Mormon Halloween bash bans 'cross-gender' costumes

[October 29, 2011]  SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A recent Halloween party hosted by a Mormon church ward in Utah angered at least one resident after fliers specified no "cross-gender" costumes.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports (http://bit.ly/tADEfV) that meant no girls dressed as Harry Potter or boys as Lady Liberty at the party in Sandy.

Raquel Smith says she was "appalled" when she read the flier taped to her door. She is not a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The flier urged children to "wear costumes" but noted, "please no masks or cross-gender dressing."

Smith calls it "fear-mongering and hate-driven."

LDS Bishop Dennis Toone, whose ward hosted the party, says he thought it was church policy but it wasn't. He says anyone who didn't like the rule didn't have to come.

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Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune, http://www.sltrib.com/

[Associated Press]

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