BY BOB MIMS, THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
The LDS Church has weighed into the battle over an Alaskan initiative seeking to ban same-sex marriages in a big way, pouring $500,000 into a campaign to pass the state constitutional amendment.
The donation, confirmed Sunday by Mormon church spokesman Michael Otterson, dwarfed the $100,000 total raised for the Ballot Measure 2 initiative campaign by the Alaska Family Coalition (AFC).
"We're pretty bowled over," AFC spokeswoman Kristina Johannes told the Anchorage Daily News.
So was Allison Mendel, an attorney who co-chairs the opposition "No on No. 2" campaign.
"It's outrageous that a group based in Utah would flood our state with money to try to purchase a change in our constitution," she said.
"We're not supposed to have religious institutions dictating our civil law."
With 10 million members worldwide, more than half of them outside of the United States, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has become much more than merely a Utah faith, Mormon officials countered on Sunday.
"We have 24,000 members of the church based in Alaska. It's a matter that members of the church in Alaska and people who share their views about the importance of traditional marriage as an institution feel strongly about," church spokesman Michael Otterson said.
The LDS Church is not alone in declaring its support of the Alaskan measure. A letter issued by the state's Catholic bishop last month also backed the measure.
"The church has always reserved the right to speak out on moral issues," Otterson said. "You don't become disenfranchised in our democratic process just because you happen to represent a religious viewpoint."
He said the church's contribution would go toward broadcast and print advertising to urge Alaskans on Nov. 3 to support a ban on same-sex unions.
The Alaska initiative was sparked by a judge's refusal last February to dismiss a lawsuit by two Anchorage men challenging the state's standing law against same-sex marriages.
A 1993 Hawaii Supreme Court decision opening the door to same-sex unions also attracted open LDS Church opposition.
Twenty-six states, including Utah, have laws banning same-sex marriages.
tah's law, passed by the Legislature in 1995, also states it is not obligated to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states.
itionally, a federal bill, which became law in 1996, withheld tax, pension, health and other benefits from gay spouses.
t Lake Tribune, October 5, 1998 Hinckley Condemns Plural Marriage, Speaks on Homosexuality and Abortion (excerpt) BY BOB MIMS AND PEGGY FLETCHER STACK, SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
Church President Gordon B. Hinckley on Sunday reminded the Mormon faithful where they should stand on issues ranging from polygamy -- which he unyieldingly condemned -- to gay rights and abortion.