Is Sharon Slater asking Mormons to use LDS ward lists to promote her anti-LGBT agenda?

Chino Blanco,

Look what landed in my inbox today: Urgent Alert: Help Stop Maricopa Community College Misguided Transgender Policy

If you belong to a church, community or political group that has an email list you can also help by obtaining permission to have this alert sent to these lists.[1]

This past May, Kerry Eleveld brought us all up-to-speed on Sharon’s shenanigans at the UN. Now, the fight has apparently moved into Sharon’s backyard, as the MCCC community college system (the nation’s largest) considers adding gender identity and gender expression to its nondiscrimination policy.

Sharon Slater - FWII first became aware of Sharon Slater and her Family Watch International during the Question One contest in Maine. An entity calling itself “Family Watch Maine” made an appearance on a website titled “Marriage Facts Maine Coalition” and since the name sounded strangely familiar, I asked the folks at Sharon’s FWI office if they were involved. Yes, they were, according to Lynn Allred, their Communications Director. Sadly, all communication ended when I asked Lynn if she could direct me to anyone who was, you know, actually residing in Maine while representing their Gilbert, AZ-based organization.

We’ve been here before with the Illinois Civil Unions bill. If Sharon pursues this and manages to enlist local Mormons in Arizona to broadcast her appeal to ward email lists, I’d like to offer her my assurance that we’ll also see a repeat of this headline in the days ahead: Update On That Mormon Email: LDS Backs Away

And the opening graf will read something like this:

The leader of a right-wing organization, who made a name for herself by pushing abstinence-only based programs in Africa and has ties to the virulently antigay Ugandan pastor, Martin Ssempa, is stepping up efforts to block nondiscrimination policies on Arizona’s community college campuses.

Does the country really need reminding that most of these actors are Arizona Mormons and that Sharon Slater is one of several reasons why?

[1] This “Urgent Alert” arrived by way of an ber-Mormon Arizona source that justifies my reading of the generic “church, community or political group” language as a wink-and-nod reference to LDS ward email directories.

x-posted at Daily Kos

Update: The LDS gal who sent me Sharon’s alert has now responded to the feedback she’s gotten from Mormons wondering why she’s so opposed to this expansion of MCCC’s nondiscrimination policy (especially considering the official LDS support for nondiscrimination ordinances in Utah).

Also, as noted in my comment below, here’s where to go if you’d like info on how to contact the MCCC board and/or attend the meeting: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gender-Inclusion-in-Maricopa-Community-Colleges-Non-Discrimination-Policy/182455455150794

Final update: V for victory: The Maricopa County Community College Governing Board has voted to include Gender Identity in the nondiscrimination policy.

And I'm a Mormon Arizona Family Watch International LGBT Politics Sharon Slater

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Comments (7)

  2. I liked this takeaway from a commenter in the reddit/transgender forum:

    You know, as an aside, I’ve met a lot of Mormons over the years, many of whom I like and deeply respect. When Katrina hit, the LDS Church did an incredible job providing relief which is something we all owe them a heartfelt thank you for. At the same time, all of that good will that was earned is effectively lost when this kind of closed-minded hatred is publicized without the church and the community officially distancing itself from radical actions like this.

  5. I am working on the passage of this proposal in the Maricopa County Community College District, and Slater is flooding the district Governing Board with negative emails. One board member has reported getting over 300 emails in the past week. I would ask anyone reading this to write the Governing Board members asking for their support. The Governing Board members are:

    Mr. Randolph S. Elias Lumm, President
    e-mail: randolph.lumm@domail.maricopa.edu
    480-731-8355

    Mr. Doyle Burke, Secretary
    e-mail: doyle.burke@domail.maricopa.edu
    480-731-8358

    Dr. Donald R. Campbell
    e-mail: don.campbell@domail.maricopa.edu
    480-731-8356

    Debra Pearson
    e-mail: debra.pearson@domail.maricopa.edu
    480-731-8362

    Mr. Dana G. Saar
    e-mail: dana.saar@domail.maricopa.edu
    480-731-8364

  7. Congrats to all the folks who worked on getting this language added to MCCCD’s nondiscrimination policy, you won.

    Apparently, Debra Pearson voted against. AZ sure has some interesting politicos, but just as apparently, there are plenty of fair-minded folks working there as well.

    Update: Good grief, Sharon sure went for the full-on freak-out in her final “action alert“:

    Help Stop Gender Anarchy on Our College Campuses! Action Alert! Summary: Next Tuesday, September 27th, the board that oversees the Maricopa County Community Colleges District (listed below) will vote on a gender anarchy policy proposed by sexual rights activists.

    one last *eyeroll* in Sharon’s direction

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