George Bush and Saudi prince engage in what Mormons officials deem to be “unwanted” and “unacceptable” behavior
It’s one of the great paradoxes. Despite the fact that the punishment for being gay is death in fundamentalist states like Iran and Saudi Arabia, it is acceptable for men in those countries to kiss and hug each other and even to hold hands in public.
This practice is even legal in Texas. No one alerted police in Crawford a few years ago when macho right-wing icon George W. Bush was photographed hugging, kissing and holding hands with a Saudi Arabian prince.
Earlier this month, however, in the capitol of the American theocratic state of Utah, two men were detained and handcuffed by Mormon Church security guards and then arrested by Salt Lake City police, for doing exactly what Bush and Prince Abdullah did:
Security guards for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons) cuffed and detained Matt Aune, 28, and his partner Derek Jones, 25, on [July] 9, a Thursday, as they walked across the Main Street Plaza, an easement that connects the Mormon Temple to other church sites that belong to the church. Police cited the pair for trespassing.
Mormon Church officials have insisted the pair were detained for trespassing after the men refused to leave, and both the church and the police have refused to specify the behavior that prompted the incident. The report, released 5 days after the incident, cites kissing and hugging as the “unwanted behavior,” as Aune and Jones had claimed.
“[Security guard Walter] Nickel said that he observed Matt and Derek kissing and hugging on their property,” the report says.
The report conflicts with the church’s statement that the pair were not discriminated against because they are gay.
In interviews with reporters after the incident, church officials bore false witness about the incident and the motives of the guard:
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.”
Apparently, the church is using the Bible to referee who can hug and smooch on its property. If so, would the church handcuff and detain opposite-sex couples engaged in adulterous affairs? Adultery is forbidden in the Ten Commandments. Or how about an unmarried, cohabitating opposite-sex couple? Fornication is also outlawed in the Bible.
And not all same-sex affection is carnally oriented. Would the church object to fathers and sons or mothers and daughters hugging and kissing on the plaza? Or does the church’s promotion of family values end where familial affection is shown?
And there are the polygamists. Would the church object if an FLDS husband mustered his quorum on Temple Square and kissed and hugged his five wives one by one? This is a judgment call because, while the mainline Mormon church has banned polygamy, it’s is an acceptable practice in the Old Testament. Abraham, the father of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, had more than one wife, as did kings like David and Solomon.
Finally, in pursuit of enforcing these rules, will the church empower its security apparatchiks to iinterrupt kissing couples and demand proof that their relationships are church sanctioned? Or maybe it would be easier just to outlaw all public displays of affection and expel any and all offenders — you know, like in high school.
Last Sunday, about 100 protesters gathered for a “Kiss-in” at Temple Square in support of Aune and Jones. Another kiss-in is scheduled for next Sunday, July 19, at 12:15, at the Temple plaza.
H/t: Buck
