Point of clarification, Steve Young has NOT opposed Proposition 8. His wife donated the money and she has voiced opposition. The day after the "news" of the NoOn8 yard sign in his front yard was reported, Steve Young issued a public statement to the effect that he was not involved, his wife was, and that he loved his church. His wife also added to that statement insisting that this was her crusade, not his as he has a long record of not getting involved politically (or a long record of being a pussy IMHO) Although Steve Young's statement was not a ringing endorsement of either side, I do not think he should get credit for opposing Prop 8 as it was clearly not his intention to do so. Might he support marriage rights for gays/lesbians? Maybe. But he has gone out of his way NOT to say so.

As far as I'm concerned, there is no middle ground on this one and we shouldn't be so desperate for approval that we extend "honorary supporter" status to anyone who doesn't outright oppose us (or offer supporter-by-association status). To use fundie terminology, "You're either for us, or you're against us." I don't care how many of your family members go on record supporting us, if you don't (Steve Young), you don't get a pass from me.

Thank you both Anastasia and Pam for your comments. I can't speak for you Anastasia, but I still respect Steve Young for supporting his wife's right to speak out on something she feels strongly about. I checked and you are right about Steve Young's neutrality on this issues http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=4686916. Steve made this statement: "Barb and I love each other very much. It is that love of each other and the Savior that helps us come to the decisions we do. For Barb, who has a remarkable and enviable compassion for others, those political activities are far more public than mine. Those who know me, know I chose long ago not to be publicly active in the political process. I do have strong opinions. I do vote and will vote on Tuesday, but those matters are private." He also said, "Barb and I and our children love our church and our faith, which allows for a wide diversity of political discourse. In our case, our diversity does not diminish in any way our or my love, respect and sustaining of the leadership of our church, which is deep and profound."

I'll change this post to accurately reflect the Young family situation. Thank you Anastasia for pointing this out.

I also just wanted to add that I'm not a big fan of the "You're either for us, or you're against us" philosophy. That was George Bush's philosophy these past 8 years and look at the mess this country is in because of it. I'm more of a "If you're not against us, maybe sometime in the future you'll be for us". Steve Young may not, for whatever reasons, be willing to take a public stand. But I'm happy that Barbara Young is able to. Maybe at some point she'll be able to persuade her husband to make a bolder statement.

Thanks Pam for your comments. You're right... I really don't think there is disagreement in any of the points you made. In fact, I think your comments do a better job than mine of trying to describe what I'm trying to get at.

I hope there are more protests against a ban on gay marriages. But I think the protests shouldn't focus against the institution of the Mormon or the Catholic or the Evangelical church that supports Proposition 8. It should focus instead on getting progressive Mormons, Catholics and Evangelicals to speak out and try to persuade their more moderate parishioners of the injustice of Proposition 8. The more lukewarm or neutral Mormons, Catholics and Evangelicals will more likely listen to their fellow churchgoers than from protesters from the outside. For gay marriage supporters, that means finding some way to contact progressive Mormons, Catholics and Evangelicals and listening to their advice on what kind of arguments would work best to persuade moderate churchgoers to go against Proposition 8. I think social change comes from pressure both inside and outside the system.

I have no arguments with you or Anastasia. I guess I have this big pet peeve at the way the Religious Right have monopolized the religious dialogue in those 3 denominations to make it seem that they are the only true Christian voices. I know this is not true, that there are a lot of progressive Christians. After reading your quotes on Martin Luther King Jr., I see a lot of wisdom in what you are saying and decided to reread his Letter From A Birmingham Jail. Thank you for that Pam. I think the goal of protests should be to help encourage the Barbara Youngs and Geoffrey Farrows to keep speaking out and to get churchgoers like Steve Young to take a stand where they feel they are not going against their religion but instead are fulfilling Christianity's goal of loving God and our neighbor.

Thanks Pam, I feel fortunate to be here. Thank you for understanding. If the only Christian voices that people hear are conservative Christian voices, they'll assume that is the only voice that Christians have. My post is to try to get more Christians like Barbara Young to speak out.

It's nice to know you were in this area to attend the United Methodist Church in Palo Alto. Sometime I have to visit that church too.

This site is amazing and the band is awesome as well!

http://prop8isgay.com/