Comedienne Roseanne Barr took to her blog to blast the Mormon church for its anti-gay rhetoric, speculating that the pressure drove Marie Osmond’s son Michael Blosil to commit suicide in Los Angeles last week.

Barr doesn’t attack Osmond (much) directly, instead blaming the institutionalized homophobia in the Mormon church for driving Michael to suicide:

because he had been told how wrong and how sick he was every day of his life by his church and the people in it. Calling that “depression” is a lie!

Gerald Lund one of the ex church apostles has three gay kids himself.

Yet, even though the people they say they love the most in all of their public displays and speeches (THEIR KIDS AND FAMILY!!) are gay,– their own children,for crying out loud- these people cannot find the christian decency and compassion within themselves to stop their hypocritical gay bashing!!

Barr goes on to take a minor swipe at Osmond, urging her to advocate for kids like Michael in the same way she advocates for

Marie please don’t talk about how your faith in your church has helped you get through this one! Please get some integrity and tell that church of yours that you will leave it and stop giving it ten percent of your money if they don’t stop trying to destroy your kids’ and all gay people’s civil rights and dreams and hopes!!

G-d is trying to use you for something good and this is your opportunity! Your church is wrong and on the wrong wrong wrong side of things! Get as vocal about that as you are about your diet. G-d bless you too, Marie.

Osmond has not commented on the issue.

[via]

Roseanne Barr says Marie Osmond’s son killed himself because of anti-gay Mormons is a post from: The Inquisitr

Elizabeth Smart, the Utah girl snatched from her bed and later found alive in 2002, has been allowed to give testimony today against kidnapper Brian David Mitchell in his competency hearings.

Smart, then 14, was held captive by Mitchell and his partner Wanda Barzee for nine months in 2002. Smart was located in Sandy, Utah, only 18 miles from her home. Mitchell was initially found incompetent when charged with the kidnapping, but now faces charges of kidnapping and unlawful transportation of a minor.

Smart, who is now 21 and a senior at Brigham Young University, testified that during the ordeal, she was raped frequently, sometimes 3-4 times a day. Smart said that the assaults were frequent and that she was rarely able to defy her attacker, causing friction with Barzee:

“Wanda would get very upset with him,” said Smart. “She’d say ‘All you do is lust after her.’”

Smart said “There wasn’t an actual 24-hour period he wasn’t able to rape me.”

There was at least one time when Smart was able to rebuff Mitchell. During a hike to get water from a stream, Smart said that Mitchell tried to convince her to have sex with him despite it being Wanda’s turn.

“He said how much he needed me to have sex with him right then and there, and that Wanda would never know, she would understand and she would be OK, and it would be OK,” said Smart, who testified that she had refused him sex.

[Source: ABC]

Federal judge allows Elizabeth Smart testimony against kidnapper Brian David Mitchell is a post from: The Inquisitr

A school in Utah has sent a student home after alleging the student was promoting cross dressing by wearing a kilt.

14 year old Gavin McFarland, who has Scottish heritage (if the Mc wasn’t a give away already) was wearing his family tartan to school as part of an art project. Rocky Mountain Junior High Principal Craig Jessop though had other ideas: that kilt was clearly a sin as it promoted the homosexual act of cross-dressing.

The school district however was far more tolerant of Scottish tradition, and has asked Jessop to apologize to McFarland over the incident, as opposed to apologizing for his clear homophobia and victimization of school children.

Utah school says wearing a Kilt promotes cross-dressing is a post from: The Inquisitr

Mormon church leaders are unhappy with HBO over plans to show a “Mormon endowment ceremony” in the drama Big Love Sunday.

Mormon church leaders said that the episode showed a clear indication of HBO’s insensitivity toward the church’s sacred practices. Members who are privy to such rituals take vows that the details of their activities outside the temple shall not be shared.

“Certainly church members are offended when their most sacred practices are misrepresented or presented without context or understanding,” a church statement said.

HBO said it did not intend to be disrespectful of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and apologized.

“Obviously, it was not our intention to do anything disrespectful to the church, but to those who may be offended, we offer our sincere apology,” a statement from HBO said, however the network would not be pulling the episode.

Mormon endowment ceremonies are held in Mormon temples for baptisms of the living and the dead. Mormon Apostle Bruce McConkie explained the endowment ceremony as “certain special, spiritual blessings given worthy and faithful saints in the temples…because in and through them the recipients are endowed with power from on high” (Mormon Doctrine, pg. 226-227).

Mormons unhappy with HBO for depicting a Mormon Endowment Ceremony is a post from: The Inquisitr

A number of Mormons in the good state of Utah are collecting signatures to have pole dancing  fitness included in the 2012 Olympics as an official “sport”.  They want to call it “vertical dancing”.  

Don’t believe me check out the video, it’s gold.

So pole “fitness” isn’t really pole “dancing” – and those hooker shoes well they are just to give her calf muscles a work out.  We won’t judge, that’s between you and God, honey.

If you want to sign the petition to have pole dancing included in the Olympics you can check out the petition here.  You know you want to, it will be like gynamstics but post puberty.  

We at the Inquisitr say support these proud LDS women, and their pole dancing ways, but only if they promise that their official uniform will include nipple tassels in their national colors.

Via Sporty Celebrity Blog

Mormon pole dancers petition for Olympic recognition is a post from: The Inquisitr

Bloggers are calling for a complete boycott of the state of Utah over the Mormon Church’s support for Proposition 8.

According to some reports prior to the election, the Mormon Church directly, or via its members contributed to 40% of the yes campaign’s budget, and the church encouraged members to flood into California to spread the Yes case.

Utah is the headquarters for the Mormon Church and around two thirds of the state belong to the church. Utah’s tourism industry delivers $6 billion to the local economy, through ski fields, “red rock country” and the Sundance Film Festival.

The Church is naturally playing the hate card, saying that it is “disturbing” that the church is being singled out for exercising its right to speak up in a free election, and that “it is wrong to target the Church and its sacred places of worship for being part of the democratic process.” A Church spokesman went on to say that “no one on any side of the question should be vilified, intimidated, harassed or subject to erroneous information.”

See more details at Mormon’s stole our rights.

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Utah boycott being organized by Proposition 8 opponents is a post from: The Inquisitr