religions as well — and how said stance is accepted and abided by unquestioning, well-intentioned People of Faith with a good heart.
Now, with well-intentioned, good-hearted people like those — people (Mormons or otherwise) who love and care about you so much they'd spend lots of time and effort, in addition to millions of dollars to discriminate against you — who the hell needs vicious enemies? In truth, the people — no matter their religion or lack thereof — with real good intentions and real good hearts are the ones (including a number of Mormons) fighting to ensure fairness and equal rights for all.
"Californians must cast a clear eye on Proposition 8's real intentions," reads the final paragraph of the Los Angeles Times' November 2 editorial. "It seeks to change the state Constitution in a rare and terrible way, to impose a single moral belief on everyone and to deprive a targeted group of people of civil rights that are now guaranteed. This is something that no Californian, of any religious belief, should accept. Vote no to the bigotry of Proposition 8."
Also in the Latter Days cast: Wes Ramsey (as the outrageously swishy type who — absurdly — wins the Mormon guy's heart), Rebekah Johnson, Amber Benson, Jacqueline Bisset, Khary Payton, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Erik Palladino, Rob McElhenney, Dave Power, and — delivering the film's best performance — Mary Kay Place as a Mormon Mom who, before the film is over, begins to see the light of compassion, tolerance, and good ol' ethical behavior.
Clip posted by ilovejake28.
Vote NO on Proposition 8.
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This is also my favorite nonporn gay film. Great acting, great direction, great story AND IT'S SO ROMANTIC!!
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