10/27/2008
UPDATE: 'Proposition 8' Battle Intensifies — Please Read
The battle to defeat Proposition 8 shows no signs of abating. If anything it is intensifying, and recent donations to the 'Yes on 8' campaign show frightening financial gains for gay marriage ban supporters. Here are a whole bunch of updates on the battle that have been posted SINCE Friday alone.
You can donate by clicking HERE.
A school official ASSAULTED a 'No on 8 protestor Friday night and it was caught on camera but for some reason he was not charged.
Gavin Newsom recorded a message on Prop 8 and writes a message in the Huffington Post.
A "Yes on 8" supporter has pledged a $1 million matching donation according to campaign strategist Frank Schubert. Schubert sent out this plea to gay marriage foes: ""Through the grace of God, one of our most fervent supporters has agreed to make a sacrificial gift to match, dollar for dollar, whatever you and others can donate, up to a total of $1 million. That means that every dollar you give will buy two dollars in advertising time. Please help us buy more advertising time now. And if you can make a sacrificial gift yourself, we ask you to prayerfully consider doing so immediately. The institution of marriage which we so dearly love depends on what we do together over the next few days."
L.A. Times: "Schubert didn't identify the big donor. But Howard Ahmanson Jr. gave another $150,000 this week to the Yes-on-8 campaign. Ahmanson is the wealthy Orange County philanthropist who has funded numerous conservative candidates and Christian causes over the years. He now has given $1.145 million to Proposition 8 backers, making him the measure's largest individual donor."
Former Ambassador to Luxembourg James Hormel gave another $100,000 to the 'No on 8' fight, pushing his total to $350,000. And "David Maltz, a Cleveland philanthropist who funds numerous gay-rights and other organizations, also gave an extra $100,000, pushing his total to $1.1 million."
Associated Press: California gay marriage ban a big money race. "At least 64,000 people from all 50 states and more than 20 other countries have given money to support or oppose a same-sex marriage ban in California, reflecting broad interest in the race that some consider second in national importance only to the presidential election. Ten days before the vote on Proposition 8, campaign finance records show that total contributions for and against the measure have surpassed $60 million." More on the money race from CBS.
Two new spots for 'No on Prop 8' appeared on Friday and Saturday. One features a group of mothers expressing their opposition. The other is geared toward Hispanic voters and features the stars of the television show Ugly Betty, America Ferrera, Tony Plana & Ana Ortiz.
Maria Shriver, the wife of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, told KNBC-TV in Los Angeles that she is opposed to Proposition 8: "I believe in people's right to choose a partner that they love, and that's a decision that I have come to, and I have felt that way for a long time."
The Mormon church has SCALED BACK its campaign for 'Yes on 8' and curtailed its Utah campaign operation: "Church members will no longer be making phone calls from Utah to California voters, Kim Farah, a spokeswoman for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said in a prepared statement Friday. At the request of the Yes on Proposition 8 campaign, church members in Utah had been enlisted to make calls on behalf of the measure. 'However, the church has since determined that such phone calls are best handled by those who are registered California voters,' Farah said."
The battle has DIVIDED Mormon faithful: "The thought of going to church in her southern California LDS ward makes Carol Oldham cry. She can't face one more sermon against same-sex marriage. She can't tolerate the glares at the rainbow pin on her lapel."
Check out our report on a protest and counter-protest in Huntington Beach on Sunday.
A 'No on 8' demonstration in Oakland drew 50 people to the Mormon Temple on Sunday: "Holding signs that read 'No to Mormon Bigots' and 'tax church property and investments,' the protesters said they'd come to make a statement. 'I can't believe that a religious group that preaches truth and love is asking their members to campaign and donate to take away my civil rights,' said Jill Shearer, 40, of Oakland. Shearer grew up in San Ramon and was raised Mormon. When she came out as a lesbian, she said her family still kept her close."
A gay couple in East Marysville was the victim of an attack by "Yes on 8" supporters: "Someone knocked on their Marysville door just after dark and fled before anyone came to the door. When Kelly Rieckert opened her front door, she was greeted by an unwanted surprise -- a 'Yes On Proposition 8' sign was attached to a gate on her door, facing inward. Other signs supporting the proposed ban on same-sex marriage were also placed on her property. Rieckert and her spouse live in a neighborhood lined with pro-Proposition 8 posters, and never put up opposing signs in hopes of staying under the radar. Now, she says she feels targeted." VIDEO.
Here's the 'Yes on Proposition 8' side's latest DISGUSTING and MISLEADING ad:
USA Today: Turnout will be key in marriage battles in California, Florida, and Arizona. "Expected record turnout among blacks and young voters backing Democrat Barack Obama could cut both ways. Most members of Tampa's African-American Beulah Baptist Institutional Church view gay marriage as 'an abomination to God's word,' minister W. James Favorite says. He rejects equating the struggle for gay rights with the civil rights movement. Opponents hope young people, who a Pew Research Center for the People & the Press poll showed are more tolerant of gay marriage, will help their side.
Gavin Newsom has penned a letter to Bay Area Colleges urging a 'no' vote on Proposition 8: "It is up to every single one of us to take the time to change minds. In just the last week I have been blogging, emailing, texting my own friends, sending out notices to my Facebook supporters, emailing my address books, raising money and speaking out around the state."
Finally, here's a message that says Protect These Children by voting NO on Proposition 8:
You can donate by clicking HERE.
The national implications of the passage of this ban could not be greater.
Posted 8:11 AM EST by Andy Towle in California, Gay Marriage, News | Permalink
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Great coverage Andy, and a reminder to ignore all the trolls who bitch that you only care about eye candy and fluff.
Posted by: patrick nyc | Oct 27, 2008 8:36:33 AM
It's odd that these people who have chosen to believe in religion regard marriage sexually and not as a union of love.
Confusing freedom of one's chosen religious beliefs with the judgmental oppression of others seems to be a choice of a hypocritical and despotic lifestyle.
Posted by: A.J. | Oct 27, 2008 9:13:11 AM
Someone lock Gavin Newsom in a dark room and not let him out until after election day. He hurts our side so much. What a prick.
Posted by: Tom | Oct 27, 2008 10:05:32 AM
Tom - what side are you on? Gay Marriage in California would not be legal today if it were not for Gavin Newsom. He does not hurt our side - ignorance does.
Posted by: randall | Oct 27, 2008 10:43:34 AM
I cannot believe that it has come to this. We doubt our own rights to civil marriage so much that we are willing to sanction a fund-raiser for Equality? Will we have enough money to "win" equal rights? This should NEVER have become an issue that Americans vote on, and the state-by-state approach, while considered "the only way" by most activists, leads us to a country where our rights (and our children's rights) appear and disappear when driving cross-country. INSANITY. The state-by-state approach also ignores DOMA and the Federal protections and rights of marriage the states cannot provide.
I hope to God Almighty we "earn" a NO on PROP 8, but maybe one day we will have the fortitude to NOT go down this pathetic road of donating money to purchase a right we deserved long, long ago. If I sound bitter, it's only becasue I lost my life's work and over $70,000 of investments, due to marriage inequality (divorce without legal protection). So naturally the idea of SPENDING money for my Family's right to marriage sickens me.
Posted by: John Bisceglia | Oct 27, 2008 10:55:06 AM
Now I know why the hater at the Huntington Beach rally kept talking about the "liberals in education" and saying that "teaching about marriage is required in 96% of schools". Clearly it is because of this ad.
The fact of the matter is that CA public schools, discussions of marriage and family are governed by SB 71, which treats such discussions as "anti-discrimination, anti-harrassment training". Our side needs to put out an ad stating unequivocally that discussions of marriage in public schools fall under the jurisdiction of SB 71 and have nothing to do with Prop 8.
Posted by: peterparker | Oct 27, 2008 11:44:19 AM
This is a modern-day inquisition! The fact is, most Californians belong to Churches that are AGAINST proposition 8. See JesusSaysNoOn8.com
Except these churches are too Moral and Ethical to enter politics. They were caught off-guard buy out-of-state zealots.
Posted by: REVEREND JOE BAYTZIM | Oct 27, 2008 12:25:08 PM
Where are the TV ads that Ellen was supposedly paying to run?
Posted by: Alan | Oct 27, 2008 12:55:45 PM
We need help online, The Mormons are spreading lies on Youtube videos for No on Prop 8! Please create an account and leave messages with facts! They are using innocent little kids to get more votes and they are using scare taticts! We desperately need help online! Please do what you can!
We are so close to make history! Please help us out!
VOTE NO ON HATE VOTE NO ON 8!!
Posted by: Jack | Oct 27, 2008 1:48:39 PM
Ecclesiastical Proclamation
Universal Life Church Monastery:
Ecclesiastical Proclamation of Canon Law All humans have an inalienable right and duty to practice their own peaceful religious traditions. However, religion should not contradict the reality of creation. "Why does God give us instincts and then set all the rules in opposition?" asks John Milton of Kevin Lomax in the movie The Devil’s Advocate. This question poses a dilemma for many believers. We are told that what separates humans from all other forms of life on earth is that we are endowed with free will. Given the choice to yield to our instincts, or consciously deny our primal instructions, the laws set forth in whichever holy book we might follow often prescribes a model of behavior that demands sacrifice. The theory of evolution is now academically accepted as the most believable explanation for the variety of life on earth. For argument's sake, we shall accept the Vatican's position that if evolution occurred, it may very well have been under the impetus and guidance of “divine intelligence.” Thus we assume that animals, endowed with neither free will nor conscience, evolved in accordance with creation’s design. How then can we explain the existence of homosexuality observed and documented in over 500 species of animals?
Christian dogma holds that the function of sexuality is procreation and any aberration is perverse and unnatural. Such is the placing of gods over humanity, the placing of junk science over reality, and the placing of belief over knowledge. Zoologists have observed, in a wide variety of species from dolphins to orangutans, a consistent frequency of homosexual behavior. Take for example New York’s Central Park Zoo's male penguin couple that raised their young together, making headlines around the world. If animals behave instinctively in response to stimuli and not out of a socially constructed code of conduct, would it not stand to reason that we, their evolutionary cousins, might possess a similar biological imprint? We may not be willing to abandon ancient traditions and practices, but we can adapt them to our new understanding of the universe. It is difficult to reconcile this evidence through deductive reason and rational thought with the condemnation of homosexual behavior found in antiquated and archaic Scriptures. In our search for truth we must not shy away from intellectual honesty and scientific evidence that causes us to question hitherto unquestioned belief. Would a loving God create something, and then condemn it?
None of us can ignore the primal instruction of Creation. Moreover, why did Jesus avoid any utterance on the subject? Nor can we ignore the apparent biblical gay relationships of Ruth and Naomi or David & Jonathan. Clearly, we have wavered from the path of legitimate search, transition, and discovery. We as a people differ on the story of our origins, but these divisions, worsened by our quarrelsome, arrogant nature, now imperil our future and the future of earth. All religions must adapt to unfolding knowledge about the universe we live in, without rejecting deep spiritual connections to human history and the natural real world that we are a part of today.
Today the Board of Directors issues this Ecclesiastical Proclamation; All persons with love for one another have a religious and constitutional right under the 1st Amendment of the United States, to the Sacrament of Marriage. Such is invoked under natural, primal, and religious law. Given this understanding, we hold that it is a denial of religious rights by the United States government to restrain our ministers from their constitutional right to perform the ritual of the Sacrament of Marriage to consenting adults, regadless of sexual design.
Our campaign on the “Road to Jericho” will include instituting legal action against all entities of government within the United States who traverse the First Amendment by refusing the rights of Holy Sacrament as offered to heterosexual couples when denied to homosexual couples.
Adopted and Approved: Thursday, April 12, 2007 Universal Life Church Monastery Storehouse Board of Directors
Posted by: Br. Martin | Oct 27, 2008 3:36:19 PM
Ecclesiastical Proclamation
Universal Life Church Monastery:
Ecclesiastical Proclamation of Canon Law All humans have an inalienable right and duty to practice their own peaceful religious traditions. However, religion should not contradict the reality of creation. "Why does God give us instincts and then set all the rules in opposition?" asks John Milton of Kevin Lomax in the movie The Devil’s Advocate. This question poses a dilemma for many believers. We are told that what separates humans from all other forms of life on earth is that we are endowed with free will. Given the choice to yield to our instincts, or consciously deny our primal instructions, the laws set forth in whichever holy book we might follow often prescribes a model of behavior that demands sacrifice. The theory of evolution is now academically accepted as the most believable explanation for the variety of life on earth. For argument's sake, we shall accept the Vatican's position that if evolution occurred, it may very well have been under the impetus and guidance of “divine intelligence.” Thus we assume that animals, endowed with neither free will nor conscience, evolved in accordance with creation’s design. How then can we explain the existence of homosexuality observed and documented in over 500 species of animals?
Christian dogma holds that the function of sexuality is procreation and any aberration is perverse and unnatural. Such is the placing of gods over humanity, the placing of junk science over reality, and the placing of belief over knowledge. Zoologists have observed, in a wide variety of species from dolphins to orangutans, a consistent frequency of homosexual behavior. Take for example New York’s Central Park Zoo's male penguin couple that raised their young together, making headlines around the world. If animals behave instinctively in response to stimuli and not out of a socially constructed code of conduct, would it not stand to reason that we, their evolutionary cousins, might possess a similar biological imprint? We may not be willing to abandon ancient traditions and practices, but we can adapt them to our new understanding of the universe. It is difficult to reconcile this evidence through deductive reason and rational thought with the condemnation of homosexual behavior found in antiquated and archaic Scriptures. In our search for truth we must not shy away from intellectual honesty and scientific evidence that causes us to question hitherto unquestioned belief. Would a loving God create something, and then condemn it?
None of us can ignore the primal instruction of Creation. Moreover, why did Jesus avoid any utterance on the subject? Nor can we ignore the apparent biblical gay relationships of Ruth and Naomi or David & Jonathan. Clearly, we have wavered from the path of legitimate search, transition, and discovery. We as a people differ on the story of our origins, but these divisions, worsened by our quarrelsome, arrogant nature, now imperil our future and the future of earth. All religions must adapt to unfolding knowledge about the universe we live in, without rejecting deep spiritual connections to human history and the natural real world that we are a part of today.
Today the Board of Directors issues this Ecclesiastical Proclamation; All persons with love for one another have a religious and constitutional right under the 1st Amendment of the United States, to the Sacrament of Marriage. Such is invoked under natural, primal, and religious law. Given this understanding, we hold that it is a denial of religious rights by the United States government to restrain our ministers from their constitutional right to perform the ritual of the Sacrament of Marriage to consenting adults, regadless of sexual design.
Our campaign on the “Road to Jericho” will include instituting legal action against all entities of government within the United States who traverse the First Amendment by refusing the rights of Holy Sacrament as offered to heterosexual couples when denied to homosexual couples.
Adopted and Approved: Thursday, April 12, 2007 Universal Life Church Monastery Storehouse Board of Directors
Posted by: Br. Martin | Oct 27, 2008 3:39:02 PM