Gay Utah Boycott Doesn't Stick

For all the talk of boycotts that circulated just after California voters approved Proposition 8 last month, the state of Utah seems to be doing as well as can be expected in a time of economic uncertainty.

Even as the GLBT community continues to come under attack by right-wing and religious publications and pundits, who compare gays to terrorists for having called for boycotts of businesses supporting Prop. 8, which rescinded the right of gay and lesbian families to marry in California, gays and lesbians themselves seem not to be terribly interested in pursuing a proposed boycott against the state of Utah.

Utah was initially targeted because it is the seat of the Mormon church, the leadership of which instructed the faithful to lend their support to the effort to curtail marriage rights for gays.

In response, a tidal wave of money flowed into California, with Mormons from across the country credited for providing a reported $20 million in the cause of revoking marriage equality.

The battle over Proposition 8 was the most expensive ever fought over a ballot initiative; some worry that it may have set a trend that will see similarly bruising and expensive battles erupt around the country, and not just over the question of gay rights.

With Proposition 8 having set the precedent of minority rights being revoked--not simply blocked--minorities of all sorts are uneasy that future initiatives might put their own rights in the cross-hairs.

But a countervailing culture of protest has also arisen in the wake of Proposition 8, with peaceful demonstrations having taken place in 300 cities to protest the targeting and rescinding of minority rights.

A very few instances of aggressive conflict between pro- and anti-gay demonstrators have also resulted; though such incidents are by far in the minority, they have been played up by right-wing publications and pundits determined to make the case that gays and lesbians are "violent" and anti-Christian.

Right-wing publications were also quick to declare that a fire that damaged the church attended by Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin on Dec. 12 must have been the work of gay arsonists.

The swift loss of steam on the boycott front, however, casts such extravagant claims into doubt.

A Dec. 13 article in the Salt Lake Tribune noted that immediately after Proposition 8 was approved by a bare majority of voters, the Utah Office of Tourism received around 40 calls per day in which the callers said that due to the highly active role taken by the Mormon church in the anti-gay campaign, they were canceling plans to travel to the state.

However, said the managing director of the Office, Leigh von der Esch, the story is now quite different.

Said von der Esch, "I have not heard of any major cancellations,"

Ski Utah's president, Nathan Rafferty, was quoted as saying, "Any time people say they want to change their plans and ski somewhere else, that's a concern.

"But luckily, it's been unfounded," continued Rafferty.

"It was a flame that burned pretty brightly. We wondered where it would go, but we had a feeling this was how it would turn out."

It seems that most gays didn't ever have a serious intention to boycott; the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center's Jim Key told the Tribune that the "idea never caught a lot of traction," adding that a boycott was "not something we endorsed or would have endorsed."

Added Key, "It's likely that gays and lesbians will think twice about going to Utah. The state is closely associated with the [Mormon] church and the church said, 'You're not welcome.' That likely will have some outcome.

"But it would be wrong to punish an entire state for the actions of the church. The state also includes gay and lesbian people and business owners."

One such businessman is Mike Picardi, owner of a furniture making concern whom the article quoted as saying, "There are LDS people who I do a lot of work for. If they see the gay community lashing out at their church, who would they take it out on? Me? They could."

Added Picardi, "It's really a negative Catch 22, and little guys like me who are trying to make a business go--I employ six people--we get chewed up and spit out.

"Big players like the LDS Church aren't going to feel it financially."

EDGE's own Editor-in-Chief, Steve Weinstein, told the paper, "It was shocking that Proposition 8 passed, and there is still a lot of anger toward the Mormon Church, and I can understand that.

"But you have to pinpoint exactly what is the Mormon Church and what are the people of Utah, and they are two different things."

And anyway, Weinstein said, "How do you boycott an entire state?"

The Tribune followed with another article published Dec. 15, that looked at how composer Stephen Schwartz, the creator of musical plays like Wicked and Godspell, responded.

Mormon theater people worried that Schwartz would refuse to allow troupes in their state to use his work, but Schwartz refused to punish the theatrical fold for the anti-gay actions of the church leaders.

The article cited an earlier TV news report on GLBT equality advocate Jon Powell, who is a former Mormon, having suggested that Mormons be refused permission to use musical works in retaliation for Prop. 8.

The article said that Powell mentioned the Brigham Young University Young ambassadors, which is a school music troupe.

However, Schwartz sent an email on Dec. 15 to reassure theatrical Mormons that, "I have not withdrawn the use of my songs by the BYU Young Ambassadors and do not intend to do so."

Still, Schwartz called on "fair-minded Mormons to reconsider their position and come to support the right of homosexuals to marry the person they love," adding, "I continue to believe that the most important tenet of any religion is, 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.'"

Contrary to reports suggesting otherwise, America remains safe for musical theater... and for shopping: a proposed "Day Without A Gay," when gays and lesbians would stay home or volunteer their services rather than shop or go to work, fizzled last week. The purported angry gay mobs evidently have had everyday life to keep them busy.