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California voters will decide next month whether to amend the state's constitution to define marriage as between one man and one woman.
If Proposition 8 is approved, it will overturn a recent California Supreme Court ruling which opened the door for same-sex marriages to be recognized in California.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has already encouraged its members in California to get involved or donate to support the passage of the amendment.
Tonight, three Church leaders will speak by satellite to LDS members throughout California, explaining why the Church is involved.
Elder L. Whitney Clayton, with the LDS Church Presidency of Seventy, said, "The people in California have worked their hearts out, both in and out of the LDS Church; Catholics, Evangelicals, lots of people working hard. It just depends now on what the needs of the campaign are. Our goal is to win. We hope to win and to preserve marriage between a man and a woman."
The Church is now encouraging its members from California, who are living outside of the state to join the effort. That includes volunteering to make phone calls to California voters to try to rally support for the proposition.
BYU student Michael Bayles is among the California students in Utah who have been organizing and contacting other California students to encourage them to vote for the proposition.
"A lot of students up here in Utah kinda feel like they don't have to because they are so far from home or that they can't vote, so we try and educate them as best we can," Bayles said.
He also said, "We made phone calls to individuals throughout California to make sure that they were aware of the situation and to make sure that people didn't see a proposition, but they actually understood, you know, the relevance behind it and the application of what it means for us in the future."
The Church says it is assisting the Protect Marriage Coalition, which supports the amendment to define marriage between one man and one woman.
But some LDS members who are openly gay are criticizing the Church's encouragement of this issue. Members of the group Affirmation believe the Church should leave the debate of Proposition 8 to the voters in California.
David Nielson, an Affirmation member, said, "The Proposition 8 campaign is very hurtful and a deceitful campaign, and it's very frustrating to me that my church would be getting so actively involved in it. That's very hurtful to me."
The meeting tonight will be broadcast to LDS chapels throughout California but will also be shown in chapels near colleges and universities here Utah to allow students from California to attend.
E-mail: spenrod@ksl.com
E-mail: rjeppesen@ksl.com
