Daniel González, Rafael Carranza, and Laura Gómez

The Republic | azcentral.com

Document has generated hard feelings among friends

Some signers have backed away from some aspects of the document

Author denies the document was politically motivated

To read a version of this story in Spanish, click here. Para leer en español aquí.

Tony Moya has known Petra Falcon for more than 25 years.

When Falcon ran unsuccessfully for the state Legislature in 1988, Moya walked through neighborhoods in south Phoenix knocking on doors trying to help her get elected. Moya has considered her a close friend ever since. After his mother died in November, Moya confided to her that he was having difficult time coping with her loss.

But their friendship has been strained, if not broken, since Moya saw on Facebook that Falcon was among about 50 Latino religious and community leaders who signed a document declaring that traditional Hispanic family values define marriage as "between a man and a woman."

Moya, who is gay, was so upset, he posted photo of himself and his partner of 21 years, Santiago Serna, 51, and their pet cat, Gato. The couple recently sent out cards announcing they plan to marry on Oct. 1.

"This is my family," wrote Moya, 52, a corporate community relations manager who is well-known in the Latino community. "We do not condone nor do we respect those who spew hate toward our family. If for any reason my family does not fit your description of what a family is I suggest (you) remove yourself from my page."

The message, he said, was directed at Falcon and other people he considers friends who signed the document.

"I was very disappointed with her along with others," he said.

Document divides Latino leaders

Moya's response is an example of some of the hard feelings generated by the document, which has divided leaders of the Latino community who often work together on issues of common concern such as immigration and education.

Now some who signed the document are expressing misgivings over the pain it has caused.

Falcon said she planned to call Moya to explain why she signed.

"I signed it because I believe God wants us to take care of each other and that document is about taking care of each other. I did not sign it to be hurtful and hateful," said Falcon, who is executive director of Promise Arizona, a group that advocates for Latino immigrants and their families on issues such as immigration.

"Declaration of Values," a two-page document written in English and Spanish, accuses the Spanish mass media of promoting "false" models for marriage and chastises some Hispanic political leaders for having "abandoned the moral and religious principles" of Latino culture.

The declaration goes on to reject the objectification of women, promiscuity and abortion, as well as "every attempt to redefine the concept of marriage."

The document also states that "by God's design, the covenantal union of one man and one woman" is "the most optimal environment for the integral and healthy development of children.

"Two fathers will never replace a mother. Two mothers will never replace a father," the document states.

The document also blasts Spanish media for the "constant promotion" of "narcoculture" and calls on supporters "to stop consuming the products or services of those businesses or companies that do not respect our authentic family values."

Promoting respect for family values

The document was drafted by Cristofer Pereyra, the director of the Hispanic Mission Office for the Phoenix Catholic Diocese and a former reporter at the Phoenix affiliate of Univision. He wrote it in collaboration with several evangelical pastors and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Pereyra said the goal of the document was to bring together representatives of several major faiths to promote respect for traditional family values, which they view as being under attack in the media and society.

"Here we don't want to impose anything on anyone, what we are asking is to be respected," Pereyra said. "We feel that in a free country like the United States where anyone can clearly do what they want with their life, we feel that mass media is trying to transform our culture, (and) turn it into something it is not."

Bishop Thomas Olmsted "definitely" supports the initiative and the document, but did not sign it, Pereyra said.

Jose Gonzalez, an evangelical pastor who also helped draft the document, said it was not intended to offend anyone.

"If others promote other things that run against our values, and they are within their right, we are also in our right to clear things up for people who may be confused, to promote what we do," he said.

The document was signed at an event on May 14 on the lawn of the state Capitol, and then posted a few days later on Facebook.

Pereyra said the response he has received "is overwhelmingly positive."

But not everyone has reacted that way. And some who signed it have now expressed regrets.

"I probably would not (have signed it), had I read it and finally understood it," said businessman Julian Nabozny, who owns several McDonald's franchises in the Valley.

Nabozny, a Catholic, said he signed because he is staunchly pro-life. But he said didn't read the entire document until he was sent a copy the day after.

"And so I can tell you that the only areas that I will endorse and support is the anti-abortion part. The rest I cannot agree with, I will not support."

'A coordinated attack' by Spanish media?

Yasser Sanchez, a Mesa attorney and member of the LDS faith, said he does not regret signing the document because he agrees with the core message of "promoting family values" and believes that message has become increasingly lost or ignored in the Spanish media's coverage of gay-rights issues.

There is "a coordinated attack" by the Spanish language media to "get Latinos away from the religious family values that we have been attached to and committed to for years," he said.

However, Sanchez said he wishes the document had also included a section calling for tolerance and mutual respect.

"What I would have loved is an introduction that says we are all children of God. He loves all his children," Sanchez said.

He also said he was uncomfortable with the section of the document calling for a boycott.

"When I heard the statement read out loud, I was like, 'Ugh. What?' " Sanchez said.

Latino attitudes changing toward gays

The document has stirred an outcry from critics who believe it was motivated in part as a reaction to the LGBT rights movement. In 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states cannot ban same-sex marriage, making it legal in all 50 states.

Latinos' view of same-sex marriage also has changed dramatically, according to the Pew Research Center.

The center found that 52 percent of Latinos favored same-sex marriage and 34 percent opposed it in 2012, the most recent data available. That was a significant reversal from 2006, when 56 percent of Latinos opposed same-sex marriage and 31 percent favored it, the center said.

The report noted, however, that evangelical Latinos as well as older Latinos who vote Republican are more opposed to same-sex marriage than Latinos with no religious affiliation and Latinos who are younger and vote Democratic.

Pope Francis has called for Catholics to be more accepting of gays, while remaining opposed to same-sex marriage.

Moya said he was raised Catholic and taught catechism for six years at St. Anthony's church. But he said he is no longer a practicing Catholic because of the church's stance against same-sex marriage.

Even so, Moya said, "All that I taught and what I was taught is contrary to what they are saying. To me it’s about love and acceptance and not knocking each other down."

But Kenneth Patrick Smith, a Mesa-based lawyer and member of the LDS faith who signed the Declaration of Values, insisted the document isn’t condemning those who don’t share its views on family.

“This is not a group that is anti-anything, but is pro-family,” said Smith, who is also the honorary consul of Chile in Arizona. “We don’t have to attack anybody, we just promote what we believe in and what we feel is right and let other people know that they are not alone if they feel the same way.”

Moya said he views the document as an attempt to blame the growing acceptance of same-sex marriage as "the number one concern facing the downfall of the Latino community, when there are more important issues affecting the Latino community, such as affordable housing, education, voter engagement."

"Those are to me some of the key issues and problems facing the Latino community," he said.

Did document threaten boycott?

There is also concern that the document is an attempt to pressure Spanish-language news outlets to back off covering gay-rights issues by threatening to boycott them.

"We live in a country with right of expression," said Stella Paolini, 61. She said gay-rights issues are frequently a topic she covers on the Spanish-language morning program she hosts on radio station KNUV 1190-AM called "Mujeres Unicas" — Unique Women.

"I came from Argentina," Paolini said. "I moved (to the U.S.) because there was a lot of liberty of expression. Why do I have to come and live in this country and now a group of religious leaders tell me or people from the media how we are going to do our work."

She said also felt deceived because she, along with representatives from other media outlets, was asked to help promote the event without being told the media would be attacked in the document.

It accuses Spanish media of promoting "false" models of marriage as well as "polluting the minds of our young people" through the "constant promotion" of "narcoculture" on television, radio and film through "narco-novelas and narco-coridos."

"It's hypocrisy," she said.

Gerardo Higginson, the spokesman for KTVW Univision in Phoenix, declined to comment. The Telemundo affiliate in Phoenix referred questions to the corporate NBCUniversal offices, which did not return a request for comment.

Mi-Ai Parrish, publisher of Republic Media, which includes the Spanish-language publication La Voz, said she was "very supportive of our editorial decisions in La Voz, which are of top-notch journalistic integrity."

Author denies document is political

Some critics also believe the document is a part of a political tactic to drum up support for Republican candidates by appealing to the growing number of Latino voters through conservative social issues.

"It’s absolutely a political statement," said state Sen. Martin Quezada, a Democrat whose district includes the west side of Phoenix, which is heavily Latino.

He pointed out that the event where Latino leaders were asked to sign the document took place at the state Capitol during a presidential election year at a time when campaign rhetoric from real-estate mogul Donald Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee, is driving Latinos away from the Republican Party.

Among the community leaders on hand to sign the document was Matthew Brown, the Arizona field director for the Libre Initiative, a non-profit, nonpartisan group funded by the conservative billionaire Koch brothers that targets Latino voters. Sergio Arellano, the southern Arizona field director of Hispanic Initiatives at the Arizona Republican Party, also attended the signing event. Brown and Arellano could not be reached.

"There is definitely a need to connect with that community, with that voting bloc, especially given what is happening with the presidential race this year and how Latinos are really fleeing from the Republican nominee in droves," Quezada said.

"If Republicans down-ticket are going to be successful, there needs to be a lot of rebuilding with that community."

Pereyra, at the Catholic Diocese, said it is not true that the goal of the document is to drum up support for conservative candidates.

"It would be absurd to even say that is the case," he said.

While some sections call on political leaders to "consider anew" relations with groups that don't support "God's plan for marriage" the document does not single out one party. He said both Republicans and Democrats signed the document and the signing event was held at the Capitol to convey the document's importance.

"Does it say anything that we made it at the state Capitol? It definitely says that we wanted everybody to hear," Pereyra said.

He also denied that the document calls for a boycott of businesses or media outlets.

"Nobody in this group ... is going to spend time or energy making people boycott any company," Pereyra said.

"What we are going to do is individually, each one of us are going to make a conscious decision as to when we make our purchases or consume goods to make sure that we are not supporting institutions or companies that are openly anti-family values."