SF Weekly: San Francisco Gay Mormon Couple and Prop 8

Drama Season

Prop. 8 divides Mormon family during the holidays.

By Herman Wong

published: December 17, 2008

In fewer than five months, Billy Hutchinson’s parents went from smiling at his wedding to voting against his marriage.Raised as Mormons, neither Hutchison nor his longtime partner, Scott Wilkinson, was surprised when the Church of Latter-Day Saints came out in support of Proposition 8. But Hutchinson never anticipated that his parents would donate $200 to support California’s gay marriage ban. Now Wilkinson wants nothing to do with his in-laws. The annual Christmas visit to see the folks in Calaveras County is off, and Hutchinson feels caught in the middle. “I don’t know what to do now,” he says.

Braving the Streets–San Francisco Salvation Army Red Kettle Bell Ringer

I’m standing on the street wearing a red apron and jingling a three-inch bell in the freezing cold. Sometimes the swarm of people becomes so thick and crowded that I have to retract my ringing arm, and I look like a T-Rex shaking a twig. And there’s three hours left to go. But hey, it’s for a good cause.

Every Christmas season the Salvation Army unleashes its cadre of red kettle bell ringers into the world to collect money for its many programs. Not surprising, the plastic buckets have been coming back a bit lighter this year. “We’re not making as much as we thought we would,” says Amy Keene, the red kettle project coordinator at the Army’s Tenderloin center.

Wanting to help I sign up and get a plum assignment–the Charles Schwab building on Montgomery and Sutter Streets. But I’m not the only vendor at this market: when I arrive a panhandler in black is already working the corner.  His message: “Very Poor, Need Money.” Acknowledging he’s been out-branded, the man cedes the spot and leaves while I set up.  Score!