Prominent Catholics To Pope Francis: Replace Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone

Via the San Francisco Chronicle:

In an unprecedented move, more than 100 prominent Roman Catholic donors and church members signed a full-page ad running Thursday in The Chronicle that calls on Pope Francis to replace San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone for fostering “an atmosphere of division and intolerance.” The plea follows months of dissent within the archdiocese over Cordileone’s emphasis on traditional, conservative church doctrine — including asking high school teachers and staffers at Catholic schools to sign a morality clause that characterizes sex outside of marriage and homosexual relations as “gravely evil.”

In their open letter to the pope, Cordileone’s critics say his morality-clause push is mean-spirited and “sets a pastoral tone that is closer to persecution than evangelization.” The ad drew swift condemnation from the archdiocese, which said those who signed it don’t speak for San Francisco’s Catholic community.

The list of signatories includes Brian Cahill, the retired executive director of Catholic Charities, former city commissioner and Boudin Bakery executive Lou Giraudo, retired Swinerton Builders Chairman David Grubb, businessman and former political consultant Clint Reilly and his wife, Janet, San Francisco attorney Michael Kelly, and Charles Geschke, chairman of Adobe Systems and former head of the University of San Francisco Board of Trustees. Also on the list is Tom Brady Sr., father of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.

Cordileone is considered by some to be the "father of Prop 8" and he will again attend NOM's upcoming hate march at the Supreme Court. Hit the link for much more about the petition.

CALIFORNIA: AG Kamala Harris To Make 2016 Bid For Barbara Boxer's Senate Seat

Via USA Today:

California Attorney General Kamala Harris formally launched her campaign for the U.S. Senate and immediately pushed the nascent 2016 race to a new level. "I want to be a voice for Californians," Harris said in an message to supporters posted on her website. "I will be a fighter for the next generation on the critical issues facing our country." Harris is the first major candidate to officially declare she wants to succeed Sen. Barbara Boxer, a liberal who is retiring after four terms. The California attorney general is a charismatic Democratic who also happens to be multi-ethnic — her father is from Jamaica and her mother is of South Asian descent — and who has already won two statewide races.

Harris is an ardent LGBT ally and personally officiated for two of the Prop 8 plaintiffs immediately after the 2013 Supreme Court ruling.

AP Calls It: DeMaio Has Lost

Carl DeMaio Burns Inside

From the California GOP, which notes that DeMaio has won the endorsement of the San Diego U-T, whose owner was a major backer of Prop 8.

AFER's Ted Olson: The SCOTUS Decision Was The Highlight Of My Life

"It does seem to suggest, if I was a federal judge, I would read today’s decision as saying that the opponents, if they still exist, on the Supreme Court of marriage equality have decided they don’t want to get into this and they sort of feel that the federal judges — one after the other, after the other, after the other — are getting it right and at this point they ought to just leave it alone. We believe, those of us who have been involved in this effort, that the Supreme Court having decided not to overturn or not to even review the decisions of these circuit courts ultimately will grant that same right and that same privilege to people all over the United States. To see the United States Supreme Court recognize in this way the love of these individuals and the happiness that they will soon be able to experience is the highlight of my life.” - Ted Olson, speaking to Metro Weekly.  Olson, with fellow AFER attorney David Boies, represented Timothy Bostic and Tony London in their suit against Virginia.

Open Thread Thursday

One year ago today the Supreme Court changed the LGBT landscape forever. Tell us where you were and how the DOMA and Prop 8 rulings may have affected you.

Archbishop Cordileone: YOU People Are The Haters, I'm Going To NOM's March

Last week dozen of prominent politicians and faith leaders sent a letter to San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, urging him not to attend NOM's hate march in Washington DC. Yesterday Cordileone responded to them with a letter of his own. Here's an excerpt:

It gives me assurance that we share a common disdain for harsh and hateful rhetoric. It must be pointed out, though, that there is plenty of offensive rhetoric which flows in the opposite direction. In fact, for those who support the conjugal understanding of marriage, the attacks have not stopped at rhetoric. Simply for taking a stand for marriage as it has been understood in every human society for millennia, people have lost their jobs, lost their livelihoods, and have suffered other types of retribution, including physical violence. It is true that historically in our society violence has been perpetrated against persons who experience attraction to members of the same sex, and this is to be deplored and eradicated. Sadly, though, we are now beginning to see examples, although thankfully not widespread, of even physical violence against those who hold to the conjugal view of marriage (such as, most notably, the attempted gunning down of those who work in the offices of the Family Research Council). While it is true that free speech can be used to offend others, it is not so much people exercising their right to free speech that drives us further apart than people punished precisely for doing so that does.

Cordileone also denies that NOM has "connected pedophilia" to homosexuality, but ignores the fact that leader of the Family Research Council, whom he mentions one paragraph earlier, has often done exactly that.  The FRC is a co-sponsor of NOM's hate march.

Read Cordileone's full letter.

RELATED: Cordileone is known as the "father of Prop 8."

As an auxiliary bishop in San Diego, Cordileone played an indispensable role in conceiving, funding, organizing, and ultimately winning the campaign to pass Proposition 8. It was Bishop Sal and a small group of Catholic leaders who decided that they had to amend the state constitution. It was Bishop Sal who found the first major donor and flushed the fledgling campaign with cash. It was Bishop Sal who personally brought in the organization that took the lead on the petition drive. And it was Bishop Sal who coordinated the Catholic effort with evangelical churches around the state. Bishop Sal even helped craft the campaign's rhetorical strategy, sitting in on focus groups to hone the message of Proposition 8. We know all this because as homosexuals and their supporters were wondering how this all came about, Cordileone gloated about his work in an interview with an obscure Catholic radio network. He bragged about how gay men and lesbians never saw him coming and called gay marriage a Satanic plot by "the Evil One" to destroy morality in the modern world.

COMPILATION: Gay News In The 2000s

JMG reader Dave Evans has compiled 40 minutes of gay-related news clips that aired in the 2000s. Among the topics: Lawrence V Texas, the Hate Crimes Act, Massachusetts marriage, Proposition 8, DADT, and DOMA.

PREVIOUSLY ON JMG: Compilations of gay news in the 1970s, gay news in the 1980s, gay news in the 1990s, and the first ten years of HIV/AIDS.

SAN DIEGO: County Clerk May Lose Election Over Gay Marriage Opposition

Following last year's overturn of Prop 8, San Diego County Clerk Ernie Dronenburg filed a petition with the California Supreme Court asking that most state clerks be barred from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. According to Dronenburg, the SCOTUS ruling only applied to the two counties, Alameda and Los Angeles, where the Prop 8 plaintiffs lived. Dronenburg's action was endorsed by NOM, who called him "courageous." 

Dronenburg is now up for reelection and according to a just-released poll, his opposition to marriage equality might cost him his job.

With less than a week to go until the primary election, more than 4 in 10 people are still undecided on who they will vote for in the San Diego County clerk race, according to a new 10News poll conducted by SurveyUSA. The poll results released Friday found that 44 percent of the likeliest voters were unsure on which way they leaned in the race between incumbent Ernie Dronenburg and challenger Susan Guinn. Among decided voters, Dronenburg held a narrow 21 to 19 percent lead over Guinn, a statistically insignificant lead. But according to the poll, it's the gay marriage issue that could decide the race. When asked whether Dronenburg's decision last year to issue a stay on issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples impacted their vote, 41 percent of respondents said yes and 39 percent said no. 18 percent said the impact was minor. Guinn, who is married to her partner and sits on the board of Equality California, said, "People don't want politicians who abuse their office for their own political agenda. But this race isn't about gay marriage. We don't want a career politician who isn't doing his job."

Neither candidate is expected to get the 50% required to avoid a runoff. The primary is Tuesday.

Married Gay Tech Developers Announce Boycott Of Mozilla Over New CEO

On Monday, Mozilla appointed a new CEO who in 2008 donated $1000 to the Prop 8 campaign. Yesterday a boycott was announced by a married gay couple that runs a development company that produces products for Mozilla's Firefox browser.

Hampton Catlin, creator of Wikipedia Mobile and CSS extension language Sass, said he would no longer develop apps for Firefox after Eich's appointment. Catlin and his husband run a development firm called Rarebit which makes a game called Color Puzzle and was set to bring a dictionary app to Firefox Marketplace. In a blog post, Catlin wrote: "As a married gay couple who are co-founders of this venture, we have chosen to boycott all Mozilla projects. We will not develop apps or test styles on Firefox any more. This is in protest of the appointment of Brendan Eich to the position of CEO of the Mozilla Foundation, where he had previously served as CTO. We will continue our boycott until Brendan Eich is completely removed from any day to day activities at Mozilla, which we believe is extremely unlikely after all he’s survived and the continued support he has received from Mozilla.”

It wasn't until the Supreme Court overturned Prop 8 that the couple married. Catlin was also able to sponsor a visa for his British husband with the overturn of DOMA. The couple married at San Francisco City Hall on the very day of the Prop 8 ruling, landing their story on the front page of the New York Times. Read Catlin's blog post about the boycott and his open letter to Mozilla.

Prop 8 Donor Named Mozilla CEO

The newly named CEO of Mozilla, the makers of the Firefox brower, is Brandon Eich, who gained headlines in 2008 when it was revealed that he had donated $1000 to the backers of Proposition 8.  From his personal blog:

A donation that I made in support of California Proposition 8 four years ago became public knowledge and sparked a firestorm of comments in the last few days, mostly on Twitter. People in other countries or other U.S. states do not know why “Mozilla” was listed in the donation data. Donors above a certain amount are required by the State of California to disclose their employer. Mozilla had nothing to do with the donation. I’m not going to discuss Prop 8 here or on Twitter. There is no point in talking with the people who are baiting, ranting, and hurling four-letter abuse. Personal hatred conveyed through curse words is neither rational nor charitable, and strong feelings on any side of an issue do not justify it. In contrast, people expressing non-abusive anger, sadness, or disagreement, I understand, grieve, and humbly accept.

For someone who is "not going to discuss Prop 8", he manages to go on for several more paragraphs. (Tipped by JMG reader Chris)

REPORT: AFER Paid $6.4 Million To Law Firms In Proposition 8 Case

Michael Lavers reports at Washington Blade:

The American Foundation for Equal Rights between 2009 and 2013 paid more than $6.4 million to two law firms that successfully argued against California’s Proposition 8. Tax filings indicate former U.S. Solicitor General Ted Olson’s law firm – Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP – received $1,691,714 from AFER for “legal and ancillary legal expenses” between April 23, 2009, and March 31, 2010. The organization paid the law firm $958,655 between April 1, 2010, and March 31, 2011, and another $2,758,352 between April 1, 2011, through March 31, 2012. Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP received $537,939 from AFER between April 1, 2012, and March 31, 2013. The organization also paid David Boies’ law firm – Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP – $468,089 for “legal and ancillary legal expenses” between April 1, 2010, through March 31, 2011.

A spokesman for AFER says the money was well-spent.

“AFER’s case resulted in the return of marriage equality in California for a fraction of the cost of a ballot measure,” AFER Executive Director Adam Umhoefer told the Washington Blade on Tuesday. Tax filings also indicate AFER raised $14,900,467 between April 23, 2009, and March 31, 2013, that Umhoefer told the Blade includes a “large amount” of contributions from Republican donors. He added his organization estimates the Prop 8 case also generated millions of dollars in earned media coverage for which it did not have to pay.

The Blade notes that Prop 8 backers raised $40M to place the issue on the 2008 California ballot.

Prop 8 Doc Wins Sundance Prize

Yesterday The Case Against 8 won the Best Documentary Direction prize at the Sundance Film Festival.

The Case Against 8 / U.S.A. (Directors: Ben Cotner, Ryan White) — A behind-the-scenes look inside the case to overturn California’s ban on same-sex marriage. Shot over five years, the film follows the unlikely team that took the first federal marriage equality lawsuit to the U.S. Supreme Court. Directors say they met at Sundance five years ago and also thank the “incredibly inspiring people we were able to follow around for 5 years.” They also thank HBO and the lawyers who “showed that civil rights know no boundaries.”

The film airs on HBO in June.

Happy New Year, JMG Community!

Yet another eventful year has come and gone for this here website thingy. In 2013 we saw nearly 28 million pageviews on just over 10,000 posts on which you folks left over a million comments.  As I mentioned in this post last year, news blogging is like a homework assignment that is never done, but is always due. Nevertheless, you all make it a lot easier with your emails, your story tips, and your encouragement.

Years from now it might be argued that 2013 was the most momentous in the history of our movement. From Edith Windsor's DOMA win to the final overturn of Prop 8 to state after state coming into the light of civil equality, it was truly breathtaking the speed at which our victories piled up. But as we saw with the intensely ugly spectacle at the Hawaii statehouse, the enemies of justice, to a discouraging degree, remain committed to inflicting religious dogma upon secular laws. Still, even with all the battles already lined up for 2014, the future does indeed look fabulously, glitteringly gay.

I thank you all for your robust opinions and for making the JMG comments section the most lively in the entire homo-blogosphere, even if Eric Holder ends up knocking on my door. (Yeah, right!) I'm happy to have met so many of you at the 2013 JMG meetups around the country and look forward to meeting many more of you over the next year. Tonight, I'll be raising my glass to each and every one of our flying monkeys. I'll be raising it a lot!

SPECIAL THANKS: Special thanks go out as always to JMG's behind-the-scenes copy editor Betty (AKA Birdie) who corrects my sleep-deprived syntax, careless typos, and brain-freeze misspellings!

CALFORNIA: Protect Marriage Sues To Have Donor Names Stricken From Record

Protect Marriage has filed a lawsuit which demands that the names of their donors during the 2008 Prop 8 campaign be stricken from state records. Because the gays have been mean to them.

At a hearing Friday before the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, backers of the hotly contested and now-overturned ballot measure, Proposition 8, sought to keep confidential the names of contributors of $100 or more. But members of the three-judge panel quickly pointed out that the identities of Prop. 8's donors have already been released by court order. "They've got all this information on the Internet. You want us to ignore it?" asked Judge Milan Smith. "How can this court redress the grievance that you have?" asked Judge Sandra Ikuta. By ordering the state to remove the names from its website and seal its files, and by granting an exemption for future elections, replied James Bopp, lawyer for Prop. 8's main sponsors, a conservative religious coalition called Protect Marriage. He said the organization expects to take part in additional "campaigns regarding protecting marriage."

Are they planning to put marriage back on the California ballot?

Brian Brown Has The Prop 8 Sadz

"The way that activist judges have dealt with Proposition 8 is a travesty of justice and undermines the rule of law and the democratic process itself. The legitimate votes of 7 million Californians, and their fair-minded, reasonable position that marriage should be defined as the union of one man and one woman, have been trampled underfoot by derelict politicians and activist judges. However, this is not the end of the debate. No judge or politician can redefine what God has created. NOM and our allies will work to make sure the people of California, and other states where marriage has been redefined have a voice speaking for true marriage. So-called same-sex 'marriage' is a political creation; it doesn't exist in reality. Eventually it will fall, and we will restore natural marriage in California." - Hate group leader Brian Brown, in his tenth case of the super-sadz in the last twelve months.

Alliance Defense Fund Has Prop 8 Sadz

"Elected officials should enforce the law. Though the current California officials are unwilling to enforce the state constitution, we remain hopeful that one day Californians will elect officials who will. It is unfortunate that the California Supreme Court chose not to decide the important, still-unresolved questions about the enforcement of Proposition 8, the law of the land in California. Regrettably, an executive branch that has turned a blind eye to the enforcement of its state's constitution has silenced more than 7 million Californians who clearly expressed their views about marriage. The court's decision today, however, does not end the debate about marriage in California." - Austin Nimrocks, senior counsel for the anti-gay Alliance Defense Fund.

Prop 8: Really Most Sincerely Dead

Breaking news out of California:

The California Supreme Court refused Wednesday to revive Proposition 8, ending the last remaining legal challenge to same-sex marriage in the state. Meeting in closed session, the state high court rejected arguments by ProtectMarriage, Proposition 8’s sponsors, that only an appellate court could overturn a statewide law. In its challenge before the state’s highest court, ProtectMarriage argued that a single judge lacked the authority to overturn a state constitutional amendment. The group also contended that Walker’s injunction applied to two counties at most and that state officials had overstepped their authority by ordering county clerks throughout California to issue same-sex marriage licenses. State officials countered that the challenge was a veiled attempt to persuade a state court to interfere with a federal judge’s order in violation of the U.S. Constitution.

And that's that, folks!

CALIFORNIA: San Diego County Clerk Drops Bid To Stop Same-Sex Marriages

San Diego's Union-Tribune reports:

San Diego County Clerk Ernest Dronenburg has withdrawn a petition asking the state Supreme Court to rule on whether same-sex marriages have truly become legal in California. In a news release sent out Friday afternoon, Dronenburg said he canceled the petition because it covered the same ground as another petition filed earlier to the court.  The first petition was filed July 12 by Dennis Hollingsworth and others. Hollingsworth, a former state senator, has worked with ProtectMarriage.com in support of Proposition 8, which amended the state Constitution to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Dronenburg said he was withdrawing his petition, which he filed July 19, to speed up the legal process that he hopes will clarify the current legal standing of Prop. 8.

Brian Brown: Support San Diego's Clerk

"As you know, our courageous County Clerk Ernie Dronenburg filed a lawsuit seeking guidance and clarification by the California Supreme Court as to whether Proposition 8 is still law - because it has not been overruled by any appellate court, and the federal district court injunction against it only applies to Alameda and Los Angeles Counties. Confusing!! Therefore, Ernie's lawsuit is intended to clarify and uphold the rule of law. As our County Clerk, Ernie Dronenburg is sworn to uphold the California Constitution.

"His lawsuit seeks to ensure that all marriages performed enjoy constitutional protection. BUT Ernie has come under fierce attack by special interest groups who oppose Prop. 8, and are seeking to bring heavy political pressure to force Ernie to drop the case. We must be defensive in this matter! Do not let a very small % of the population speak for you! Please immediately reach out to the San Diego County Board of Supervisors and urge them to support Ernie Dronenburg in this lawsuit. Ask them to encourage Ernie not to withdraw the lawsuit. Please call or email the below County Supervisors today. Do Not let our Governor and Attorney General overturn the vote of 7 million Californians who voted for Proposition 8." - Hate group leader Brian Brown.