Boycott of Utah?

There's lots of discussion in the media and on the blogs about a boycott of Utah. We'll get into this on the show today. On the one hand, it is California voters who banned marriage for gays. On the other hand, it was the Mormon Church -- which pretty much owns Utah -- which manipulated voters in California through heinous, lying ads funded by its members more than anyone else:

Utah's growing tourism industry and the star-studded Sundance Film Festival are being targeted for a boycott by bloggers, gay rights activists and others seeking to punish the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for its aggressive promotion of California's ban on gay marriage.

It could be a heavy price to pay. Tourism brings in $6 billion a year to Utah, with world-class skiing, spectacular red-rock country and the film festival founded by Robert Redford among popular tourist draws.

So what do you think?

Thousands Protest in Salt Lake City

Wow, organizers were hoping for 1000 people, but the turn out far exceeded that. According to The Salt Lake Tribune, over 3000 people showed up for a protest against the Mormon Church over its support of Prop 8. Organizers are saying it was more like 5000. A great show of solidarity, and not what the Mormon Church bargained for in its own backyard:

Church officials are "disturbed" that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was "singled out for speaking up as part of its democratic right in a free election," said LDS spokesman Scott Trotter earlier Friday.
"Millions of others from every faith, ethnicity and political affiliation who voted for Proposition 8 exercised the most sacrosanct and individual rights in the United States - that of free expression and voting," Trotter said. "While those who disagree with our position on Proposition 8 have the right to make their feelings known, it is wrong to target the church and its sacred places of worship for being part of the democratic process."
The church urged those on all sides of the debate over same sex marriage to "act in a spirit of mutual respect and civility towards each other," Trotter said. "No one on either side of the question should be vilified, harassed or subject to erroneous information."

Yeah, right. The plan among some right now isn't in fact to attack the Mormon church so much as to take on the state of Utah, which is pretty much owned by the Mormons. Sounds like a good idea. There are now calls for a boycott of Utah, and an effort to dub it "the hate state," as was done to Colorado years ago when it passed an antigay measure (and it hurt the state tourism big time). I'm all for it.