Though my dot-com has been down since Tuesday night (thereby breaking all my internal links back to old posts - which I promise I’m working on fixing), I’m still at least sixth on Google’s results for “Nate Berkus” and/or the various adjectives attached to his name (see “Nate Berkus gay“), as well as for “Fernando Bengoechea.”

I mention this not to gloat in the face of a very sad situation, but to explain why the traffic here at Zionide has gone through the roof in the last seven days. I can’t even imagine what it would have been like if my better-known (and better-crawled) dot-com were up.

Along with the visitors, the slightly-increased visibility has brought me several very nice emails from new readers (thank you especially to Curt & Steve, Walt, and Mark), some just-plain-STRANGE messages, and also the occasional upset note about my being gay AND Mormon - as if the two were not just incompatible, but completely impossible. Given that these upset readers are coming here because of a search for information re:Nate Berkus, they’re usually straight Mormon women.

To many of them, the infamous gay missionary photos are the most “offensive” part of Zionide. On Friday Loni commented on that post:

I got to this site mostly by accident, looking for information about Nate Berkus and his “friend.” However, I started to read a few of these, because it states that you are LDS. Well, Nick, having been LDS, or at least lived it, you would know that being LDS doesn’t give anyone the right to be a polygemist.(sp?) Anyhow, I REALLY find these photos offensive, because they are wearing the garments, etc. To those of us who are LDS and truly believe, these are SACRED to us. So why is it necessary to trash and belittle what others hold so dearly? And don’t think I’m not in the know. My brother Daniel died from AIDS. We shared his life and struggled with his painful death. This isn’t for me, but for those that you put it out there for, is it truly necessary to be so offensive?

Don’t ask me about the polygamy reference, ’cause I don’t have a clue, either. But anyway, part of my response to Loni says:

If the photos had been taken purely to belittle or offend, or if they blatantly desecrated your sacred garments, I may agree with you. However, the photos were taken to visually represent a very real situation in this world and in our church. That’s what art, at its best, does: mirror real-life in ways that are sometimes uncomfortable.

I think what the photos depict is sacred; it’s love, after all. You probably disagree, and that’s fine. But there’s nothing wrong with art that depicts my religion and something else I think is sacred. It’s not an attack, but a recognition and reflection on reality.

As you’ll read in other comments, no one else has said anything about them being offensive. If your comment is really for those I “put it out there for,” it looks like we’re fine since I’ve only had appreciative comments from other gay people, both Mormon and not.