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The official proponents of Proposition 8 and ProtectMarriage.com – Yes on 8, the campaign committee responsible for its enactment by voters today said it is “profoundly gratified” that the California Supreme Court granted all their requests by agreeing to accept original jurisdiction of three cases challenging the measure’s validity, granted their request to intervene in the cases as Real Parties in Interest, denied the request of others to delay implementation of Proposition 8, and refused to allow outside groups to directly participate in the litigation. “This is a great day for the rule of law and the voters of California,”...

he California Supreme Court agreed today to review legal challenges to Prop. 8, the voter initiative that restored a ban on same-sex marriage, but refused to permit gay weddings to resume pending a ruling. Meeting in closed session, the state high court asked litigants on both sides for more written arguments and scheduled a hearing for next March. The court also signaled its intention to decide the fate of existing same-sex marriages, asking litigants to argue that question. Today's decision to review the lawsuits against Proposition 8 did not reveal how the court was leaning. The court could have dismissed...

An article in The New York Times reports that Attorney General Jerry Brown has asked the state’s Supreme Court to rule on the legality of a voter-approved constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman. “The central argument in the recently filed lawsuits is that Proposition 8 is a significant enough revision to the State Constitution to require approval by the legislature,” the article stated. It also noted that the passage of Proposition 8 “has prompted protests across the country.” Here’s what the paper that makes all the news fit its agenda forgot to mention:...

Wednesday could be a big day in the fight over Proposition 8, a ban on same-sex marriage in California that voters approved Nov. 4. That's when the California Supreme Court could decide whether to review several lawsuits filed by Prop 8 opponents. The groups claim the ballot measure is unconstitutional. The court could also issue a stay on Prop 8 while it decides. That would allow same-sex marriages to resume until a final ruling is made on the lawsuits. Four Bay Area counties are the latest to join the legal fight to try to stop state Proposition 8. The Board...

Elation over Barack Obama’s victory two weeks ago was dampened by less good news for left-leaning voters, as same-sex marriage bans passed in Arizona, California, and Florida. For many gay activists, the new bans in Arizona and California were particularly disheartening, given that Arizona voted down a similar ban two years ago and that California has been allowing same-sex marriage since this summer. Over 40 states have now passed bans on gay marriage, leaving Connecticut and Massachusetts as the sole states allowing the practice. Proponents of gay marriage have been quick to respond to this setback. In recent days, an...

The official proponents of Proposition 8 and the campaign committee responsible for its enactment by voters today urged the California Supreme Court to accept original jurisdiction of three cases challenging the measure's validity and have petitioned the Supreme Court to intervene in the cases as Real Parties in Interest. Expressing confidence that the Supreme Court will uphold the validity of Proposition 8, the authors of the measure urged the Supreme Court to deny requests to stay implementation of Proposition 8 pending resolution of the legal issues. In calling for the Supreme Court to take original jurisdiction of three challenges to...

If you’d asked me if I considered myself a conservative when I started college, I would have said yes. If you asked me if I was a staunch conservative or a radical conservative, I would have said no. But then something happened. As the days and weeks passed and I heard the leaders and heroes I had long looked up to bashed, trashed, and disrespected, and as I heard my faith mocked and ridiculed, I realized something. It wasn’t enough to hold my own, or play defense in this environment. To survive here, I’d have to play offense. I couldn’t...

Ads proclaiming, "Why believe in a god? Just be good for goodness' sake," will appear on Washington, D.C., buses starting next week and running through December. The American Humanist Association unveiled the provocative $40,000 holiday ad campaign Tuesday. In lifting lyrics from "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," the Washington-based group is wading into what has become a perennial debate over commercialism, religion in the public square and the meaning of Christmas. "We are trying to reach our audience, and sometimes in order to reach an audience, everybody has to hear you," said Fred Edwords, spokesman for the humanist group...

I took one look at the semi-circle of lost souls and wondered what my chances were of getting anything across to them. But I had already planned my attack. I turned without a word and wrote across the chalkboard: It's okay to steal as long as you don't hurt anyone.

By Jessica Garrison, Maura Dolan and Nancy Vogel After losing at the polls, gay-rights advocates filed a legal challenge today in California Supreme Court to Proposition 8, a long-shot effort that the measure's supporters called an attempt to subvert the will of voters. Lawyers for same-sex couples said they will argue that the anti-gay-marriage measure was an illegal constitutional revision -- not a more limited amendment, as backers said. The legal action contends that Proposition 8 actually revises the state Constitution by altering such fundamental tenets as equal-protection guarantees. A measure to revise the state Constitution can be placed before...

Along with the new Jewish year we welcomed a new cycle of Torah readings. For Californians, the first post-Sukkot Sabbath reading was particularly timely, coming as it did a mere 10 days before the 2008 elections. It should have given pause to Jewish opponents of Proposition 8, the measure aimed at amending California’s constitution to enshrine the traditional definition of marriage in state law. An assortment of arguments can be made in support of Proposition 8—from the deep and abiding connection of marriage with procreation, to the healthful effects for children of having both a mother and a father, to...

Five months and thousands of weddings after California's highest court sanctioned same-sex marriage, anxious eyes around the nation will closely follow voters Tuesday as they decide whether to turn back the clock. Given the state's size and influence, the vote on a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage has become a referendum on sexual orientation and civil rights. Both sides call it the "Gettysburg" of the power struggle between the gay rights movement and the Christian right, with the victors capturing momentum in other states. "As California goes, so goes the nation," Mayor Gavin Newsom boldly predicted at a City Hall...

Proposition 8 is a California ballot measure, but ripples from the high-priced, high-profile effort to ban same-sex marriage are extending way beyond its borders.Checks of $500,000 or more are arriving from places like Cleveland; Brooklyn, N.Y.; Linden, Utah; and Bryn Mawr, Pa.A Kansas City minister brings thousands of evangelical Christians to San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium for a religious/political rally.The New York Times writes an editorial endorsing a "no" vote on Prop. 8, even though Sacramento is 2,800 miles from the paper's Manhattan headquarters."Both sides agree that what happens here will have a major impact on the same-sex marriage debate across...

SAN FRANCISCO -- "Extremists." "Indoctrination." "Liars." "Destroy America." "Blackmail." Fiery words and harsh attacks are punctuating the campaigns surrounding Proposition 8, which would ban same-sex marriage in California. In Bakersfield, supporters and opponents of Prop. 8 scuffle on a street corner. In the Los Angeles suburb of Torrance, a 23-year-old is charged with a felony hate crime for attacking a gay man with a "Yes on Prop. 8" lawn sign. On the Internet, terms like "homophobe" and "religious zealot" are fired back and forth on blogs and Web sites. "I've been doing campaigns for years, but I wasn't prepared for...

SAN FRANCISCO- When Californians vote on Proposition 8, they'll decide whether same-sex partners' right to marry will still exist as of 12:01 a.m. Wednesday. What's less clear is the impact on as many as 16,000 gay and lesbian couples who have wed since June. Some legal commentators say Prop. 8, if passed Tuesday, would retroactively invalidate all same-sex marriages performed in the state since a state Supreme Court ruling legalizing such weddings took effect. Others say the court established rights that can't be taken away, even if the law changes.The answer could come from the same court that overturned California's...

Anxious Eyes on Calif. Measure Over Gay Marriage Friday, October 31, 2008 6:00 PM SAN FRANCISCO -- Five months and thousands of weddings after California's highest court sanctioned same-sex marriage, anxious eyes around the nation will closely follow voters Tuesday as they decide whether to turn back the clock. Given the state's size and influence, the vote on a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage has become a referendum on sexual orientation and civil rights. Both sides call it the "Gettysburg" of the power struggle between the gay rights movement and the Christian right, with the victors capturing momentum in other...

... Theft and vandalism of Proposition 8 signs have been reported in Santa Ana, Yorba Linda, Huntington Beach, Fountain Valley, Irvine and Laguna Hills. In Fullerton, five people were taken into custody after police there found 10 torn "Yes on Proposition 8" signs in their car. The suspects told police they had just attended a "No on 8" rally. In Irvine, two citizen arrests have been reported of people stealing or vandalizing "Yes" signs and on Tuesday, three students were stopped by a police officer in an area where several signs had the word "No" spray-painted over several "Yes" signs....

Story will air on local CBS station (CBS 47 )at 11:00 PM Death threats are made against Fresno Mayor Alan Autry for his support of Proposition 8. Prop 8 is a ballot measure that if approved by voters next Tuesday will define marriage as only between a man and a woman. (It would ban gay marriage.) Also, well known local Pastor Jim Franklin, also an outspoken supporter of Prop 8 has also recieved death threats against him, and his family. Local police Chief, Jerry Dyer confirms the threats and says the department is taking the threat seriously. Both men have...

Whether disapproving churches could be forced to choose between providing services to gay couples or losing their tax-exempt status is one of the questions swirling around Proposition 8, the Nov. 4 ballot measure that would ban same-sex marriage. AdvertisementIn its May ruling legalizing same-sex marriage, the state Supreme Court made clear that it did not intend for the decision to be interpreted as interfering with a church's right to determine who it marries. Yesterday, 59 California law professors released a one-page position paper making their case that the state and federal constitutions provide ironclad protections for churches. “No church's tax-exempt...

Speaking out recently against Proposition 8, the proposed constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage, former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown made an appeal for the importance of protecting the rights of same-sex couples. And then he urged his audience to vote yes on the proposition. Brown misspoke. He intended to advocate a no vote. But he isn’t alone in confusing which side is which. As election day nears, both supporters and opponents of Proposition 8 worry that voters will be confused by a choice that can seem counterintuitive: Voting no on the initiative means voting yes on gay marriage,...

Internal polling for proponents of Proposition 8, which would ban same-sex marriage in California, shows the race tied; public polls have it tied at 44% to 44% with 12 percent undecided. Internal polling for opponents of proposition 8 have the race within the margin of error. So it's real close. Both sides are accusing other of dirty tactics; someone effectuated a denial-of-service attack on the No side's website. Yes on 8 director Frank Schubert says his side will have 100,000 volunteers on Election Day. (That's unlikely -- initiative directors like to equate their lists with their volunteers -- but even...

"The Field Poll shows that Prop 8's deceptive campaign has failed to move their numbers much at all. Prop 8 is trying to run a campaign to get to a Yes vote, yet they have remained in this and other polls well below the 50 percent margin necessary for success. We are running a No campaign, and we are successfully keeping our opponents below 50 percent. "We are highly energized across the state and we believe this will be a close election. We reject any suggestion that there will be a last minute surge for Prop 8 in a year...

Campaign finance records reveal that Alice Huffman, President of the California State NAACP, the only major African American leader in California to endorse legalized gay marriage, has received nearly $200,000 from the NO on 8 campaign in “fees” through her company AC Public Affairs. African American leaders throughout California were shocked when Huffman, as a member of the NAACP Board, endorsed the No on 8 campaign despite the statewide, unified voices of African American political and religious leaders in support of traditional marriage. Huffman has never taken a vote of NAACP chapters and members, which is customary before endorsing any...

Polls continue to slide for No on Prop 8 Equity for All, as reports leak out that the campaign’s management structure is in utter disarray. A series of orchestrated, factually false press statements have been issued alleging the sky will fall if Proposition 8 passes on Tuesday. “Clearly, this is nothing more than a floundering campaign grasping at straws to save its effort,” said Chip White, Protectmarriage.com – Yes on 8 campaign spokesman. “It’s quite sad because those who are hurt most are voters. We invited the No on Prop 8 campaign to debate Proposition 8 this weekend in a...

As an African-American lesbian who has been in a loving relationship for over two decades, I have been made well aware of the black community's discomfort with things gay. Our long and courageous history in the forefront of the struggle for civil rights notwithstanding, the leadership of black America -- politicians, ministers, business leaders -- has not been as outspoken as it could be and should be on the issue of gay rights. Homophobia and traditional religious teachings play a role in our silence. But the roots of our discomfort, I think, go deeper. Sadly, some African-Americans believe that it...

The opponents of Amendment 2 in Florida want to talk about anything and everything except what the Florida Marriage Protection Amendment is all about. They want to talk about hospital visitation, benefits, domestic violence, social security, tough economic times, health care, Michigan, domestic partnerships, more benefits, putting government into your private life, alleged campaign violations and any other number of contrived focus group tested themes. But they absolutely refuse to discuss the driving force behind why 27 states amended their state constitutions by overwhelming majorities – to protect the definition of marriage as the union of one man and one...

If Prop. 8 wins, Newsom will be scapegoated. But the recriminations should focus on Ronald George.I voted against Proposition 8, just as I voted against Proposition 22 in 2000, on equality-under-the-law grounds. I hope the anti-gay-marriage constitutional amendment fails on Tuesday. But I'm increasingly beginning to suspect it will pass. Backers have mounted a shrewdly framed TV ad campaign that doesn't have the harsh edge many expected from die-hard opponents of gay marriage. Its focus on the possibility that school kids might be taught about gay marriage has touched a chord among parents. (No, I don't think this claim is...

In the last week of what could be one of the most important political fights of his career, Mayor Gavin Newsom is campaigning heavily against Proposition 8, turning to his supporters with pleas to vote and convince their friends and relatives to oppose the same-sex marriage ban. The mayor is hosting a private fundraiser at his Russian Hill home Wednesday night and has already picked up $125,000 in contributions from those attending the event. On Wednesday afternoon, he's holding a forum with employees at Google, and over the next several days he'll be hitting nearly every major Bay Area radio...

It is simply amazing how the "No on Prop. 8" campaign is unwilling to stand up for what it believes. For a week now the campaign has said one thing; yet it believes something else. What do I mean? Well, the "No on Prop. 8" campaign maintains that, if Proposition 8 fails, kids will not be exposed to same-sex marriage instruction in school; yet it maintains that gay marriage is a fundamental right. Huh? If gay marriage is a fundamental right, then it should be taught in school. Can you think of another fundamental right that is not taught in...

Vandals hit two S.J. homes with signs supporting ban on same-sex marriage For the second time in a week, homeowners in South San Jose have been targeted for their support of a proposition that would define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Unlike the previous incident where no law was broken, the culprits who spray-painted large "No on 8" messages Sunday night on the garage doors of two homes on a cul-de-sac near Monterey and Bernal roads could face jail time and a fine if arrested and convicted. San Jose police were called to the scene...

I have to ask myself “what’s the point of David Benkof’s opinion piece on Prop. 8?” Is Mr. Benkof suggesting in order for a voter to vote yes on Proposition 8 we have to be like those whose views are more radical than our own views because they support it too? After reading his opinion I wonder if he ever truly was an advocate of being in opposition of same-sex marriages because he appeared confused about staying focused on the real issue which is “Do we want same-sex marriages in California?” “Yes” or “No.” I agreed with Mr. Benkof when...

If same-sex marriage survives next week's ballot challenge, it will largely be due to state Attorney General Jerry Brown. It was Brown's office that decided on the final ballot description for Proposition 8, the proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay and lesbian weddings. And by changing the way the measure was framed in its title and summary, Brown just might have tipped the balance in what looks to be a close election. Here's the story: Prop. 8 asks voters to affirm that "only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California" - a concept that...

Why Republicans should vote no on Prop 8 Republicans often say that courts should apply the law, not create it. It was really quite a stretch for the California Supreme Court to say that the Constitution of California already contains a right for same-sex marriage, when the Constitution doesn't say a word about it. The truth is: It's a new issue. To those who say the Court got it wrong, I say: I agree. It's for us to decide. Now, let's make the right decision. And that right decision, in my view, is to allow same-sex marriage in California.Republicans believe...

California's first lady says she is voting against a ballot initiative that would prohibit same-sex couples from getting married in California. Maria Shriver said in an interview with KNBC-TV in Los Angeles that she is voting no on Proposition 8. Shriver said, "I believe in people's right to choose a partner that they love, and that's a decision that I have come to, and I have felt that way for a long time." Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger also opposes Prop. 8.

There aren’t any candidates involved, but a statewide measure that would eliminate same-sex couples’ right to marry has started a political sign war in Scotts Valley. There aren’t any candidates involved, but a statewide measure that would eliminate same-sex couples’ right to marry has started a political sign war in Scotts Valley. More than 50 “Yes on 8” signs have been destroyed and stolen in Scotts Valley, said Jenny Wood, local “Yes on 8” campaign ZIP code supervisor. At the same time, many “No on 8” signs have been taken or slashed, said Glen Schaller, the Santa Cruz campaign manager...

The ProtectMarriage.com—Yes on 8 campaign today criticized the "No on 8" campaign’s new television ad, released yesterday, which features California Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell. The ad raises a new standard for using a small, cleverly worded kernel of truth to foster the Big Lie. Specifically, the discussed whether schools are "required" to teach anything about marriage, and states that they are not. By this logic, presumably, they would argue that no one in California is required to have a drivers’ license, only the people who want to drive cars are. The real fact, as stated clearly in the...

The students of American River College turned back an effort to recall nine campus leaders in response to their support of Proposition 8, the statewide ballot measure banning same-sex marriage. Results of the vote were released by ARC officials this afternoon. . . .Individual results differed among the recall targets, but they all cleared the recall by a 200-300 vote margin out of the 3531 votes cast Tuesday and Wednesday. Students backing the unsuccessful recall say the Proposition 8 vote wasn't the only reason for the recall, but did helped galvanize opposition.

SAN FRANCISCO - A girl in pigtails bounds into the kitchen after school and asks her mother to guess what she learned that day. "I learned how a prince married a prince, and I can marry a princess," she exclaims to her mortified mom. This television advertisement for a ballot initiative that would ban same-sex marriage in California urges voters to "protect children" by approving the measure. There's not a word about education in Proposition 8, but what public schools will be required to teach about same-sex marriage has emerged as the central issue in the campaign. The measure's supporters...

Melissa Etheridge sang "Wedding Bell Blues" and Mary J. Blige covered a moving rendition of U2's "One" at Ron Burkle's Greenacres estate at a lavish fund-raiser for the No on 8 campaign, which is a fighting a ban on same-sex marriage. On a stage set up on a portion of Burkle's sprawling back lawn, Etheridge told the crowd that "I believe we are at the very end of this cycle of fear that has been going on and on." About $3.9 million was raised at the Tuesday evening event, and campaign officials say they are closing the fund-raising gap with...

LOS ANGELES - For weeks, Hollywood had been criticized for not contributing enough to defeat a ballot initiative in California that would ban same-sex marriage. Now, members of the film and TV industries are sweeping in to preserve gays’ right to get hitched. Maybe they were planning for a Hollywood ending all along? After news of Proposition 8’s supporters outraising its opponents spread and the measure gained support in public opinion polls, many Hollywood insiders have made declarations of support — financial and otherwise — against the ban. While the “No on 8” campaign hasn’t quite reached the buzziness of...

Next to the presidential election, California Proposition 8 is the most important vote in America. It will determine the definition of marriage for the largest state in America, and it will determine whether judges or society will decide on social-moral issues. In 2000, 61 percent of the voters in California, one the most liberal states in America, voted to retain the only definition of marriage civilization has ever had -- the union of a man and woman (the number of spouses allowed has changed over time but never the sexes of the spouses). But in May 2008, four out of...

Like it or not, Mayor Gavin Newsom is proving to be the gift that keeps on giving for the campaign to deprive same-sex couples of their right to marry. Newsom's hyperkinetic rally cry after the May 15 Supreme Court ruling on marriage equality - "The door's wide open now ... it's going to happen ... whether you like it or not," he shouted gleefully - made him the inevitable star of the Yes on 8 TV spots. I say "inevitable" because I remember my first reaction when I saw his gloating, taunting speech on live television that day. A man...

Gavin Newsom has always played a starring role in the same-sex marriage debate, but in recent weeks that role has turned decidedly unheroic. The mayor has become the reluctant face of the campaign opposing same-sex unions with the help of a prominent Yes-on-Proposition 8 TV ad. Conservative blogs have been atwitter about Newsom last week officiating at the wedding of a lesbian teacher whose class of first-graders took a field trip to celebrate with her.In many ways, Newsom has become the single best campaign tool for proponents of Prop. 8 - and that might have been inevitable, political experts said....

It is time to confront the unhappy fact about our country: There are now two Americas. Not a rich one and a poor one; economic status plays little role in this division. There is a Red one and a Blue one. For most of my life I have believed, in what I now regard as wishful thinking, that the Right and Left wings have essentially the same vision for America, that it's only about ways to get there in which the two sides differ. Right and Left share the same ends, I thought. That is not the case. For the...

I believe that abortion is an unspeakable evil, yet I support Sen. Barack Obama, who is pro-choice. I do not support him because he is pro-choice, but in spite of it. Is that a proper moral choice for a committed Catholic? As one of the inaugural members of the U.S. bishops' National Review Board on clergy sexual abuse, and as a canon lawyer, I answer with a resounding yes. Despite what some Republicans would like Catholics to believe, the list of what the church calls "intrinsically evil acts" does not begin and end with abortion. In fact, there are many...

How does it feel, I wanted to know, to be tossed out of your job as a church music director and choir leader because you’re gay? It happened this summer to Charles Philyaw. After four years at St. Andrew Catholic Church in the Dane County community of Verona, he was fired for living an openly gay life — monogamously, I would add — with his partner, who also was an active member of the parish. The story was told last Sunday by Wisconsin State Journal writer Doug Erickson, who found that five of the congregation’s 1,600 adult members complained about...

The California Supreme Court made it easier Thursday for prison inmates to win parole despite a governor's objections, ruling that a woman who fatally shot and stabbed another woman with a potato peeler should remain free. The 4 to 3 ruling, written by Chief Justice Ronald M. George, could affect nearly 1,000 parole cases now on appeal. Lawyers on both sides said it was the first time in recent history that the state high court ruled in favor of a prisoner in a parole case. The decision upheld the release of Sandra Davis Lawrence, who spent nearly 24 years in...

We are constantly reminded about the destructive consequences of religion -- intolerance, hatred, division, inquisitions, persecutions of "heretics," holy wars. Though far from the whole story, they are, nevertheless, true. There have been many awful consequences of religion. What one almost never hears described are the deleterious consequences of secularism -- the terrible developments that have accompanied the breakdown of traditional religion and belief in God. For every thousand students who learn about the Spanish Inquisition and the Salem Witch Trials, maybe two learn to associate Gulag, Auschwitz, The Cultural Revolution and the Cambodian genocide with secular regimes and ideologies....

Background briefing: In 1968, Pope Paul VI issued Humanae Vitae, a teaching document for Catholics subtitled "on the regulation of birth". This re-affirmed the traditional ban of the Roman Catholic Church on the use of artificial contraception within marriage. It caused shock waves in the Catholic world and beyond. Calls for the Church to re-examine its stance on birth control with the arrival of the pill in the ealry 1960s had led a previous Pope to set up a 72-member commission to re-evaluate the Church's ban on artificial contraceptives. Early reports from the commission suggested the ban would be liberalised...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqIlXfkylD4“If I read this to you and did not tell you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans had done to prisoners in their control, you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime - Pol Pot or others - that had no concern for human beings. Sadly, that is not the case.”Sen. Dick Durbin on the Senate Floor