Sacramento's main political newspaper ran an in-depth article about the "state of play" for anti-gay ballot measures in California in it's Thursday July 26th edition. The article mentions that there are now four (!) anti-gay marriage ballot measures certified by the Attorney General for active circulation for citizen signatures. However, the ones that are making LGBT activists like Equality California Executive Director Geoff Kors nervous are the ones sponsored by Gayle Knight, widow of former State Senator Pete Knight who authored 2000's Proposition 22. Heterosexual supremacist bigwigs like Focus on the Family's James Dobson, Howard Ahmanson and Ed Atsinger have all lined up behind this second "Knight Initiative." This initiative would amend the California State Constitution to limit marriage to different-sex couples while stating clearly it would not impact California's comprehensive domestic partnership act (pdf).
The article goes on to delve into the details of the battle for bucks as a prelude and proxy for the upcoming battle for votes in 2008:
Go, Tim Gill, you're one of my Gay Heroes.
In 2004, supporters of anti-gay-marriage initiatives raised $6.8 million for measures in 13 states, while $6.6 million was gathered to fight them.
Gay-marriage supporters pulled slightly ahead in fundraising in 2005, a low-money year that saw measures in only Kansas and Texas. Last year, there was a total of $18 million spent on initiatives in nine states, but gay-marriage proponents raised $14 million of that. The marriage bans won eight of those contests, but gay-marriage opponents suffered their first statewide loss at the ballot box in Arizona.
[...]
When asked why the pro-gay-marriage side has become better off financially recently, Moore said, "The biggest change between 2004 and 2006 is Tim Gill established the Gill Action Fund, which is the biggest contributor on the opposition side."
A gay political consultant, who asked not to be named, put it a slightly different way.
"While most of the rest of the gay community was holding hands and singing 'kumbaya,' Tim Gill was trying to figure out how to crush the opposition's throat."
Go, Tim Gill, you're one of my Gay Heroes.
1 comment:
"While most of the rest of the gay community was holding hands and singing 'kumbaya,' Tim Gill was trying to figure out how to crush the opposition's throat."
Now, if only the rest of the LGBT community would stop fighting one another and get serious about kicking the political asses of the people who are out to hurt us. The folks from Gill Action are incredibly smart and a welcomed addition to our arsenal.
If we want civil rights, then we can't sit on our knees all Dickens like begging "Please sir, may I have some more."
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