Ex-Mormon gives $1M for same-sex marriage

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OREM, Utah, Sept. 19 (UPI) -- A former Mormon responded to a call by the church to support a proposition to outlaw gay marriage in California by giving $1 million to the other side.

Bruce Bastian of Orem, Utah, has contributed many times the amount given by 37 other Utah residents, presumably members of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints, The Salt Lake Tribune reported. They have given about $120,000 to ProtectMarriage.com, the group supported by the church.

Bastian, one of the founders of WordPerfect, is an open homosexual. He made a small contribution to the "No on Proposition 8" group in May.

He said he was angered when the church got its "big nose" in something he considers a legal, not religious, matter. So he wrote a check for $1 million.

The proposition would roll back a California Supreme Court decision that legalized marriage between same-sex couples.