Utah State groups sponsor Prop 8 film
Utah State journalism alumnus Reed Cowan will be returning to campus Thursday to show his 2010 Sundance film, “8: The Mormon Proposition”.
The event is a part of the Morris Media and Society Lecture Series, sponsored by the department of journalism and communication (JCOM). However, for this specific event, 10 departments came together.
The Office of Student Services, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, the Access and Diversity Center, GLBTA Office, the Center for Women and Gender, and the history, political science, sociology, social work, and anthropology and honors departments all contributed to planning and executing the event.
The movie will be shown in the Eccles Conference Center Auditorium, on Thursday from 7 to 10 p.m. After the film, Cowan will conduct a question and answer session.
“This is a teaching moment, not a political statement,” said Ted Pease, JCOM department head.
When Cowan started making “8:The Mormon Proposition”, he did not intend for it to go the direction it did.
According to Cowan’s website, the film started out as a documentary about homelessness and suicide among gay teenagers in Utah.
During the beginning stages of filmmaking, Proposition 8 became the big issue in the state, and Cowan and his team of filmmakers decided they needed to tell the whole story.
The website states “(Cowan) soon realized the homophobia that prompts otherwise loving parents to kick teenagers out of their homes is deep-seated in current Mormon ideology.”
The film covers Mormon teachings about homosexuals, how they are spoken about from the pulpit, how these opinions become public policy and the effect these teachings are having on the lives of other people.
“This film is about politics and social issues,” Pease said. “This is an important conversation to have.
One reason the departments felt it was important to have Cowan come to campus and show the film is to help students develop their own opinions and decide how they, individually, feel about these important issues, he said.
Ann Austin, the director of the Center for Women and Gender, said, “USU is dedicated to helping students become Citizen Scholars. As a citizen scholar, students need to study this issue carefully and think about their own definition of tolerance and inclusion.”
Dr. James Morales, vice president of student services, played a big part in bringing Cowan to campus.
“Inviting Cowan supports a longstanding tradition of public higher education to be willing to discuss a variety of ideas, even those that are controversial and even if everyone may not necessarily agree with them,” he said. “This principle is at the heart of what a public university is all about.”
Part of what makes us a community is coming together and discussing these big, tough issues, Pease said.
“If anything, these tough issues you may want to avoid talking about will reaffirm your beliefs,” he said.
Austin said bringing this film to campus provides an opportunity to learn how to agree and disagree in a “civil and respectful manner, even when the issue is a culturally or personally sensitive one.”
Christie Fox, director of the honors program on campus, said, “I think it’s the job of a university to expose students to a wide range of ideas and views. If we fail in this, we’re not doing our jobs as educators.”
“Students need to decide what inclusion means to them and what it doesn’t mean, and they need to develop articulate, well-thought out reasons for their points of view,” Austin said.
Pease said everyone “from the president on down” have been very supportive of the event.
“Most people understand how difficult this issue is, regardless of one’s perspective, and many have shared with me their own personal journey in trying to understand and come to terms with the issue,” Austin said. “Everyone I have talked to is approaching the issue in a thoughtful, sensitive way.”
Cowan is an Emmy-Award winning journalist with more than 10 years of experience in television news. Before joining WSVN in Miami, he anchored Good Morning Utah, at ABC4 in Salt Lake City.
“We are proud of him and the things he has accomplished, and are thrilled to have him back on campus,” Pease said.
– megan.allen@aggiemail.usu.edu