Fired professor stands firm in support of gay marriage

He admires his friends at BYU but does not hold a desire to return to the LDS Church-owned school.

For now Nielsen is excited about launching his new concept called the Democracy House Project.

DHP is similar to a multilevel marketing program, "minus the get-rich-quick aspect," he said, because people host small meetings at their house and invite 5-10 people or couples for training in democracy and grassroots policy solutions.

The 30-60 people or couples who were invited to attend the first meetings hold meetings at their houses. And the meetings continue to exponentially grow, with the goal of educating thousands throughout the United States.

Nielsen said he wants people to consider answers to issues such as same-sex marriage, immigration and poverty.

"If people could sit down and have mutual respect for each opinion, I think we could (gain understanding of) each other," he said.

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E-mail: lhancock@desnews.com