![]() LDS officials initially denied that the church contributed money, claiming that only members contributed. The site also has been controversial, with Mormons complaining it does not track the donations of members of other faiths. The state, however, does not track the religious affiliation of donors, so the site’s claim is difficult to confirm. Mormons for Proposition 8, a website organized by opponents that claims to track contributions from individual Mormons, says LDS members donated more than $20 million in support of the measure. The second-highest contributions to the Yes on 8 campaign - $2.8 million - came from the state of Utah, according to a Los Angeles Times analysis. Supporters raised $39 million, with the largest sum, $27 million, coming from California. Proposition 8 was the most expensive campaign on a social issue in the state’s history, with both sides raising a combined $83 million. Only about 2 percent of the state’s population is Mormon, so Mormons alone did not pass the proposition, but they did donate a lot of time, money and organizational expertise. Proposition 8 passed with 52 percent of the vote. “Some (Mormons who donated to Proposition 8) lost their jobs,” Gordon says, “while others felt truly frightened, only because they participated in the democratic process.” “We had protests outside of our temples, white powder delivered, vandalism of our church buildings and individuals targeted who gave only minor donations (to the proposition),” says Scott Gordon, president of the Redding-based Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research, which defends Mormon theology. In some cases, the backlash was violent, and, church members say, smacks of discrimination. Many Mormons say they have been disproportionately targeted for their activism. Mormons dispute charges they were the main impetus behind Proposition 8’s passage - arguing that they were only part of a large coalition of churches and residents that favored the ban on same-sex marriage. The measure’s fate remains tied in the courts: A federal judge has struck down the law, and an appeal is pending a state Supreme Court decision on whether proponents of the law have authority to defend it in court, since state officials have declined to do so. That push from the Mormon church is widely credited as helping propel Proposition 8, which defined marriage only as a union between a man and a woman, to victory in November 2008.
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