How I felt after the Proposition 8 passage.

I thought I was going to feel a lot better than I did. When prop 8 passed, there was a sense of relief but not the big catharsis I was expecting. I liked this blog post that closely mirrored my feelings at the time. (prop 8 aftermath) While I was relieved because I feared the legal and social repercussions of not passing prop 8, I felt sad for many people on the other side. As the protests began my feelings morphed into apprehension, frustration and unfortunately some anger.

The days after the proposition passed felt kind of tense. The helicopters covering the protests around the temple always made me feel uneasy and I had periods of insomnia off and on for a week. I got together with friends that had worked on prop 8 and it seemed like this wasn't uncommon.

I never saw the big protests but I went to a temple session on a week day and saw about 50 people waving signs. It wasn't a lot but it was disconcerting to see the "VILE MORMONS" sign next the signs saying "End Discrimination". Apparently the many people honking as they passed the protest didn't see the paradox. The temple gate was guarded and they checked every car that went in. I saw multiple police vehicles on the temple property. I can't say that I have felt like I was the target of persecution, unless you count non-specific derisive comments about prop-8 supporters in general. On the other hand, I do know people that have been targeting individual level. One person got the silent treatment at work for a day, despite never having brought up politics in work place. That didn't make the news but I also know the lady that was the target of the el coyote restaurant protests$100 donation. This was one was especially troubling because she is one of the nicest people you will ever meet. She is a former Relief Society president, which means she is the type of person that volunteers her time to clothing and feeding the poor. She is the last person you would accuse of being hateful.

As I read more articles of black listed Mormons, I kept asking myself at what point would people stop seeing this as a civil rights movement and more like McCarthyism. I took a look at one of those lists and saw the names of many people I knew. Those names I recognized were people that I highly admired. I can't understand why anyone that had actually met those people could hold them in anything but the highest regard.

I read an article in the LA times that expressed the frustration I have felt in the post-prop 8 backlash. This op-ed piece Jonah Goldberg titled "An ugly attack on Mormons" made all the points that I wanted to. I highly recommend it.