Thursday, April 8, 2010

Brody's Notes... Bilerico's Bil Browning Reports: LDS Church Folk Are Not Amused

By Bil Browning (Indianapolis, Indiana) Apr 8 | Disturbing news from Paul Jackson, the owner and publisher of MormonBoyz.com. While my post "Hot Mormon Boys Masturbating" has caught some flack around the web over whether or not sexy fluff posts belong on a serious LGBT blog, that's nothing compared to what Paul has been enduring.
After my post went up, MormonBoyz got quite a bit of exposure as various other LGBT blogs linked up to TBP and the porn site itself. Once the site started getting a lot of traffic, it was noticed by LDS members.
"As expected I did manage to piss off several thousand Mormons. Success! However, I got nine death threats. Success? I have to admit, while the pissed-off-bigots was to be expected, I was caught off guard by the Glen-Beck-style death threats," Jackson wrote in an e-mail interview yesterday.
The threats were reported to the police, but no action has been taken yet. 
Death Threats: Here's a couple examples of the death threats being sent to Jackson:
"Paul. I support free speech in the USA, but you are clearly sick. I imagine God would be pleased if I killed the creator of MBz."
Because God loves nothing better than murder, right? Isn't that in the Ten Commandants? "Thou Shalt Not Kill Anyone But Web Designers"
"You're despicable. Take down the site unless you want to die."
Short, succinct, and sufficiently aggressive, this e-mail really sums up the death threats Jackson shared with me. The most amazing part was how many of the e-mailers started their missives with a personalized salutation. "Dear Paul," or "Paul," the majority wrote; it upped the creepiness portion dramatically. Seeing how many of them also cited their religious beliefs as a reason to kill someone was also striking.

Religious Right Outrage: A couple of the e-mails penned by upset Mormons:

MormonBoyz CAN'T be what you claim it to be. I can't IMAGINE any full time missionaries taking part in that while serving. Missionaries are emissaries the Lord, and representatives of the one and only true and living church. If you are still a member in good standing, you would know that! Be prepared for a memo needs to be sent out to all the missions and mission presidents warning them about your site. That's all it would take to identify the Elders on your site and have them excommunicated and sent home dishonorably. Either way, MormonBoyz is the despicable brainchild of a faggot whose priesthood and marriage are a sham!
I am sorry, but I very much dislike the fact that your website shows that which it does. Yes, I did go to the homepage to see what everyone was upset about, and I understand their views. I got such a feeling of wrongness well up inside me that it burned my chest and took away my breath. Temple garments are sacred, you know that.
Can't you feel the love of Christ when a believer spews words like "despicable" and "faggot" at you? It reminds me of the old bumpersticker that said, "Dear Christ, Please save me from your followers."

Bil Browning is a long-time LGBT activist and writer. He is the founder and Editor-In-Chief of The Bilerico Project.  Bil is also a contributor to the Huffington Post and the Advocate magazine. He has won the Indiana Stonewall Democrats' Chuck Avery Award, the New York City Anti-Violence Project's Courage Award, & the Los Angeles Stonewall Democratic Club's Bob Craig Media Award. He and his partner live in Indianapolis with their four dogs and two cats.

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