8: The Mormon Proposition - Movie Review of 8: The Mormon Proposition

Reed and co-director Steven Greenstreet use the recordings, documents and footage to show the extent of Mormon homophobia. Church leaders -- and Mormon leaders elected to public office -- openly advocate discrimination. Furthermore, the church not only spent an estimated $25-million to win the Proposition 8 initiative, they marshalled an army of Mormons to canvas the state of California to influence voters, and they organized the National Organization for Marriage, an organization started to camouflage the extent of Mormon involvement in the political initiative. The church's attitude and details of its behavior are shocking.

The film also tells the stories of LGBT citizens seeking marriage equality, and many of them are -- or were -- Mormons. For example, Tyler Barrick and Spencer Jones are heartbroken by the Proposition 8 result. Ironically, Barrick is the direct descendant of Mormon founder and Prophet, Joseph Smith's right hand man Fredrick G. Williams, and Barrick's family history actually includes indicents in which ancestors chased from state to state because of they practiced an alternative marriage arrangement (polygamy). Now, decades later, the Barrick family is experiencing the same kind of cultural and governmental discrimination suffered by their forebears -- but they're battling their own Mormon religion and obedient church members instructed to vote against their marriage..

In revealing the depth of LDS homophobia, the film shows how in years past Mormon leaders and educators abused young men accused of homosexuality with electric shock, frontal lobotomies and emotional humiliation to correct or cure their homosexuality.

Focusing on the case of Stuart Mathis, a young Mormon homosexual who shot himself in the head -- at a California Mormon Church -- during an earlier LDS initiative against LGBT rights, the film shows that there have been hundreds of gay-Mormon suicides, and claims that Utah, the home of the Mormon Church, has the world's highest suicide rate among young males.

The film also questions the nonprofit status of the Mormon Church. In order to gain and maintain tax exemption, all nonprofits, including religious organizations, must refrain from participating in any form of political activity or advocacy. Cowan and Greenstreet indicate that the Mormon Church has violated that regulation, and point out that the church's ongoing tax exemption is subject to reconsideration.

If You Like This Film, You Will Also Like:

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Film Details

• Title: 8: The Mormon Proposition
• Directors: Reed Cowan and Steven Greenstreet
• Trailer
• US Theatrical Release Date: June 18, 2010 (limited)
• Running Time: 80 mins.
• MPAA Rating: Rated R for some language/sexual references
• Parental Advisory: Content advisory for parents
• Location: USA
• Distribution Company: Red Flag Releasing