Yes On 8 Sounds Surrender-y

"California's Constitution says that only an appellate court, not a single trial court judge, can stop a proposition's enforcement statewide. As of today, there is no such ruling. Nevertheless, the Governor and Attorney General today rushed forward with plans to make same-sex 'marriage' licenses available throughout California in the next three or four weeks. And that is where it sits this evening. Our Legal Team is closely examining today's court rulings, and assessing what, if any, options are available to us to keep Proposition 8 in force. This is a time for careful consideration and discernment, and we thank you in advance for your patience and continued support." - Yes On 8 head Andy Pugno, who closed his email with a money beg.

Prop 8 Report: It Was The Lying "Think About The Children" Ads That Killed Us

Political analyst David Fleicher's long-awaited report on the Prop 8 campaign has been issued and he has concluded that it was Yes On 8's lying television ads about kids that turned the tide against equality.

After the election, a misleading finding from exit polls led many to blame African Americans for the loss. But in our new analysis, it appears that African Americans' views were relatively stable. True, a majority of African Americans opposed same-sex marriage, but that was true at the beginning and at the end of the campaign; few changed their minds in the closing weeks. The shift, it turns out, was greatest among parents with children under 18 living at home — many of them white Democrats.

The numbers are staggering. In the last six weeks, when both sides saturated the airwaves with television ads, more than 687,000 voters changed their minds and decided to oppose same-sex marriage. More than 500,000 of those, the data suggest, were parents with children under 18 living at home. Because the proposition passed by 600,000 votes, this shift alone more than handed victory to proponents. Perhaps it shouldn't be a surprise. The Yes on 8 campaign targeted parents in its TV ads. "Mom! Guess what I learned in school today!" were the cheery-frightening first words of the supporters' most-broadcast ad. They emerged from the mouth of a young girl who had supposedly just learned that she could marry a female when she grew up.

Among the array of untrue ideas that parents could easily take away: that impressionable kids would be indoctrinated; that they would learn about gay sex; that they would be more likely to become gay; and that they might choose to be gay. California voters, depending on where they lived in the state, were exposed to the Yes on 8 ads 20 to 40 times.

Fleischer says that while No On 8's response ads were very good, they came far too late in the campaign. Read Fleishcher's complete report.

Judge Orders Yes On 8 To Turn Over Campaign Information

A district court judge in California has ordered Protect Marriage, the group behind the successful repeal of same-sex marriage, to turn over certain financial records related to their campaign.

Denying a request to shield the information, U.S. District Chief Judge Vaughn Walker said the Protect Marriage campaign had failed to show that providing private e-mails, memos and reports would inhibit the political activities of gay marriage opponents or subject them to unbridled harassment. "The First Amendment qualified privilege proponents seek to invoke, unlike the attorney-client privilege, for example, is not an absolute bar against disclosure," Walker wrote in an 18-page order. "Rather, the First Amendment qualified privilege requires a balancing of the plaintiffs' need for the information sought against proponents' constitutional interests in claiming the privilege."

The judge agreed with lawyers for two unmarried same-sex couples who have sued to strike down the ban, known as Proposition 8, that confidential communications between the campaign's leaders and professional consultants could reveal a rationale for denying gays the right to wed that is relevant to the case. The lawsuit argues that the measure was motivated by hostility toward gays and as such must be struck down as inconsistent with the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of equality. "What was decided not to be said in a political campaign may cast light on what was actually said," Walker said. At the same time, the judge said the couples' lawyers must limit their fact-finding request to cover only central issues and individuals, including Mormon and Catholic church representatives who served on the executive committee that oversaw the campaign. He also left open the possibility that he would restrict public access to the documents.

Protect Marriage says they are "surprised and disappointed" by the ruling. Cue the sad trombone.

"Defender Of Marriage" Hotel Kingpin Doug Manchester Embroiled In Ugly Divorce

San Diego hotelier Doug Manchester, whose $125,000 donation kick-started funding for Yes On 8, is in the midst of an ugly divorce with his wife of 43 years. Manchester's wife has accused him of hiding his assets and cutting off her access to living expenses. She also alleges that Manchester forged her endorsement on a joint $8.2M tax refund check and refuses to give up her share.

Several months ago, Manchester offered $125,000 in room credits for his hotels to LGBT activists, hoping to end the successful year-long boycott of his properties. Nobody bit and the boycott continues.

Ooh, I can't wait to hear what prompted the divorce.

Like It Or Not, Yes On 8 Ad Featuring Gavin Newsom Wins Top Industry Prize

The Yes On 8 ad men who created the infamous "Like It Or Not" clip featuring SF Mayor Gavin Newsom have won the top prize at an industry convention.

Frank Schubert walked off a big winner at the just-concluded 2009 Pollie Awards for his come-from-behind knockout punch to same-sex marriage, and he had a special guy to thank: Mayor Gavin Newsom. Schubert and his crew were honored at the American Association of Political Consultants' annual meeting in Washington, D.C., for their successful fight to pass Proposition 8 in November, which banned same-sex marriage in California. Schubert acknowledged that half the crowd at the Gaylord hotel ballroom didn't agree with his stance. Still, he was happy to give the political pros from across the country a 45-minute seminar on his victorious campaign, where he was asked: "How did you come from 14 points behind in the polls and win?" Well, Schubert explained, they were very disciplined, they had tremendous support from the faith community and they had "a gift from God: Gavin Newsom."

Here's the ad again.

Inside the Yes On 8 Campaign

Two key organizers of the Yes On 8 campaign, Frank Schubert and Jeff Flint, have written a fascinating assessment of the Proposition 8 battle. Here's just a snippet of their Politics Magazine piece.

Our strategy had anticipated that the No on 8 campaign would label as “shameful lies” any claim that gay marriage had anything to do with schools, so we went to great lengths to document our ads. We were prepared to play this scenario out to the finish, trading our ads of what happened in Massachusetts, with the No side’s ads saying it wouldn’t happen in California. But then we got the break of the election. In what may prove to be the most ill-considered publicity stunt ever mounted in an initiative campaign, a public school in San Francisco took a class of first graders to City Hall to witness the wedding of their lesbian teacher. And they brought along the media.

Now we not only had an example of something that had happened in California (as opposed to might happen), we had video footage to prove it. Within 24 hours of the No side airing their best ad, the one featuring O’Connell claiming that Prop 8 had nothing to do with schools, we were on statewide TV showing bewildered six-year-olds at a lesbian wedding courtesy of their local public school.

There were multiple skirmishes in the press over the education issue during the final days of the campaign. The other side claimed the wedding episode wasn’t really as we described it, while we defended the ad as accurate and highlighted other examples where gays had forced their agenda into the public schools (including an episode in Hayward where a school celebrated “coming out week” while urging kindergartners to sign pledge cards promising to be an ally of gay students). After several days of dueling ads featuring Jack O’Connell and kids at the lesbian wedding, the No side effectively conceded they had lost the education debate.

The minute the story about the first grade class came out, I predicted that the Yes On 8 people would land on it with both feet. And according to them, it handed them the election. Read the entire piece by Schubert and Flint, we could learn a lot from it.

Yes On 8 Challenges Donor Disclosure

We knew this was coming. The Prop 8 haters want California to take down the donor records.

Supporters of the November ballot measure that banned gay marriages in California have filed a lawsuit seeking to block their campaign finance records from public view, saying the reports have led to harassment of donors. "No one should have to worry about getting a death threat because of the way he or she votes," said James Bopp Jr., an attorney representing two groups that supported Proposition 8, Protect Marriage.com and the National Organization for Marriage California. "This lawsuit will protect the right of all people to help support causes they agree with, without having to worry about harassment or threats."

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in federal court in Sacramento, asks the court to order the secretary of state's office to remove all donations for the proposition from its Web site. The groups announced the lawsuit Thursday. It also asks the court to relieve the two groups and "all similarly situated persons" from having to meet the state's campaign disclosure requirements. That would include having to file a final report on Proposition 8 contributions at the end of January, as well as reports for any future campaigns the groups undertake.

Geoffrey Kors of Equality California: "They've used these records to attack corporations, to attack individuals. The Yes on 8 campaign sent blackmail letters to No on 8 supporters. It's just amazing hypocrisy. But it's the kind of tactics we've seen from them throughout the campaign and time and time again since."

GLAAD's Worst Anti-Gay Voices Of 2008

I don't know yet if this list is in reaction to the list issued by the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission. Links go to more detailed GLAAD pages on each item. Note that some names have multiple links. In alphabetical order, here are the biggest haters according to GLAAD.

Bill O'Reilly (Host, The O'Reilly Factor, FOX News Channel)

Bill O'Reilly, who frequently appears on GLAAD's monthly "Best and Worst of National News," led a one-sided and inaccurate discussion of marriage equality on May 15 with Fox News Channel's Megyn Kelly, who compared marriage for same-sex couples with polygamy and incest. Earlier this year, O'Reilly said Americans don't want to see "homosexual behavior legitimized" in reference to Whoopi Goldberg briefly kissing Katy Perry on The View on July 31, and he criticized Heinz for a TV commercial that included a kiss between two men on June 20. Most recently on December 10, he referred to the staff of the Los Angeles Times as "pinheads" for endorsing the Day Without a Gay protest against Proposition 8.

California's Yes on Proposition 8 Campaign

The Yes on Proposition 8 campaign filled the airwaves with deliberately misleading commercials about Proposition 8, which eliminated the right to marry for loving and committed same-sex couples in California. The ads relied on scare tactics and spread inflammatory lies, including that the defeat of Proposition 8 would mean changes in schools and churches. These ads used misinformation to shape public opinion and helped sway voters to pass the discriminatory ban, in spite of various legal experts and mainstream media outlets uniformly denouncing the dishonest approach.

Greg Gutfeld (Host, Red Eye, FOX News Channel)

FOX News Channel's late-night show Red Eye continued to feature sophomoric jabs at LGBT people. On May 20, host Greg Gutfeld and his guests grossly misrepresented serious medical concerns faced by transgender youth and laughed as one of his guests referred to transition as "turning a hole into a pole." Then Gutfeld criticized Ellen DeGeneres for announcing her upcoming wedding, saying Ellen should "shut the hell up about it." In his September 17 blog, Gutfeld ranted about diplomats saying, "These bloated bureaucrats would learn more in two days ducking for cover in Liberia, than two weeks trying to pick up transvestite hookers in Times Square."

James Dobson (Founder, Focus on the Family)

A national media platform gave airtime to an anti-gay activist when James Dobson, founder of anti-gay organization Focus on the Family, appeared on an episode of CNN Headline News and made false claims about Proposition 8, including that if the proposition failed, there would be a "spate of lawsuit against churches" and "all textbooks would have to be republished" and "everything in schools will change." The Museum of Broadcast Communications chose to honor Dobson by inducting Focus on the Family into the Radio Hall of Fame, despite his history of anti-gay rhetoric and lies. GLAAD produced a viral video to raise awareness of Dobson's attacks on the LGBT community and released a Call to Action against the Museum for honoring Dobson's lies and distortions aimed to hurt and marginalize LGBT people.

Jim Quinn (Host, The War Room With Quinn & Rose, Clear Channel)

During the November 6 broadcast of the nationally syndicated radio program The War Room with Quinn & Rose, co-host Jim Quinn made highly offensive and ignorant statements including "[G]ay marriage doesn't produce anything that the state has an interest in. Gay sex produces AIDS, which the state doesn't have – or should have an interest in. They should charge homosexuals more for their health insurance than they charge the rest of us." Despite numerous complaints from GLAAD's Call to Action, Clear Channel refused to issue an apology and has not disciplined Quinn for his disgusting and unacceptable remarks.

John Gibson (Host, The John Gibson Show, FOX News Radio)

Fox News Radio Host John Gibson was responsible for making made several tasteless, juvenile anti-gay jokes on his program. GLAAD first issued a Call to Action after he mocked the passing of actor Heath Ledger by making anti-gay jokes about his role in Brokeback Mountain on Fox News Radio's The John Gibson Show. As a result of the response by GLAAD's members, Gibson apologized for these remarks, but continued using anti-gay jokes on May 2. During a clip of MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, who is openly gay, Gibson cut to an audio clip of someone saying, "Oh, lesbians! Yummy!"

Laura Ingraham (Host, The Laura Ingraham Show)

Transgender people were repeatedly used as punching bags by Fox News Channel and guest Laura Ingraham, even as violence and harassment against transgender people continued with disturbing frequency throughout 2008. While guest hosting Fox News Channel's The O'Reilly Factor on February 8, Ingraham interrupted a guest by saying that a transgender conference was "killing the culture." Earlier this year on The O'Reilly Factor, she questioned how parents of a transgender youth "aren't embarrassed" by their child, and most recently, on December 11, she alluded that being gay is a "bad choice" when discussing a Newsweek feature on marriage for same-sex couples.

New York Post

In 2008, the New York Post continued its long history of sensationalistic treatment of LGBT people and issues with two highly problematic headlines. On January 25, the tabloid printed the headline "Evil Lesbian Mom Left Toddler to Die Slow Death: DA," despite the fact that such a gratuitous description would not have been used were the subject straight. Additionally, on February 7, the Post dehumanized the transgender community by publishing the egregious headline "Axis of She-Vil" and sub-headline, "Death to Gays But Free Ops For Irani Trannies."

Pastor Rick Warren

Rick Warren has a history of using the media as a platform to spread divisive anti-gay rhetoric. Warren spread inaccuracies about Proposition 8, saying that it would "prevent him from getting up on the pulpit and speaking out against same-sex marriage" on Dateline. He also participated in a video interview with The Wall Street Journal on December 18 where he said that marriage for gay and lesbian couples was the equivalent of "having a brother and sister be together," "an older guy marrying a child" and "one guy having multiple wives." After President-elect Obama chose Warren to lead the invocation at the Presidential inauguration, GLAAD distributed instances of Warren's anti-gay defamation on glaadBLOG as a resource for journalists and bloggers.

Representative Sally Kern (R-OK)

Oklahoma Representative Sally Kern made headlines in March after telling a group of supporters that "the homosexual agenda is destroying our nation" in a gathering of Republicans outside the Capitol. She went on to say that the gay community is "the death knell in this country" and "the biggest threat that our nation has, even more so than terrorism." GLAAD provided media training and media outreach support to local Oklahoma groups to ensure that LGBT advocates were included in local media coverage and balanced the harmful effects of such hateful remarks from an elected official.

Sean Delonas (Cartoonist, New York Post)

The New York Post and cartoonist Sean Delonas, who has been the subject of three GLAAD Calls to Action, continued juvenile treatments of LGBT issues in an editorial cartoon that ran after openly gay actor George Takei announced his upcoming marriage to his partner in California. Delonas drew crew members from Star Trek, which Takei appeared on as Sulu, looking on in disbelief as Takei exchanged nuptials with a man. One character was drawn saying "Totally Illogical, Captain." GLAAD placed a Call to Action to demand that the New York Post stop printing such immature items on their editorial pages.

Anti-Gay Musical Theater Guy Quits

Remember Scott Eckern, the musical theater artistic director who donated $1000 to Yes On 8 and caused a huge uproar? He's resigned from his job for the "protection of the organization."

California Musical Theatre's artistic director, Scott Eckern, resigned from his post today amid controversy over a donation he made to the Proposition 8 campaign to ban gay marriage. Eckern gave $1,000 in support of Proposition 8, a donation that sparked criticism from theater workers and the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community.

"We have released a statement that Scott resigned," said Chris McSwain, community affairs director for the theater company. He declined to comment further. According to the statement, the theater company's board of directors received notice today from executive producer Richard Lewis saying that Eckern has resigned. The theater company is a nonprofit organization "dedicated only to the mission of providing quality theatrical productions," the statement reads. At no time does it involve itself in political issues or ever impinge on the rights of its employees to engage in political activities of their choice," the statement reads.

The organization said the views and opinions of its employees do not necessarily represent those of the California Musical Theatre. The board also thanked Eckern for "25 years of invaluable service to the organization and the advancement of musical theatre as an art form."

Eckern also released a statement today saying that he quit "after prayerful consideration to protect the organization and to help the healing in the local theatre-going and creative community." Eckern said that he "honestly had no idea" that the contribution would spark such outrage and made the donation to act on his belief as the traditional definition of marriage be preserved. "I support each individual to have rights and access, and I understand that in California domestic partnerships come with the same rights that come with marriage," he said.

Eckern said his sister is a lesbian in a committed relationship and he loves her and is supportive of her and her family, just as she is of him and his family. "I definitely do not support any message or treatment of others that is hateful or instills fear," he said. "This is a highly emotional issue and the accusations that have been made against me are simply not true."

Eckern said he enjoyed his tenure with the California Musical Theatre and respects the people at the organization and in the theatrical community. "I am disappointed that my personal convictions have cost me the opportunity to do what I love the most which is to continue enriching the Sacramento arts and theatre community," he said.

What the hell was this guy doing in musical theater for the last 25 years? How is it that his anti-gay attitude only now came up? Weird. Anyway, you might be amused by Eckern's alumnus page on the Brigham Young University site.

"It is a privilege and a responsibility to represent the values of BYU and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There is life after school. And it is fulfilling and wonderful as we are ever mindful that we are to serve the Lord in all that we do. No matter the audience, no matter the means by which you tell the story, as artists who are faithful Latter-day Saints we can win their hearts, and in so doing lead them to believe. In the sacred name of Jesus Christ. Amen."

YouTube Thinks I'm A Spammer

Somebody didn't like the comments I posted on various Yes On 8 clips on YouTube.

Text comments you posted to YouTube have been identified as spam, and have been deleted from the site. Your account has received one Community Guidelines warning strike, which will expire in six months. Additional violations may result in the temporary disabling of your ability to post content to YouTube and/or the termination of your account. For your reference, a copy of this message has also been emailed to the address associated with this account. Sincerely, The YouTube Team.

Apparently, violently racist and homophobic language is OK on YouTube, but a dozen non-profane comments about the Mormon Church is not.

UPDATE: I'm told that if you cut-and-paste the same comment into more than a handful of clips and somebody flags your comment as spam, then YouTube's spam algorithm is triggered. Lesson: No matter how pithy your message, change it up or you're screwed. There is apparently no appeal system once you've been flagged.

Never EVER Cross A Show Queen

The title of this post is lifted from John Aravosis at AmericaBlog who reports:

A friend tells me that there's a BIG musical theater in Sacramento, California called the California Music theater. It's been around for decades and, you might be shocked by this, but apparently there are gays who work in musical theater. Well, anyway, word get around in the past few days that the Artistic Director of the theater, one Scott Eckern, a nice Mormon boy, donated $1,000 to the hateful bigoted Yes on 8 campaign that repealed marriage for gay couples in California. And I checked the database of every donor (it's quite fun, check it out and look up your neighbors), and what do you know - Scottie did give a $1,000 to the hatemongers.

Now, here's the funny part. About two weeks ago, the hateful religious right and Mormon bigots running the Yes on 8 campaign threatened the livelihood of anyone who donated to the No on 8 campaign. Uh oh. I see a little goose and gander coming.

And what do you know. It seems our friend Scott has, um, angered the gays, to put it lightly. Marc Shaiman, composer of HAIRSPRAY, called Scott's theater, I'm told, and said he is pulling the rights from any of his shows, and is talking to other colleagues about doing the same. And a well known musical actress is now urging her friends to boycott working at the theater. Gosh, sounds like it's going to be hard for that theater to survive with Scott working there.

It's really too bad Scott's hateful bigoted friends in the religious right and in the Mormon Church outright threatened the livelihood of anyone donating to No on 8. That pretty much gives license to the other side - that would be the side protesting in the streets across California and Utah - to target the livelihood of anyone donating to Yes on 8.

Payback is a bitch. With very sharp heels.

Love it.

Google Prop 8 Flap Widens

More website owners are expressing anger at Google for publishing Yes On 8 banners on their sites.

Google has become embroiled in a row about gay marriage, after opponents of same-sex unions in California used the search engine's advertising network to post messages on popular websites against the owner's wishes. A number of American websites, including the widely read TechCrunch and Create Digital Music blogs, featured adverts backing Proposition 8, which would change California’s constitution to define marriage as the union of a man and a woman.

Peter Kirn, from Create Digital Music, told Times Online: “Not only was this ad was something I disagree with – it could have said 'Vote For McCain' even though I’m an Obama supporter – but it is also an ad that could be seen as offensive to some of my readers." He added: “This an extraordinary breach of trust we’ve put into Google ads.”

Mr Kirn has tried to use Google’s own software to remove the adverts from his site and has contacted the company about the issue. When the adverts remained on the site for several hours despite Mr Kirn’s best efforts to remove them, he said he was forced to remove all Google adverts from his site.

Popular technology websites, followed closely in Silicon Valley and the rest of California, seem to have been the main targets for the adverts. “Denying a fundamental right to a person - such as marriage - is hateful and backwards,” wrote Michael Arrington on TechCrunch. “Google doesn’t have any obligation to run ads like these, and I believe they would be correct in banning.”

I ran Google Ad Sense here on JMG for about two days a few months ago, but the script made the site load so slowly that I had to take it off. I got lucky.

Talking Points Memo: Yes On 8 Ads Are Ok On Our Site

Progressive blog Talking Points Memo had all of its ad space taken over by Yes On 8 ads yesterday via Google Ad Sense. Despite a massive outcry from readers and despite opposing Prop 8 in their editorials, TPM took no action. Josh Marshall's reasoning:

When we started accepting paid advertisements in 2003, I instituted a clear policy that we would never accept or reject ads on the basis of political content. We reserve the right to reject ads on the basis of 'taste' or 'appropriateness', which we do every so often. We also will not run ads containing hate speech or appeals to violence. But outside those two categories, which we interpret very narrowly, we run ads irrespective of, indeed, with an intentional indifference to their message.

Hmm. Some would say that the Yes On 8 ads DO qualify as hate speech. Other sites have blocked the ads, including the gay car enthusiasts site, Gay Wheels.

(Tipped by JMG reader Joseph)

Don't Surrender, Dorothys

Towleroad reports that Yes On 8 has skywriters crapping their message across the California sky. Pay no attention to the Wicked Witch, this is still our game to win.

The Final Yes On 8 Ad

And it's a doozy, displaying numerous examples of defaced Yes On 8 signs, vandalized homes and vehicles, and the infamous "Bigots Live Here" SUV. Oh, and lots and lots of babies.

Barricade Your Houses! The Homos Are Coming!

Photo caption from the Orange County Register:

Peggy and Terence Carey adjust wind-blown signs after placing 54 'Yes on 8' signs on their front lawns. The Fullerton couple were motivated after vandals first began stealing the 2 signs they put up initially. They now take them all in at night. They are now more than ever determined to exercise their rights they say.

Sign stealing on both sides has become the official state sport in California.

(Via - Towleroad)

Gay Marriage = Hitler

"There was another time in history when people, when the bell tolled. And the question was whether or not they were going to hear it. The time was during Nazi Germany with Adolf Hitler. You see he brought crowds of clergy together to assure them that he was going to look after the church.

"And one of the members, bold and courageous, Reverend Niemand (sp?) made his way to the front and (inaudible) said "Hitler, we are not concerned about the church. Jesus Christ will take care of the church. We are concerned about the soul of Germany." Embarrassed and chagrined, his peers quickly shuffled him to the back.And as they did Adolf Hitler said, "The soul of Germany, you can leave that to me."

"And they did, and because they did bombs did not only fall upon the nation of Germany, but also upon the church and their testimony to this very day. Let us not make that mistake folks. Let us hear the bell! Vote on Proposition 8!" - Yes On 8 spokesman Brad Dacus.

(Via - Pam's House Blend)

Jeff Kent Gives $15K To Yes On 8

The Los Angeles Dodger's second baseman, Jeff Kent, has donated $15K to Yes On 8.

Jeff Kent, 40, who played second base for the Los Angeles Dodgers this season, has stepped into the emotional world of same-sex marriage, giving $15,000 to backers of the California proposition on Tuesday's ballot that would ban it. In a disclosure filed with the California secretary of state, Kent listed his occupation as professional baseball player for the Dodgers and his address as Austin, Texas. He gave the $15,000 in a transaction dated Monday but which only now is public.

Kent, who is a Hall of Fame shoo-in, was my favorite player when he played for San Francisco. He's expected to announce his retirement at any moment, so I guess he feels safe to make such a controversial gesture. I don't think we've heard of any other professional athletes donating to Yes On 8, have we?

Yes On 8 Gets Another Prime Opportunity

Oy. The "think about the children!" people are having another field day in California.

A Bay Area elementary school got caught in the crossfire of a ballot initiative seeking to outlaw same-sex marriage in California on Tuesday after a kindergarten teacher asked her pupils to sign pledge cards promising not to use anti-gay slurs.

ProtectMarriage.com, the coalition of social and religious conservative groups sponsoring Proposition 8, offered the episode at Faith Ringgold Elementary School in Hayward as proof for its claim that the measure is needed to prevent public schools from discussing gay unions with students.

"Since the words 'between a man and a woman' have been taken out of the California laws, it has created a can opener for gay activists to take this kind of curriculum into our elementary schools—not 9th grade, not 12th grade, but kindergarten," said campaign spokeswoman Sonya Eddings Brown.

Produced by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, the cards were given to the children as part of Faith Ringgold elementary's commemoration of National Ally Week, an event sponsored by the network and designed to discourage harassment of gay teenagers.

"I am taking a stand for a safe and harassment-free school for all students, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression," read the pledges. "As an ally, I pledge to not use anti-LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) language or slurs."

Seriously. This couldn't have waited ONE week?

Mexican Soap Star Shills For Yes On 8

Anti-gay Mexican soap star and singer Eduardo Verastegui made this new Spanish-language ad for Yes On 8. His support for Prop 8 has already caused a protest in Mexico City.

Mexican-American movie star Eduardo Verastegui has begun campaigning against California's homosexual "marriage" law, and is incurring the wrath of Mexican homosexuals as a result. Following Verastegui's reported decision to lead the campaign for the Hispanic organization "Viva la Familia" (Long Live the Family) enraged members of "Tri Gay", Mexico's self-proclaimed "gay soccer selection" expressed their displeasure against the pro-life, pro-family actor and entertainer.

At a press conference on October 22 in the offices of Mexico's Secretary of Health, the team denounced Verastegui. The vice-president of Tri Gay, Eduardo Velasquez, tore up a picture of the star. Calling the action a "message of condemnation of his actions," Velasquez said that the destruction of the picture was meant "as an act of rejection of all those who promote homophobia" according to Mexico's El Universal newspaper.

Verastegui, recently an American citizen, is a devout Catholic and anti-abortion activist who refuses to kiss female co-stars on screen because he is not married to them. But apparently he has no problem with appearing in soft-core porn.