Mormon Church Violates IRS 501(c)(3) Tax-Exempt Status.

The full story, along with simple instructions for filing a complaint with the IRS to revoke the tax-exempt status of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, can be found here.

Section 501(c)(3) of US Code Title 26, which governs tax-exempt organizations, reads (emphasis added):

(3) Corporations, and any community chest, fund, or foundation, organized and operated exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, testing for public safety, literary, or educational purposes, or to foster national or international amateur sports competition (but only if no part of its activities involve the provision of athletic facilities or equipment), or for the prevention of cruelty to children or animals, no part of the net earnings of which inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual, no substantial part of the activities of which is carrying on propaganda, or otherwise attempting, to influence legislation (except as otherwise provided in subsection (h)), and which does not participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distributing of statements), any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office.

(The “otherwise provided” clause does not apply, as the LDS Church, being a church, is a disqualified entity as described in subsection (h).)

The LDS church, through inciting its members to donate time and means to support Proposition 8 (resulting in millions of dollars of cash contributions from its members and countless volunteer hours), and in-kind campaign contributions to a group that supports Proposition 8, has now made a substantial part of its activities attempting to influence legislation.

Let's make sure the IRS hears loudly and clearly from as many of us as possible.

Andrew Sullivan on Prop 8

In the midst of gut-wrenching sadness over the further stripping of equal rights from gay Americans, The Atlantic's Andrew Sullivan takes the long view. His column is reproduced here in its entirety.

Heart-breaking news this morning: a terribly close vote has stripped gay couples in California of their right to marry. The geographic balance shows that the inland parts of California voted for the Proposition and the coast and urban areas voted against it.

Yes, it is heart-breaking: it is always hard to be in a tiny minority whose rights and dignity are removed by a majority. It's a brutal rebuke to the state supreme court, and enshrinement in California's constitution that gay couples are now second-class citizens and second class human beings. Massively funded by the Mormon church, a religious majority finally managed to put gay people in the back of the bus in the biggest state of the union. The refusal of Schwarzenegger to really oppose the measure and Obama's luke-warm opposition didn't help. And cruelly, a very hefty black turnout, as feared, was one of the factors that defeated us, according to the exit poll. Today this is one of the solaces to a hard right and a Republican party that sees gay people as the least real of Americans.

But I realize I am not shattered. My own marriage exists and is real without the approval of others. One day soon, it will be accepted by a majority. And this initiative in California can and will be reversed, as California's initiatives are much more fluid than those in other states; and the younger generation is overwhelmingly - 2 to 1 - in our favor. The tide of history is behind us; but we will have to work harder to educate people about our lives and loves and humanity.

It cannot be denied that this feels like a punch in the gut. It is. I'm not going to pretend that the wound isn't deep and personal, like an attack on my own family. It was meant to be. Many Obama supporters voted against our rights, and Obama himself opposes our full civil equality. The religious folk who believe that Jesus stood for the marginalization of minorities, and who believe that my equality somehow threatens their children, will, I pray, see how misguided they have become. And make no mistake: they won this by playing on very deep fears of gay people around kids. They knew the levers to pull.

But some perspective from someone who has fought this fight as long and as personally as anyone in this country. Twenty years ago, equality of gay couples was a mere idea. Forty years ago, it was a pipe-dream.

In the long arc of inclusion, we will miss our goals along the way from time to time. Today, we have full marriage rights in two states, we have many civil marriages in California that will remain in place as examples of who gay people really are, we have civil unions in many more places, and marriage rights in other parts of the world, as beacons to America. And this is a civil rights movement. It goes forward and it is forced back. The battle to end miscegenation took centuries. These are the rhythms of progress. Sometimes losing, and being shown to lose, shifts something in the minds of those watching as a small group is punished for daring to dream of full civil equality. In this battle we have already had far more defeats than victories. But each time, we have come closer to our goal. And in the hearts and minds and souls of so many, we have changed consciousness for ever.

California has full civil equality in law for gay couples. In time, full civil marriage equality - the only real measure of equality - will follow. And it will spread, state by state, more slowly now, and perhaps more organically from legislatures, rather than courts, which would not be the worst idea. And observing this backlash against us will reveal to many the cruelty of allowing majorities to take the rights of tiny minorities away.

If we had won this, this civil rights battle would be all but over. Now, it isn't. So we get back to work, arguing, talking. speaking, debating, writing, blogging, and struggling to change more minds. The hope for equality can never be extinguished, however hard our opponents try. And in the unlikely history of America, there has never been anything false about hope.

Coates on Prop 8 Black Vote

The Atlantic's Ta-Nehisi Coates writes about the effect of the African-American vote on Prop 8.

"I've always maintained that you don't have to like black people to do the right thing. Same thing here. I'm not very interested in folks's homophobia. I'm interested in why they think they should be in the business of dictating terms of love to two consenting adults."

Prop 8 and the Black Vote

Sebastian does the math, confirming that black voters did indeed cost gays their equality in California. Again, it is beyond sad and ironic that in flocking to the polls to help lift one of their own to heights that were unthinkable just a few years ago, African-Americans have displayed their utter lack of compassion for gays.

One would think that the brutal discrimination that blacks have faced would give them an innate understanding of the fight for equality. Instead, they have turned away from what should be a natural alliance with the gay rights movement, and aligned themselves instead with an opposing group that shares a different side of their identity: the extremely religious.

In less progressive states than California, religious fanatics need no help from blacks to advance their agenda. Anti-gay initiatives racked up a perfect 4-out-of-4 record yesterday. In addition to Prop 8, Arkansans made it illegal for gays to adopt, and both Arizona and Florida also outlawed same-sex marriage. The only anti-marriage initiative requiring more than a simple 50% majority was Florida, which required a 60% "yes" vote. Sadly, it was the only one that reached that threshold, getting 62% — just enough to pass.

So welcome to the dawning of the Obama era, where he claims that we are all equal... except that he parroted the "marriage is only between a man and a woman" line to win. His cowardice in failing to truly support real equality for every American has brought him his success partly on the backs of the sole remaining group for which legal discrimination is the law: gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgendered Americans.

A Bittersweet Irony

Unable to sleep, I finally gave up trying and fired up the computer to find that our worst fears have been realized: With 95% of the vote tallied, it is clear that California Proposition 8 will be approved, stripping us and our loved ones of the right to marry. The unthinkable is happening — a bare 52% majority of our fellow citizens have decided to impose their will on a long-persecuted minority.

The tyranny of the majority is alive and well in America.

The thrill of watching Barack Obama win the presidency was short-lived, as a painful irony became more evident. While much talk centered on whether Obama's skin color would affect the presidential race, it ended up affecting gays and lesbians even more.

Both pre-election polling and exit polls confirm that the huge turnout of African-American voters for Obama put Prop 8 over the top. Exit polls showed Whites and Asians opposing Prop 8 by 53% to 47%, with Latinos almost evenly split. Blacks however, were the only ethnic group supporting Prop 8... by a staggering 70% to 30% margin.

Without the record-breaking black turnout for the first black presidential candidate, the overwhelming and well-documented intolerance of gays by blacks would almost certainly not have enabled Prop 8 to pass.

The biggest irony is that blacks are arguably the most persecuted group in American history. How could they possibly fail to empathize with another oppressed minority? The answer is simple, and clearly seen in another exit poll result: a whopping 84% of voters who regularly attend church voted "yes." This of course includes another historically persecuted minority — Mormons, who spearheaded Prop 8.

Another truly sad irony is the great success of another proposition on the California ballot. Over 63% of voters supported Prop 2, which protects farm animals from unreasonable confinement. That's right — the compassionate voters of California care more about chickens than their fellow human beings. If you were to write this as a screenplay, it would be rejected as too unrealistic. You can't make this stuff up.

So here we are... celebrating the renewed hopes of the country, the ascent of a great and deserving man, and the long, painful journey of African-Americans from slavery to the White House. How tragic that those very people take more direction from their bibles than their humanity.

Our solace today must come from another telling number — both pre-election polling and exit polls confirm that 63% of 18 to 29-year-olds voted NO on Prop 8. The forces of religious intolerance may have won another battle today, but time is on our side.

Yes, We're Very Happy That Barack Obama Won...

... but at 12:30 AM Pacific time, with the votes on California Prop 8 only about 60% tallied, and the measure currently passing by about 52% to 48%, I'll wait until I see the final results in the morning before blogging about the election.

I Didn't Vote For Obama Today

A poignant story on Talking Points Memo reminds us what this day is really all about: our future.

Know Hope

Gay Marriages in Connecticut to Begin Nov. 12

Some early good news from the AP wire on election day. Now we can only hope that California voters do the right thing, and decide not to deprive their fellow citizens of the same right.

“He’s a marvelous man and we greatly respect him.”

Just knowing someone like Bill Ayers makes you a terrorist, but actually committing war crimes yourself makes you worthy of respect?

Don't we want a new president who doesn't respect Cheney?

Time to Vote

Polling Statistics Guru Nate Silver Tells the Fat Lady to Warm Up

Well here we are on election eve, and Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com has run today's polling through his comuters, and now gives Barack Obama a whopping 98.1% chance of winning the election — his highest number to date.

Nonetheless... let's not get complacent until all the votes are counted. Make sure that if you haven't yet voted that you get out there tomorrow and do it!

What If Obama Had Campaigned Like McCain…

In tonight's Campaign Comment, Keith Olbermann explores how things might be different today had Barack Obama said and done the things that John McCain has done throughout this election.

Cheney's Hometown Paper Endorses Obama

Wyoming's Casper Star-Tribune:

It is a foregone conclusion that Wyoming's three electoral votes will go to Sen. John McCain. It would be easy for the Star-Tribune to simply agree with the majority of voters in this red state and endorse the Republican candidate for president.

But this isn't an ordinary election, and Sen. Barack Obama has the potential to be an extraordinary leader at a time we desperately need one. The next occupant of the White House will inherit a national economy that's collapsing and two wars our nation has been fighting for years, depleting valuable resources we need to fix a multitude of domestic problems. Far too many of our nation's citizens live paycheck to paycheck, worried about whether they'll have a job next week or if a medical crisis will bankrupt them.

What America needs most in these troubled times is a president who will move the country in a positive direction. The candidate who is most likely to chart a new course that will lead us to better days is Obama. Moreover, he is the best candidate for Wyoming.

Even Fox Has Trouble Spinning Tiny McCain Crowd Size

With just one day to go, the McCain campaign expected ten times the meager 1,000 supporters who showed up for a rally in Florida. In 2004, George Bush drew 15,000 in the same area. Cue the fat lady.

Please Support Get Out the Vote Efforts To Defeat Prop 8

Today we are donating to NoOnProp8 one last time. Can you help too?

We have less than 36 hours to prevent the elimination of our right to marry. Every poll shows that this election will be extremely close. The winner will be determined by voter turnout. It is that simple. Get out the vote activities will make or break this election.

Please make a small donation to fund No On Prop 8 get out the vote efforts. Your contribution will fund one million last-minute phone calls to pre-identified No on Prop 8 voters and a massive, well-organized effort on the ground.

Thank you for helping us fight for our rights, and the rights of our loved ones, to be treated as full and equal citizens.

Debunking Myths Used to Promote Banning Gay Marriage

In calling for the defeat of Proposition 8, today's Los Angeles Times exposes the tactics of the Yes on 8 crowd.

Clever magicians practice the art of misdirection -- distracting the eyes of the audience to something attention-grabbing but irrelevant so that no one notices what the magician is really doing. Look over at that fuchsia scarf, up this sleeve, at anything besides the actual trick.

The campaign promoting Proposition 8, which proposes to amend the state Constitution to ban same-sex marriages, has masterfully misdirected its audience, California voters. Look at the first-graders in San Francisco, attending their lesbian teacher's wedding! Look at Catholic Charities, halting its adoption services in Massachusetts, where same-sex marriage is legal! Look at the church that lost its tax exemption over gay marriage! Look at anything except what Proposition 8 is actually about: a group of people who are trying to impose on the state their belief that homosexuality is immoral and that gays and lesbians are not entitled to be treated equally under the law.

A 2-in-1 Presidential Election / Prop 8 Mash-Up

Powerful New No on Prop 8 Ad

Please donate to help this ad run.

Uhhh... Thanks For the Endorsement, DICK

Hateful McCain Supporter "Celebrates" Halloween

More hypocrisy from the "Family Values" side:

(thanks Cathy and Julz)

A Moving New Ad in Defense of Equal Rights

Please visit NoOnProp8.com to help fight discrimination by helping this ad air in California.

So Just How Far HAVE We Come?

Frank Rich's Op-Ed in this morning's New York Times looks at how far we have come in racial equality in this country. Only a handful of generations from a time when blacks lived in slavery, we stand on the threshold of electing a black president. Amazing and wonderful indeed.

That progress made me reflect on what it's like to be a member of the sole remaining minority subject to institutionalized persecution and marginalization in the U.S. In achieving this remarkable milestone in racial equality, Barack Obama openly expressed his official position that gays and lesbians should continue to be less than equal citizens, denied the right to marry.

I responded to Rich's column by submitting the following reader comment:

(Update: From over 550 reader comments on this Op-ed (so far), mine was chosen as one of only 11 "Editors' Selections" by which "NYTimes editors aim to highlight the most interesting and thoughtful comments that represent a range of views." You can see it published in the Times here.)

I will be thrilled if Barack Obama does indeed win on Tuesday. It is a testament to how far this country has come on race. Unfortunately, it is also a testament to how far we have yet to go on another form of bigotry: homophobia.

It is sad that Obama had no choice but to openly renounce same-sex marriage. Gay rights have so far to go in the U.S. that any serious candidate for president must not only be heterosexual, but must specifically avoid expressing support for full equality for gay citizens.

I do not envision living to see an openly gay president elected (I am 50), but I would be satisfied to see the day when a candidate who openly supports same-sex marriage will not be committing political suicide by doing so.

The strides that blacks continue to make have been led in large part by the actions of our leaders, sending a powerful message that racial equality is not simply a matter of toleration and acceptance, but mandated by our government through the force of law.

We are watching helplessly as our fellow citizens hold our fates and lives literally in their hands though their votes on issues like Prop 8 in California. Only when our leaders make clear by example that the "F" word for gays is as horrific as the "N" word for blacks (and it is) will we have the opportunity to be equals in our own country.

What in the World is McCain Thinking?

John McCain must be resigned to the fact that he is going to lose on Tuesday. The only reason I can imagine that he went on SNL tonight is an attempt to go back to the Senate with a newly-restored perception of being a regular guy with a good sense of humor.

McCain was not participating in self-deprecation so much as self-mocking. There is a difference. What McCain did tonight was show that he was willing to laugh at the fact that he and his running mate are a laughing stock. His performance was certainly funny, but made it clearer than ever that he is more qualified to be a TV personality than president.

It was cringe-worthy that he so easily mocked his own qualifications on the eve of his final interview for the most serious job in the world. If he felt that being a regular guy by going on SNL would help his chances on Tuesday, I think he is sorely mistaken.