Flashback: Mormon church donates $500,000 of $600,000 raised to fight gay marriage in Alaska

[Bluebear]

From americablog, just one illustration of how out-of-state money has been used historically to influence state ballot questions:

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Of the $600,000 anti-gay bigots had in hand to try to ban gay marriage in Alaska in October 1998, $500,000 came from one big lump sum donation from the Mormon Church. That's 83% of the entire hateful campaign financed by the Mormon Church. In California, one study showed that 77% of the donations to anti-gay advocates came from Mormons (it was after those donations flew in that the pro-gay side suddenly started to lose).


ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- The Salt Lake City-based Mormon church has donated $500,000 to the campaign for an amendment to the Alaska constitution that would ban same-sex marriages, a group seeking passage of the measure said Thursday.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints made the pledge last week and the money arrived Wednesday, said Kristina Johannes, a spokeswoman for the Alaska Family Coalition, a group campaigning in favor of the constitutional amendment.

Alaskans will be asked in the November general election to consider an amendment to the state constitution that would limit state-recognized marriages to unions between single men and single women.

The campaign to pass the constitutional amendment has solicited and received support from many organizations outside Alaska, Johannes said. "What we're discovering is there is a lot of interest in this issue nationally," she said.

So far, including the donation from the Mormon church, the Alaska Family Coalition has raised about $600,000, more than half of the $1 million targeted when the group formed earlier this year, Johannes said.

http://www.lds-mormon.com/gaylds.shtml
http://www.americablog.com/

[TexasObserver]

1. How can such an organized hate group have tax exempt status?

[Duncan Grant]

2. Just think if all their money spent on influencing legislation were used for good.

All they want to buy with this money is "votes" --- and the political capital/Capitol. They care nothing for Blacks, Latinos or any other community than their own.

They're the Criss Angel's and David Blaine's of religon. They put on a "nice" show, not a bit of it real.

[kevinbgoode]

3. More evidence of attempted religious tyranny

A church actively funding campaigns to usurp the constitutional rights of another group of Americans.

Their goal? Legislating from the pulpit.

[Bluebear]

4. indeed