Affirmation: Gay & Lesbian Mormons

Brian Costley, left, and his partner Jim Brady share a kiss, during a Kiss-in outside of the San Diego Temple on Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Peaceful Kiss-in Held at San Diego Temple
The Demonstration Was Intended to Encourage Dialogue between the LDS Church and Gay Activists

July 2009
Fom a story in the Union-Tribune

About 30 people attended a silent kiss-in July 22 outside the tall white gates of the Mormon Temple in San Diego.

The event was sponsored by the the Empowering Spirits Foundation, a civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. The peaceful demonstration was intended to encourage dialogue between the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and gay activists, organizers said.

The event came on the heels of the recent arrest by Mormon church security guards of a gay couple when they exchanged a kiss on Main Street Plaza in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Of those gathered outside the temple, five gay couples engaged in a series of kisses during the 1½-hour event, which began at 5 p.m. There were no counter-protestors.

One gay couple held a sign that said “Gays do love Mormons.” In November, dozens of people gathered at the temple gates to protest the passage of Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage.