New York Times Editorial Supports FPPC Investigation of Mormon Church

Below is the link to today’s NEW YORK TIMES EDITORIAL in support of the investigation by the California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) of the Mormon Church re Prop 8. I filed the complaint on November 13th and the FPPC agreed to launch an investigation this week.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/29/opinion/29sat2.html?_r=1&th&emc=th

Fred Karger
Founder
Californians Against Hate
http://californiansagainsthate.com
619-592-2008

Full Story:

Editorial
The Prop 8 Campaign Money
Published: November 29, 2008
California’s fair-elections commission is investigating a complaint against the Mormon Church’s role in campaigning for Proposition 8, which made marriage illegal between people of the same sex. Based on the facts that have come out so far, the state is right to look into whether the church broke state laws by failing to report campaign-related expenditures.

Proposition 8, which California voters passed on Nov. 4, overturned a ruling by the California Supreme Court and wrote discrimination against one particular group of people into the State Constitution. After it passed, tens of thousands of people rallied in cities across the country in support of same-sex marriage. The California Supreme Court said recently that it would review whether Proposition 8 was constitutional.

Mormons were a major force behind the ballot measure. Individual church members contributed millions of dollars and acted as campaign foot soldiers. The church itself also played an unusually large role. Michael R. Otterson, the managing director of public affairs for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — the full name of the Mormons’ church — said that while the church speaks out on other issues, like abortion, “we don’t get involved to the degree we did on this.”

Fred Karger, the founder of a group called Californians Against Hate, who filed the complaint, contends that the Mormon Church provided significant contributions to the pro-Proposition 8 campaign that it did not report, as state law requires. The Fair Political Practices Commission of California is investigating, among other things, commercials, out-of-state phone banks and a Web site sponsored by the church.

If the commission finds that the church violated state reporting laws, it could impose penalties of up to $5,000 per violation, and sue for additional amounts. The Mormon Church, which says it is sending information to the commission, says it did nothing wrong.

Churches, which risk their tax-exempt status if they endorse candidates, have more leeway in referendum campaigns. Still, when they enter the political fray, they have the same obligation to follow the rules that nonreligious groups do.

— end —

All the News on Californians Against Hate – Read All About It!

New York Times — http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/26/us/politics/26marriage.html?_r=2&scp=1&sq=mormon%20investigation&st=cse

Fox News — http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,457086,00.html

Salt Lake Tribune — http://www.sltrib.com/ci_11064769

Sacramento Bee — http://www.sacbee.com/749/story/1425404.html

Los Angeles Times — http://opinion.latimes.com/opinionla/2008/11/proposition-8-2.html

San Francisco Chronicle — http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=14&entry_id=33015

San Diego Union-Tribune — http://weblog.signonsandiego.com/news/breaking/2008/11/prop_8_opponents_announce_new.html

San Jose Mercury News — http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_11071952

San Jose Mercury News — http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_11065696?nclick_check=1

San Francisco Sentinel — http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=17624

GLT San Diego — http://www.gaylesbiantimes.com/?id=13533

GLT San Diego — http://www.gaylesbiantimes.com/?id=13504

GLT San Diego — http://www.gaylesbiantimes.com/?id=13535

Desert Sun — http://www.mydesert.com/article/20081121/NEWS01/811210343/1026/news12

Huffington Post — http://www.huffingtonpost.com/fred-karger/boycott-a-1-self-storage_b_145103.html

The Daily Princetonian — http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2008/11/19/22161/

Les Get Real — http://lezgetreal.com/2008/11/where-do-we-go-from-here.html

Mother Talker — http://www.mothertalkers.com/storyonly/2008/11/16/185426/35

Political Correctness Site — http://pcwatch.blogspot.com/2008_11_01_archive.html#7105213593601224553

Square State — http://www.squarestate.net/diary/7220/focus-on-the-family-cuts-200-jobs

Life in the Avenues — http://horseychicken.wordpress.com/2008/11/19/put-your-money-where-your-mouth-is/

DigiActive — http://www.digiactive.org/2008/11/24/campaign-protests-against-proposition-8

Lavender Newswire — http://news.lavenderliberal.com/2008/11/24/ceos-hiding-proposition-8-donations-behind-wives-skirts/

Gateway Pundit — http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2008/11/unreal-california-courts-will.html

Out Impact – http://www.outimpact.com/gay-rights/californians-against-hate-who-were-the-top-12-contributors-for-prop-8

The Campaign Silo — http://campaignsilo.firedoglake.com/2008/11/24/probe-of-mormon-church-underway

Out Impact — http://www.inlookout.com/2008/11/24/california-commission-to-investigate-mormon-involvement-in-prop-8

Inside Looking Out — http://www.inlookout.com/2008/11/24/california-commission-to-investigate-mormon-involvement-in-prop-8

ALO News — http://news.aol.com/article/california-to-investigate-mormon-aid-to/205955

Lesbians of Color — http://lesbianofcolor.blogspot.com/2008/11/ongoing-1-storage-boycott.html

Pride and Shame — http://prideandshame.blogspot.com/2008/11/shame-alert-1-storage.html

America Blog — http://www.americablog.com

Pam’s House Blend — http://www.pamshouseblend.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=8398

Catholic On Line — http://www.catholic.org/politics/story.php?id=30738

2015place.com ¬¬– http://www.2015place.com/2008/11/combined-gay-news-headlines-t5t-1_1503.html

ECCO — http://www.eccopac.org/2008/11/california-fair-political-practices.html

BGay.com — http://www.bgay.com/news/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=694&Itemid=23

Towleroad — http://www.bgay.com/news/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=694&Itemid=23

Godless Liberal Homo — http://godlessliberalhomo.blogspot.com/2008/11/mormon-church-under-investigation.html

Shakesville — http://shakespearessister.blogspot.com/2008/11/california-to-investigate-mormons.html

The Soap Box — http://theesoapbox.blogspot.com/2008/11/what-happens-if-youre-on-gay-enemies.html

Three Legged Stool — http://threelegedstool.blogspot.com/2008/11/mormons-to-be-investigated-over-prop-8.html

Daily Kos — http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/11/26/125059/17?detail=f

Queer Click — http://sticky.queerclick.com/post/12752?goto#12752

Freep.com — http://www.freep.com/article/20081125/NEWS07/81125096/1009

On Top — http://www.ontopmag.com/article.aspx?id=2786&MediaType=1&Category=26

FPPC To Investigate Mormon Church Involvement in Prop 8

NEWS RELEASE November, 24, 2008


California Fair Political Practices Commission to
Investigate Mormon Church Involvement in Prop 8

LOS ANGELES, CA – Fred Karger, Founder of Californians Against Hate received a letter today from the California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) regarding the sworn complaint that he filed on November 13, 2008. The complaint requested the FPPC investigate the alleged lack of reporting of numerous non monetary contributions to ProtectMarriage.com / Yes on 8, A Project of California Renewal I.D. #1302592 by the Mormon Church. The letter from FPPC Executive Director, Roman Porter, dated November 21, 2008 was received by fax. Below is the text of the letter from Mr. Porter.

Fair Political Practices Commission
428 J Street, Suite 629, Sacramento, CA 95814-2329
(916)322-5660 Fax (916)322-0886

November 21, 2008

Fred Karger
1278 Glenneyre, #20
Laguna Beach, CA 92651

Re; FPPC File No. 08/735; Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints aka the Mormon Church of Salt Lake City, Utah

Dear Mr. Karger:

This letter is to notify you that the Enforcement Division of the Fair Political Practices Commission (the FPPC) will investigate the allegation(s), under the jurisdiction of the FPPC, of the sworn complaint you submitted in the above-referenced matter. You will next receive notification from us upon final disposition of the case. However, please be advised that at this time we have not made any determination about the validity of the allegation(s) you made or about the culpability, if any, of the person(s) you identify in your complaint.

Thank you for taking the time to bring this matter to our attention.

Sincerely,

Roman G. Porter
Executive Director

cc: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints aka the Mormon Church of Salt Lake City, Utah

“We are very pleased that the FPPC has agreed to launch an investigation based on our complaint,” said Fred Karger. “My 4 page letter to Chairman Ross Johnson and California and Utah Attorneys General Edmund G. Brown, Jr. and Mark Shurtleff with all of the alleged unreported activities is available on our blog at: http://californiansagainsthate.blogspot.com/ We’re hopeful the Mormon Church will fully cooperate with the investigation, and that we will find out the full extent of their involvement in the Yes on 8 campaign.”

— end —

News Update

Mormons Don’t Like to be Singled Out

Last Friday, in a highly unusual move, the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) issued a press release out of the Church’s Newsroom in Salt Lake City, Utah. President Thomas S. Monson called for “Respect, Civility in Public Discourse” www.newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng The very next day the New York Times broke a story on the Church’s involvement in the campaign entitled “Mormons Tipped Scale in Ban on Gay Marriage.” It detailed church campaign plans from a leaked memo. The memo discussed training and guidelines for Church members to follow in order to pass California’s Proposition 8. It’s quite a story by Jesse McKinley and Kirk Johnson http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/15/us/politics/15marriage.html?pagewanted=1&sq=mormon%20church&st=nyt&scp=3

President Monson asks demonstrators to respect their places of worship. These places of worship were serving as campaign headquarters just two weeks ago. We have heard that this is where Mormon Church members would go to get lawn signs, campaign materials, and voter lists for walking and calling registered voters. All summer and fall they were using these places of worship to actively campaign against Prop 8, and often directly from the pulpit.

They produced 14 campaign commercials, 2 web sites, ran phone banks from Utah and Idaho, sent direct mail, ran a speakers bureau, printed campaign literature, organized thousands of precinct walks and even transported people to California to work on their behalf.

In a weekend newspaper interview, Yes on 8 campaign manager, Frank Schubert said that Mormons contributed $15 to $20 million to the Yes on 8 campaign. If that’s what he’s admitting, we’re sure that it’s way more. Mormon Church leaders know to the penny how much their members gave to Yes on 8. The Wall Street Journal reported that they had church members send their donations to a post office box so they could track how much LDS money was coming in. It was then bundled and sent directly to the campaign. That was spelled out in Mark Schoof’s Wall Street Journal story of September 20, 2008. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122186063716658279.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

So with all these memos and admissions and all the evidence that we presented in our filing of last week, we are hopeful that the California Fair Political Practices Commission will launch an investigation to determine why the Mormon Church did not file reports of their numerous non monetary contributions to Yes on 8. A Church spokesman said that they filed four reports with the California Secretary of State detailing all these non-monetary expenditures. We could only find one. It was filed 4 days before the election on November 1, 2008 for $2,864.21. They did an awful lot of campaigning for only $2,864.21.

Demonstrations, Rallies and More Demonstrations

Last Saturday, there were hundreds of demonstrations held in cities and towns all over the county in support of full equality for gays and lesbians. This was the largest outpouring of support in our long civil rights movement. Many of these cities had never had demonstrations on LGBT equality before. From the coverage we saw and the demonstrations that we attended, they were very mixed with gay and straight supporters of same-sex marriage all standing side by side. At the San Jose Rally, a speaker told everyone to go to the web site of Californians against Hate https://californiansagainsthate.com to view our Dishonor Roll of over 800 contributors to Yes on 8 who gave a minimum of $5,000. We will continue to update the list as we get more information, and we have received quite a bit of new information via email from many supporters. Thank you for the tips. Our web site, which averaged about 350 visitors a day, has jumped to up to over 13,000 visitors per day! That keeps us very busy around here.

National Media Converage of our FPPC Filing

It was the filing heard ‘round the world. We’ve seen over 100 television, radio, magazine, newspaper and blog reports on the sworn complaint that Californians Against Hate filed against the LDS Church last week. The coverage included; NPR, Time Magazine, USA Today, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, San Diego Union-Tribune, The Salt lake City Tribune, The Deseret News and lots more. We have most of the links up on our Blog http://californiansagainsthate.blogspot.com

Here are links to some of the magazine and newspaper coverage:

Time Magazine — http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1859323,00.html?iid=tsmodule

Los Angeles Times – http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-me-boycott14-2008nov14,0,4880904.story

New York Times — http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Gay-Marriage-Mormons.html?_r=1&ei=5070&emc=eta1&oref=slogin

Salt Lake Tribune — http://www.sltrib.com/ci_10982571

Deseret News — http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,705262980,00.html

USA Today — http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-11-13-backlash_N.htm

Washington Post — http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/14/AR2008111403508_pf.html

San Diego Union-Tribune — http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20081115-9999-1n15prop8.html

Mormons Are Resigning the LDS Church Over Prop 8

There is a new web site that began in July that allows Mormons to quiet the Church publically over all its support for Prop 8. It’s called Signing for Something http://signingforsomething.org/blog It is very interesting. Check it out.

More Reporting Questions on Yes on 8 Donors

One of our crack researchers discovered that several major contributors to Yes on 8 had put down “retired” or “homemaker” under occupation when in fact they appear to be employed. In many instances these contributors show up as owners or CEO’s of their companies. Also, when checking more closely there is an unusually high number of homemakers making 5 and 6 figure contributions to Yes on 8. Could it be that their husbands did not want their names connected to the Yes on 8 campaign?

Steve Largent’s Wife Contributed $2,000 to Yes on 8

A good example of spouses contributing is the $2,000 contribution of Terry Largent. She is the wife of former Congressman and Seattle Seahawks football star, Steve Largent. Steve Largent is now the President & CEO of CTIA The Wireless Association http://www.ctia.org CTIA is the Washington, DC based international lobbying and trade association for all the major wireless phone companies. The Largents live in Arlington, Virginia, and Steve joined the Board of Directors of James Dobson’s Focus on the Family in 2003 after he left Congress.

Wife of Sharp Healthcare’s CEO Gave $2,350 to Yes on 8

Mike Murphy heads San Diego’s largest hospital and biggest employer. His wife Sandra gave 4 separate contributions to Yes on 8 between March 10 and October 24, 2008 totaling $2,350. She listed her occupation and employer as “none.” Maybe this was done in order to not draw any attention to her husband.

James Dobson’s Focus on the Family Lays Off 202

Focus on the Family, based in Colorado Springs, Colorado was one of the leaders in the qualification of Prop 8 last winter and spring. They gave $539,643.66 and another $83,000 in non monetary contributions. They just cut 20% of their workforce. There is an excellent story on what is happening with this mega-ministry in today’s Colorado Independent by Cara Degette http://coloradoindependent.com/15287/after-pumping-money-into-prop-8-focus-on-the-family-announcing-layoffs?disqus_reply=3867526#disqus-claim

Please Support Our Crusade

We have never asked for financial support since our inception in July of this year. I pledged that we would self fund our small volunteer operation, and not take any resources away from the No on 8 campaign. And we did just that. Utilizing volunteers, we accomplished much. We certainly drew a lot of attention to all the major donors to Yes on 8. We conducted demonstrations in San Diego, Rancho Santa Fe, Los Angeles, New York and Washington, DC. We called a few boycotts, continuously maintained our now famous Dishonor Roll of all contributors to Yes on 8 of $5,000 and over, and talked bluntly about the hate that was coming our way from so many of these big contributors. We tracked all the money coming in every day for 4 months, and were the first to discover the Mormon money pouring into the campaign coffers of Yes on 8 to the tune of $514,000 per day during most of August and September. Now we need your help to pursue our activities, including our filing before the California Fair Political Practices Commission.

We hope to continue our efforts and act as a truth squad to track the organizations and individuals who are out to deny us our civil rights and full equality.

Now, for the very first time, we turn to you for financial help. Please visit our web site https://californiansagainsthate.com and on the top right hand corner is a red DONATE button. Just click on that, and you will be taken directly to pay pal. It’s so easy to help us, and 100% of your contribution will go to direct action. We are all volunteers working out of our homes.

Won’t you please send $10, $25, $50, $100 or more to help us with all the expenses that we face? I promise you that we will work hard and continue to expose those who are out to hurt us.

Thank you in advance, and stay tuned for lots more from Californians Against Hate!

Boycott A-1 Self Storage – Owner Gave $693,000 to Yes on 8

NEWS RELEASE

SAN DIEGO, CA — Californians Against Hate officially kicks off its Boycott of A-1 Self Storage Company today because of owner Terry Caster’s enormous contribution to the Yes on 8 campaign.

Fred Karger, Founder of Californians Against Hate announced the start of a virtually organized boycott of A-1 Self Storage today in his column on the Huffington Post. A new boycott web site was launched: http://www.BoycottA-1SelfStorage.com “We believe that the gay community and our millions of friends will support this Boycott of A-1 Self Storage,” said Karger.

From the Huffington Post Column:

Why would someone contribute $693,000 to take away the rights of an entire minority group in California? Terry Caster and his family did just that. Caster, his 8 children and many of their spouses gave a total of $293,000 to help qualify Proposition 8 for the ballot earlier this year. Then when the plea went out for more money from the Yes on 8 campaign in late October, Caster opened up his checkbook and gave an additional $400,000 to take away same-sex marriage in California. That’s $693,000 to Yes on 8! Terry Caster was the 2nd largest contributor in California to the Yes on 8 campaign.

Caster told the San Diego Union-Tribune in May that marriage equality threatens society. “Without solid marriage, you are going to have a sick society,” he said.

Terry Caster owns San Diego based A-1 Self Storage Company http://a1storage.com which has 30 locations all over California.

If you are a current customer of A-1, we hope that you will move your belongings to another company. There are hundred of other self storage business to choose from in California. Those who are looking to rent a new storage unit, we encourage you to go to any one the many other options available.

This will be the third boycott called by Californians Against Hate over the last four months, and we are determined to make this our most successful.

Of the other two boycotts, one is ongoing and the other was settled. On July 18, 2008 Californians Against Hate announced its first boycott at the March on Manchester, a demonstration and rally in San Diego against Doug Manchester. Manchester owns two hotels in San Diego, The Manchester Grand Hyatt Hotel and the Grand del Mar Resort http://www.boycottmanchesterhotels.com/ Manchester gave $125,000 to the Yes on 8 campaign. Many groups and individuals have honored this boycott, and it has reciceved a tremendous amount of media coverage.

On September 19th our “Don’t Buy Bolthouse” campaign was kicked-off at a demonstration in front of Ralph’s Supermarket in Hollywood. At that time we asked consumers not to buy products produced by Bakersfield, CA based Bolthouse Farms. William Bolthouse, Jr. the company’s former CEO had made a personal contribution of $100,000 to Yes on 8. On October 9th “Don’t Buy Bolthouse” was ended after 3 weeks when an agreement was reached with new Bolthouse CEO, Jeff Dunn. Bolthouse Farms embarked on a comprehensive diversity program designed to support inclusiveness in its dealings with all stakeholders including the LGBT community. Additionally, they agreed to financially support several LGBT organizations.

Californians Against Hate began a “Call Terry Caster” campaign complete with its own web site on August 8th. The campaign asked people to call Caster personally to ask him why he gave so much money. The 800 numbers to his personal office and to A-1 Self Storage were posted on our site. This campaign continued through yesterday, and will now be replaced by the Boycott of A-1 Self Storage.

We will be primarily conducting the Boycott of A-1 Self Storage virtually. It will be done through web sites, social and business networking sites and through the blogosphere. We have a link on the Boycott web site to www.Yelp.com and will be asking people to go to Yelp and leave a comment next to the A-1 Self Storage facility near them.

Boycotts have had a place in civil rights movements for a long time. In the last 20 years they have mostly been done by conservative Christians. There was a wonderful story written by Bill Ainsworth of the San Diego Union-Tribune on July 28th on the history of boycotts and their effects:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20080728/news_1n28boyside.html

The King of Boycotts has been the American Family Association (AFA) headquartered in Tupelo, Mississippi
http://www.afa.net/ Their web site includes a whole page on the “Homosexual Agenda.” AFA is headed by the father and son team of Don and Tim Wildmon. They own 190 radio stations and have an annual budget of $24 million. AFA began targeting big companies that had any connection to gay or lesbian activities in the early 90’s.

AFA ran an 8 year boycott against Disney because it dared to rent out its Disney World Theme Park for an annual gay party, and they offered benefits to same-sex partners of employees. In 2003 AFA boycotted Abercrombie & Fitch, calling on it to stop using pornography in its quarterly catalog. In 2005 the AFA boycotted the company American Girl, the maker of dolls and accessories, because the company supported the charity Girls, Inc., which the AFA called “a pro-abortion, pro-lesbian advocacy group.” Also in 2005, AFA boycotted Kraft Foods for being a sponsor of the 2005 Gay Games in Chicago. In spring 2005 the AFA launched a boycott of Ford for advertising in gay magazines, donating to gay-rights organizations, and sponsoring gay pride celebrations. In 2006 the AFA urged its members to condemn Sears for running commercials on Logo, an LGBT cable channel.

Then by no coincidence, on Memorial Day this year, AFA announced a world- wide boycott of McDonalds for contributing a mere $20,000 to the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. The timing was intentional. It came as soon as it was known that Proposition 8 had qualified for the November ballot. The boycott of McDonalds was sent as a warning to corporate American that you better not contribute to the No on 8 campaign or we will boycott you, too.
And then the most ridiculous of them all, on August 25th, AFA called for a boycott of Hallmark Cards, because they now sold same-sex wedding cards.

AFA has boycotted over 25 companies for their support of issues and organizations in which they believe.

Well, Californians Against Hate strongly believes that we should boycott Terry Caster’s A-1 Self Storage Company because of his $693,000 contribution to take away equality from an entire class of people in California. And we will.

Liveblog Thursday Night

Just got his from Bil Browning who heads the incredible Bilerico Web Site. Be sure and tune in tomorrow night, Thursday, November 20th.

I’m lucky enough to host a Liveblog with Kate Kendell, Nadine Smith, and Barbara McCullough-Jones. As you know, these three women led the anti-amendment charge in California, Florida, and Arizona.

They’ll be answering questions and taking comments live about the amendment battles. Topics will range from “What went wrong?” to “Where do we go from here?” It’s an amazing opportunity for the average Joe/Jane to directly ask questions to these leaders – something I don’t think has ever been done before to such a large scale. Pam Spaulding will be my co-host for the evening’s chat.

Pam, Kate and Nadine are Bilerico Project contributors and Barbara is a frequent guest blogger.
The Liveblog is scheduled for Thursday evening at 7pm EST. We have a post up now about it to drum up interest that includes this cool little box that lets people sign up for an e-mail reminder about the Liveblog. We’re also soliciting questions in the comment section of my announcement post at: http://www.bilerico.com/2008/11/liveblog_with_anti-amendment_leaders_kat.php

News Coverage From Around the World

Californians Against Hate has been receiving a lot of media coverage on our camaping to tell the world who is contributing the vast amount of money to take away the rights of a minority.

We are on to somethig and will continue with our efforts.


Time Magazine — http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1859323,00.html?iid=tsmodule

CBS Network News — http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/11/13/eveningnews/main4601227.shtml

Los Angeles Times – http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-me-boycott14-2008nov14,0,4880904.story

New York Times — http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Gay-Marriage-Mormons.html?_r=1&ei=5070&emc=eta1&oref=slogin

Salt Lake Tribune — http://www.sltrib.com/ci_10982571

Deseret News — http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,705262980,00.html

USA Today — http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-11-13-backlash_N.htm

Washington Post — http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/14/AR2008111403508_pf.html

San Diego Union-Tribune — http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20081115-9999-1n15prop8.html

Sacramento Bee — http://sacbee.com/749/story/1403293.html

Colorado Independent — http://coloradoindependent.com/15287/after-pumping-money-into-prop-8-focus-on-the-family-announcing-layoffs

San Francisco Sentinel — http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=17477

KTVU – TV — http://www.ktvu.com/politics/17975719/detail.html?rss=fran&psp=news

Blogs

2015 Place — http://www.2015place.com/2008/11/combined-gay-news-headlines-t5t-1_8193.html

The Campaign Silo — http://campaignsilo.firedoglake.com/2008/11/13/did-the-mormon-church-cheat/

Catholic Culture – http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=1144

On Top Magazine — http://ontopmag.com/article.aspx?id=2723&MediaType=1&Category=26

Revoke LDS Church Status — http://lds501c3.wordpress.com/2008/11/13/californians-against-hate-files-official-complaint/

The Political Carnival — http://thepoliticalcarnival.blogspot.com/2008/11/californians-against-hate-file-suit.html

Obscanity — http://www.obscanity.com/?p=814

Live Journal — http://community.livejournal.com/_2008_repubpres/86910.html

San Diego News Service — http://blogbythelion.blogspot.com/

Red State Impressions — http://red-state.blogspot.com/2008/11/good-for-prop-8-boycotts.html

News for Mormons — http://newsformormons.com/2008/11/14/what-happens-if-youre-on-the-gay-enemies-list/

Live Journal — http://rogueplanet.livejournal.com/21847.html

Out Gay Life — http://outgaylife.com/gay-community/gay-rights/mormon-aid-gay-marriage-ban-generates-complaint/

Gayagenda.com — http://www.gayagenda.com/2008/11/are-mormons-hiding-prop-8-contributions/

SFist — http://sacbee.com/749/story/1403293.html

The Konformist Blog — http://robalini.blogspot.com/2008/11/after-prop-8-gay-marriage-support-grows.html

More Coverage

Associated Press — http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/G/GAY_MARRIAGE_DONATION_DISPUTE?SITE=OHRAV&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

San Francisco Chronicle —
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/31/MN0V13QHQF.DTL

The Salt Lake Tribune —
http://www.sltrib.com/News/ci_10879061

Boston Globe —
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2008/11/12/playing_the_race_card_on_gay_marriage/?p1=Well_MostPop_Emailed6

The Atlantic / Andrew Sullivan —
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/10/the-mormon-fact.html

National Review Online —
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MWY4OTAwYTBjMjYwMzk5Yjg5OWM4NjdmOWU5NjE5NmU=

Grand Rapids Press — http://www.mlive.com/grpress/news/index.ssf/2008/11/polpourri_for_november_2.html

Alter News —
http://www.alternet.org/sex/105620/marriage_equality_hangs_in_the_balance:_prop._8_in_a_dead_heat/
Catholic Exchange — http://catholicexchange.com/2008/11/03/114308/

Vox —
http://noonprop8.vox.com/library/post/californians-against-hate—fighting-for-marriage-equality—proposition-8.html

KCW Gallery —
http://kcwgallery.wordpress.com/2008/11/02/the-mormon-church-funding-hatred-fear-and-evil/
Respect Authority —
http://www.respect-authority.com/2008/11/let-andrew-sullivan-be/

Inside Looking Out —
http://www.inlookout.com/2008/11/03/out-of-state-mormons-donate-3-million-more-to-prop-8/

AlterNet —
http://www.alternet.org/sex/105961/surprising_last_minute_religious_rallies_for_both_sides_of_ca’s_proposition_8/
Jennifer Roback Morse — http://jennifer-roback-morse.blogspot.com/2008/11/8-is-not-hate-meaning-of-proposition.html

Montreal Simon —
http://montrealsimon.blogspot.com/2008/11/mormon-war-on-gay-marriage.html

America Blog —
http://boremetotears.wordpress.com/2008/11/06/whos-bankrolling-your-hate/

Bore Me To Tears —
http://boremetotears.wordpress.com/2008/11/06/whos-bankrolling-your-hate/
The World Has Not Ended — http://silveradept.livejournal.com/426964.html

Obscanity —
http://www.obscanity.com/?p=763

BLIGBI — http://bligbi.com/2008/11/07/boycott-the-mormons/

Gay City News —
http://www.gaycitynews.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=20183083&BRD=2729&PAG=461&dept_id=568857&rfi=6

Lavender Newswire —
http://news.lavenderliberal.com/2008/10/30/top-yes-on-8-donors-written-up-in-hometown-papers-john-templeton-jr-1-million-elsa-prince-450000/

LiveJournal —
http://blackwingbear.livejournal.com/282474.html

NGBlog —
http://nlsngrc.blogspot.com/2008/11/plausible-deniability-mormon-style.html

All Facts and Opinions —
http://gratefuldread.wordpress.com/2008/11/08/boycotting-bigoted-california/

GDLMT —
http://guydads.blogspot.com/2008/11/lies-money-and-tyranny.html
That is so Queer — http://soqueer.blogspot.com/2008/11/boycotts-begin-damnit.html

San Diego Weekly Reeder —
http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/ive-got-issues/2008/nov/09/proposition-8-indecent-proposal/

QueerTwoCents —
http://queertwocents.blogspot.com/2008/11/californians-against-hate-dishonor-roll.html

San Diego City Beat —
http://lastblogonearth.com/2008/11/10/after-the-rage-what-next-for-prop-8-opponents/

Kevin Hunter –
http://kevinhuntersblog.wordpress.com/2008/11/11/prop-8-dishonor-roll/

Progressive Mews —
http://theleftpaw.blogspot.com/2008/11/stop-h8-campaign.html

Chasing Cornfields — http://www.chasingcornfields.com/?p=116

Philadelphia Daily Bulletin — http://www.thebulletin.us/site/index.cfm?newsid=20195191&BRD=2737&PAG=461&dept_id=576361&rfi=8

Daily News & Opinion —
http://allisonkilkenny.wordpress.com/2008/11/16/who-passed-prop-8-heres-the-list/

Political Activity Law — http://politicalactivitylaw.com/?p=997

Media Matters —
http://mediamatters.org/countyfair/200811150002

The Donnablog —
http://donnarose.com/MyBlog/?p=217

News Record —
http://www.news-record.com/content/2008/11/14/article/charles_davenport_jr_voters_reject_hollywood_gay_marriage
Puma By Design 001’s — http://pumabydesign001.wordpress.com/2008/11/16/weekend-of-proposition-8-protests/

Ima Blog —
http://californiansagainsthate.com/dishonorRoll.html

Secret 1997 Mormon Memo on Gay Marriage Plan Revealed

1997 Mormon memo on banning same-sex marriage receives wide exposure

by: Pam Spaulding

Last week it was revealed that the LDS church has been thinking about efforts to ban same-sex marriage in California for more than a decade, and was well aware of the church’s PR problem if it were to lead the charge on a referendum.
What the late LDS leader Gordon Hinckley knew at the time was that he needed to hook up a church with a better rep (ha!) to front for it – the Catholic church. Here is a report on the strategy memo:

In the above report, the church doesn’t question the memo’s validity, in fact, the sources said there are other related documents that could surface. One snippet of the LDS memo underscores the level of hate the church has for gays (HLM refers to “homosexual legal marriage”):