Hawaii's Future Today

Interesting details regarding LDS church involvement in battling same-same marriage in Hawaii in the 90s came to light when Fred Karger filed a complaint that the church had not been complete in reporting it's financial involvement in California's battle over proposition 8.

The following documents were included as supporting evidence detailing the setup of a Hawaii's Future Today. 

• Oct. 31, 1995 - Loren C. Dunn to Neal A. Maxwell
  
• Nov. 21, 1995 - Loren C. Dunn - Report to the Public Affairs Committee
  
• Dec. 20, 1995 - Loren C. Dunn to Neal A. Maxwell
• Mar. 6, 1996 - Loren C. Dunn to Neal A. Maxwell
• Mar. 21, 1996 - Loren C. Dunn to Neal A. Maxwell
• Apr. 1, 1996 - F. Michael Watson to - Neal A. Maxwell & the Public Affairs Committee
• June 5, 1996 - Loren C. Dunn to Neal A. Maxwell
• Nov. 19, 1996 - Loren C. Dunn to Henry B. Eyring
  
• Feb. 11, 1997 - Loren C. Dunn to Gordon B. Hinckley
  
• Mar. 4, 1997 - Loren C. Dunn to M. Russell Ballard
  
• Jan. 8, 1998 - Loren C. Dunn & Richard B. Wirtlin to Marlin K. Jensen
  

Following is an excerpt of Karger's "Re: Fair Political Practices Commission Complaint" describing the creation of Hawaii's Future Today

In 1995, at the request of then Mormon Church President Gordon Hinckley, Church leadership identified the type of committee they wanted to create to stop same-sex marriage in Hawaii , and they set it up.
 
The attached documents tell the story of how the Mormon Church established their front group in Hawaii to pass a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage in that state after the Hawaii Supreme Court heard the case.  The Mormon Church established its front group called Hawaii s Future Today (HFT) in the fall of 1995, 3 years before the election to pass a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage in Hawaii .
 
They hired lobbyists, consultants, campaign managers, attorneys and had one very high ranking Mormon on the Board, Jack Hoag, the recently retired Chairman of the Church-owned First Hawaiian Bank.  They were able to get money into Hawaii s Future Today (HFT) that would go unreported (documents attached to this complaint and on our web site: Mormongate.com ).  These actions hid their direct involvement while creating a coalition to lead the effort. 
 
They raised nearly all of the money from Utah and other mainland Mormons.    Eventually the Mormon Church gave $400,000 directly to the campaign committee close to the election, but received much criticism for that large contribution.  They switched strategies after that campaign and in subsequent elections, did not contribute directly to campaigns opposing same-sex marriage. Instead, they sought contributions from their members directly as they did last year in California .
 
The attached documents reveal exactly how the church created Hawaii 's Future Today.  They recruited the Chair, Debi Hartmann (see recent Bay Area Reporter story by Dan Aiello), and Co-chairs, Jack Hoag and Father Marc Alexander and other Board members, got the funds to HFT, and ran and funded it from Salt Lake using many top Church officials.  Its stated mission was to fight casino gambling, prostitution, and same-sex marriage, but defeating same-sex marriage was its sole objective.