Lika Starr

Cover photo — upcoming 2009 mormons exposed calendar.

I have been following this story here at LikaStarr.com since October, 2007 when the Mormons Exposed - Men on a Mission 2008 Calendar was announced. At that time I wrote about Chad Hardy and his project for the work they were doing to tear down stereotypes. It goes a lot further than religion alone. It was and still is a bold step; a step forward that should be congratulated. More information on the project can be found at the mormons exposed website.

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A few weeks ago, Hardy was contacted by the LDS Church. After several correspondences a date was set for Hardy’s case to be heard in a disciplinary hearing. By the end of that day in mid July Hardy had be excommunicated from the church because he refused to abide by their wishes which would have included pulling the production on future calendars. According to Hardy, the official reason for his excommunication is because the church says he failed to honor his priesthood and covenants. Hardy details the entire process leading up to his day in court on a blog post at his MySpace site. He also says he stopped attending church several years ago. However, His personal values and beliefs in the church are real as is his faith.

MEN on a MISSION - 2009 Photo Shoot

I had noted how incredibly gay friendly Chad Hardy and the gang were in regards the Calendar. It received so much recognition and praise by the gay community. At the time there was no mention of homosexuality in any Mormons Exposed press releases or on their site, yet they talked about stereotypes, acceptance and tolerance of people in all walks of life. They were also very open to friendship requests from everyone on their official MySpace page.

In my original article I mentioned the LDS Church would have a cow if there was any inclination the calendar was geared to include interest from men. As of two weeks ago the church finally gave birth to that cow, resulting in Hardy being excommunicated from the church. Shortly afterward Hardy continues to push the boundaries as he publicly announced his support of gay marriage.

Just this past Friday, July 25th Hardy posted another article on his blog announcing his support of gay marriage and a subtle but bold call to Mormons reconsider the LDS Church’s stance on supporting the constitution amendment that would ban gay marriage in the state of California.

“Men on a Mission is more than just a calendar - it’s a movement to offer a hand of friendship to bridge gaps between religious and cultural differences, beliefs and lifestyles.

The recent events of my excommunication has only made me stronger in my convictions for what I set out to do with this project. All of the stereotypes that I was trying to strip off were put right back on by the Church’s actions.”

Hardy republished an open letter to California Mormons originally written by Morman Jeffrey S. Nielsen.

“I do not believe that people choose their sexual orientation any more than they choose their skin color or gender. So to discriminate and deny them equal protection and equal opportunity under civil law because of these natural traits; especially in this case, sexual orientation, is grossly unfair and should be rejected outright in a compassionate and just democracy.”

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Lika’s Take:

I am once again writing this in appreciation of what Chad Hardy has set out to accomplish. I am also extending that appreciation to all the beautiful men who were brave enough to strip their own religious boundaries for the calendars and the cause.Chad Hardy is a hero in my book. It takes a lot of courage to accomplish what he has done so far. And, from the looks of things, it’s just the beginning.

I get a lot of views on the article I wrote back in October. That article will receive over 1000 page views today alone. I have no idea who the viewers are. Though this is a gay blog, I doubt the majority of those viewers are gay. Most of the traffic for that article is coming from search engines. I feel most of them are probably Mormons looking for more information on Hardy and the calendar.

In an effort to do my part in making a difference I will also republish Jeffrey Nielsen’s open later to California Mormons. His letter is so eloquently written that it easily transcends all religions, though it was especially written to address only one. To enhance it’s significance I will do that in a separate post. Until then, you can always view it here.

As a “thank you” for your time, here’s a couple more photos from the 2009 calendar photo shoot in Las Vegas. Most of the images on this page can be viewed at a larger size by clicking on them.