Salt Lake City: Mormon Capital + Gay Capital of the US ...coincidence?

According to a recent study by Advocate.com, Salt Lake City has been christened the #1 Gay City in the US.

Does it have the highest amount of gays per capita?  No.

Is it famously known for it's gay culture like West Hollywood or San Francisco?  Not quite.

But through a series of tests and tallies, SLC reigns supreme.  Factors like "Nude Yoga Classes" and "Openly Gay Elected officials" helped vault SLC to #1.

"But wait," I hear you asking... "Isn't Utah known for it's MORMONS and not it's Gay culture?"

Well, yes.  Of course.   But I think there may be a coincidence...

Heh heh... missionary....  heheheh...

You see, I have a good handful of gay friends.  One of my closest gay friends actually introduced me to my ex-wife.  (I forgave him)

One thing I remember from a lot of my gay friends is how 'anti-gay' they acted while they were in the closet.  I'm not sure if it was a front, or their way of trying to draw attention away from themselves, but I remember more than one doing it...

The LDS church has their contributions to the California Proposition 8 fiasco under their belt.  They donated a LOT of money to help make sure a ban on same-sex marriage happened in California, even though the number of Mormons in Cali is minimal...

If that doesn't scream 'closet case' I don't know what does.

Also, I recently did a post of Mormons looking for sex on Craigslist.  Most of the 'casual encounter' ads I found were male-for-male or female-for-female.  There were more Mormons looking for an anonymous same-sex hookup than for the opposite sex...

Now, I know I'm painting with a broad brush-stroke, but I'm doing it in the name of humor.  I have a lot of Mormon friends (to be discussed more at a later post) and MOST of them are completely heterosexual.  I also know the LDS Church isn't expressly anti-homosexual, as they DO have an openly gay Bishop.

But still.  For the lol's?  Yeah, they're gay.  ;)

Hating on Gay Marriage is so 2008...

Leviticus 18:22 - You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.

You've probably heard this before. It's what people use when denouncing gay marriage. It's a sin. It's not natural.

The reason I'm bring this up is because of New York passing a law allowing gay marriage. The locals here in Idaho are up in arms, and bible verses are being tossed around left and right...

My personal opinion is this: I'm for gay marriage. All US citizens should have equal rights. Gay, straight, pick any skin color, IQ of 56 or 156, we are all equal.  How is this different than passing a law saying that people without a High School Diploma are not allowed to vote?  Discriminating against gays is ok, but we can't discriminate against the stupid?  The poor?  The people who listen to bluegrass?

But...but... the BIBLE!!! You can't defy the word of God!

Well, I think this whole 'homosexuality is a sin' thing is getting passe. Let's pick another abomination from the bible and start rabblerousing, shall we?

• Shellfish are sinful (Leviticus 11:9-12) "Of the animals that live in the sea or in a river, if the animal has fins and scales, you may eat it. But whatever lives in the sea or in a river and does not have fins and scales -- including the things that fill the water and all other things that live in it -- you should hate. You must not eat any meat from them or even touch their dead bodies, because you should hate them. You must hate any animal in the water that does not have fins and scales."
• Dog Breeds like Labradoodles, farming diverse crops, or wearing a cotton/poly blend will send you to hell (Leviticus 19:19) "Keep my decrees. Do not mate different kinds of animals. Do not plant your field with two kinds of seed. Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material."
• Eating your steak rare is going to make God angry (Lev. 19:26) "Do not eat any meat with the blood still in it."
• Shaving your beard (ladies, I'm looking at you...) (Lev. 19:27) "Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard."
• Tattoos are taboo (Lev 19:28) "Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the LORD."
• Sorry conservatives, no more poo-pooing illegal immigration (Lev. 19:33-34) "When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. 34 The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the LORD your God."

Let's mix is up a bit, ok?  Society has been homo-bashing long enough.

I say let's go protest Red Lobster for marketing sin and filth to the innocents of this world.

Or maybe the next time you get a haircut, and the stylist asks you if you want your sideburns trimmed, smack them with a bible and tell the heathen what's what...

Debating with family one night, one said "Well you can't take everything the Old Testament says as law anymore.  Jesus came to Earth, and wrote a new set of rules we follow.  Essentially the Old Testament is obsolete."

Oh really?  Cool.  All those laws above (including the gay stuff) is from the same book in the O.T.  If we're saying wearing blended fibers is ok, and planting more than one crop in the field, why are we still hanging on to the belief that homosexuality is evil?  The bible doesn't say sin A is worth 5 points and sin B is worth 12... why do we hang on to some but dismiss others?

Now the fun part... I open up the discussion to you.

What are your thoughts on this?  I'm not gay, but I think they should have equal rights.  I'm not Atheist, but I think some parts of the bible are just as absurd as the people who quote it.  What do YOU think??