A dunderhead’s attempt at figuring out Prop 8
This doesn’t have anything directly to do with my liver, health, or immediate life. But it is something I have to get out of my head and onto the (virtual) page. I’m in the midst of a bit of research on the subject, so please excuse my verbosity. Just look for the stuff that you care about, ignore the rest, and then declare me a moron. Isn’t that the American political system in a nutshell?
Today’s missive focuses on some facts I’ve gathered regarding California’s Proposition 8. For those of you who haven’t heard about it, California (my current home state) just passed Prop 8, which is a state constitutional amendment that effectively defines Marriage as being between a man and a woman. The official state website containing the analysis, official arguments and rebuttals, and complete text of the proposition can be found
here.
As much as possible, for today I’ll try to keep my opinionated fingers out of the pie and present just the facts as I have found and understand them. I’ll blather my way into a corner tomorrow.
This is the Official Title and Summary, as handed to us voters from our Attorney General: “
PROP 8 — ELIMINATES RIGHT OF SAME–SEX COUPLES TO MARRY. INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT. - Changes the California Constitution to eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry in California.
- Provides that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.
Summary of Legislative Analyst’s Estimate of Net State and Local Government Fiscal Impact:- Over the next few years, potential revenue loss, mainly from sales taxes, totaling in the several tens of millions of dollars, to state and local governments.
- In the long run, likely little fiscal impact on state and local governments.”
What is the text of the proposition itself? Turns out it’s short enough to include here. This is the ENTIRE text for Prop 8, by the way.
“This initiative measure is submitted to the people in accordance with the provisions of Article II, Section 8, of the California Constitution. This initiative measure expressly amends the California Constitution by adding a section thereto; therefore, new provisions proposed to be added are printed in
italic type to indicate that they are new.
SECTION 1. Title
This measure shall be known and may be cited as the “California Marriage Protection Act.”
SECTION 2. Section 7.5 is added to Article I of the California Constitution, to read:
SEC. 7.5. Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.”
The opening of the entry on this topic in the Wikipedia (which every high school student knows is the definitive collection of reliable information on the planet) is this:
“Proposition 8 is a California State ballot proposition that would amend the state Constitution to restrict the definition of marriage to a union between a man and a woman. It would overturn a recent California Supreme Court decision that had recognized same-sex marriage in California as a fundamental right. The official ballot title language for Proposition 8 is "Eliminates Right of Same-Sex Couples to Marry." The entirety of the text to be added to the constitution is: "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California."
“The campaigns for and against Proposition 8 raised $35.8 million and $37.6 million, respectively, becoming the highest-funded campaign on any state ballot that day and surpassing every campaign in the country in spending except the presidential contest. The proponents argued for exclusively heterosexual marriage while claiming that failure to change the constitution would require changes to school curriculum and threaten church tax benefits. The opponents argued that eliminating the rights of any Californian and mandating that one group of people be treated differently from everyone else was unfair and wrong.”
That’s just the slightest dip in the water of all the ancillary issues that cropped up over this proposition. But I’m sure most of you are weary of the entire issue, as am I.
My interest, however lies in two areas: the differences between the financial supporters on both sides of the argument, and the differences in at least how I perceive each side representing itself, before and after the election.
A little more internet research (because if it’s on the internet, it’s obviously true) gives us this information: The main donors supporting Prop. 8 were:
- Knights of Columbus (a Catholic-based fraternal benefits organization, raising $1,400,000)
- Howard Ahmanson Jr. (again, according to Wikipedia, “an heir of the Home Savings bank fortune… [and] a multi-millionaire philanthropist and financier of the causes of many conservative Christian cultural, religious and political organizations, $1,150,000)
- John Templeton (from the Templeton Foundation website: “…an investor and mutual fund pioneer [worth billions]. As a member of the Presbyterian Church, Templeton was dedicated to his faith. However, [he] remained open to the benefits and values of other faiths. Commenting on his commitment to what he called spiritual progress, “But why shouldn't I try to learn more? Why shouldn't I go to Hindu services? Why shouldn't I go to Muslim services? If you are not egotistical, you will welcome the opportunity to learn more.” $900,000)
- National Organization for Marriage (according to their own website, “a nonprofit organization with a mission to protect marriage and the faith communities that sustain it. Founded in response to the growing need for an organized opposition to same-sex marriage in state legislatures, NOM serves as a national resource for marriage-related initiatives at the state and local level.” $785,750.)
- Elsa Prince (the widow of Edgar Prince, who founded Prince Automotive and invented the lighted sun visor mirror, which made them billionaires; in 2004 she was the top individual contributor to Citizens for the Protection of Marriage. $650,000.)
- Fieldstead & Company (from the company website: “Fieldstead is a private company that manages the assets of the Howard F. Ahmanson, Jr. family [see above]. Among other things, one of the functions of Fieldstead & Company is to help manage the family's various philanthropic programs as part of a Christian worldview.” $600,000.)
- American Family Association (from their website: “The American Family Association represents and stands for traditional family values, focusing primarily on the influence of television and other media – including pornography – on our society.” And on their founder, Don Wildmon: “Donald E. Wildmon is an ordained United Methodist minister, having earned his MDiv. from Emory College in 1965. After serving in the U.S. Army's Special Services he pastored churches from 1965 until he founded National Federation for Decency in 1977. NFD became American Family Association in 1988.” $500,000)
- Focus on the Family (from their website: “We believe that the institution of marriage is a sacred covenant designed by God to model the love of Christ for His people and to serve both the public and private good as the basic building block of human civilization…Christians are called to defend and protect God's marriage design and to minister in Christ's name to those who suffer the consequences of its brokenness.” $411,000.)
- Doug Manchester (from his website: “Mr. Manchester is Chairman of Manchester Financial Group, one of San Diego's largest and most profitable private companies…He is known internationally for owning and developing two of the largest hotels in the United States. Those hotels are The Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego and the San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina.” And this, from the San Diego Union-Tribute’s website: ‘Manchester said he was motivated [to donate this money] by his strong Catholic faith. “I personally believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman,” he said.’ $125,000.)
However, the group mostly singled out as the “true backers” of this proposition is
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (aka LDS church, or Mormons, if you prefer). Back to Wikipedia: “Contributions from Mormons were said to amount to between 33%-40% of the total amount raised in support of Proposition 8.” Note that the contributions came from individuals within the church, not from the church itself. Opponents point out that the church sent out Pro-prop 8 messages to be read at church services, urging members to work toward passage of this proposition. True! In fact, this is reported on the LDS website itself (http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/commentary/california-and-same-sex-marriage), which starts their internal press release dated June 30, 2008 with “The following letter was sent from the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to Church leaders in California to be read to all congregations on 29 June 2008.” Best guesstimates are that Mormon congregants raised $20 million in their effort to pass this proposition.
Now let’s turn to the opponents of Proposition 8. Some of the donors to the No on 8 campaign included:
- Human Rights Campaign (from their website: “The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. By inspiring and engaging all Americans, HRC strives to end discrimination against LGBT citizens and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all.” $2,057,981)
- Bruce Bastian gave $1,005,000 to HRC. (From his website: “Bruce Wayne Bastian was born in Twin Falls, Idaho [to] a conservative, Mormon family... [He] started a small software company offering word processing software on mini computers. In 1983, soon after the IBM Personal Computer was announced, Mr. Ashton and Mr. Bastian rewrote their word processing product to run in the PC world. That product was named WordPerfect.” and “Bastian’s foresight and generosity have provided more personal and financial support to local GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bi-sexual, Transgender) organizations than any other single individual. He is also a major donor for several national GLBT organizations.”
- David Maltz (a Cleveland businessman) donated $1,100,000 (from the L.A. Times, October 25: “I'm contributing to No on 8 because it's wrong to eliminate anyone's fundamental rights and unfair to treat some people differently," Maltz said in a statement. “I hope my contribution will encourage others to donate, get involved and help defeat this attack on families.”)
- California Teachers Association, $1,300,000 (From their website: “The California Teachers Association (CTA) is California's largest professional employee organization, representing more than 340,000 public school teachers, counselors, psychologists, librarians, other non-supervisory certificated personnel, and Education Support Professionals. CTA is affiliated with the 3.2 million-member National Education Association. More than 1,100 chapters or local teachers associations are chartered as CTA affiliates. Two unique CTA Chapters are "statewide" affiliates: The California Faculty Association, the bargaining agent for professors in the California State University system and the Community College Association, representing members in 42 chapters who work in 72 community college districts across the state.”)
- No on 8 - Equality California, $1,250,000 (From their website: “In the past 10 years, Equality California has strategically moved California from a state with extremely limited legal protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals to a state with some of the most comprehensive civil rights protections in the nation…EQCA works to achieve equality and secure legal protections for LGBT people. To improve the lives of LGBT Californians, EQCA sponsors legislation and coordinates efforts to ensure its passage, lobbies legislators and other policy makers, builds coalitions, develops community strength and empowers individuals and other organizations to engage in the political process.”)
- Robert Wilson, $1,200,000. (According to the San Francisco Chronicle, “a retired Brooklyn hedge-fund manager.” That’s all I could get on him in the time I’m allowing myself for this research.)
- David Bohnett, $600,000. (From his foundation’s website: “David Bohnett is…Chair of the David Bohnett Foundation and head of private equity firm Baroda Ventures…He founded GeoCities, an Internet based media and e-commerce company…The company became publicly traded on NASDAQ and was subsequently acquired by Yahoo! Inc.” and their mission statement: “David Bohnett and the David Bohnett Foundation are committed to improving society through social activism. We pursue our mission by providing funding, state-of-the-art technology and technical support to innovative organizations and institutions that, in addition to meeting our funding guidelines, share our vision.”)
- Tim Gill, (Gill Action Fund), $350,000. (From the Action Fund’s website: “Gill Action was founded in 2005 by philanthropist and entrepreneur Tim Gill with the mission of securing equal rights for all Americans regardless of sexual orientation and gender expression. Gill Action emphasizes strategic partnerships with allied organizations that result in the lasting and effective realization of its mission through the legislative, political, and electoral process…Gill Action values bipartisanship, not only in its staff, but in its strategy to advance equality.” and about Tim Gill: “In addition to funding the gay and lesbian movement for equal rights, he is also a strong supporter of social justice organizations and educational institutions. Tim was one of the first major contributors to the Colorado AIDS Project and has long supported local public radio and television through program underwriting. Through the Gay & Lesbian Fund for Colorado, a project of the Gill Foundation, Tim has provided financial support to numerous organizations which serve the general public, including nearly $1 million to the American Red Cross for Hurricane Katrina disaster relief. Tim is founder and former chairman of Quark, Incorporated. He is recognized for revolutionizing the publishing industry with innovative, affordable, page-layout software.”)
- James Hormel, $350,000. (From Wikipedia: “James Catherwood Hormel is a philanthropist and grandson of George A. Hormel, founder of Hormel Foods (producers of SPAM and other meat products). He lives in San Francisco, California.
“Hormel…was a member of the 1996 U.S. delegations to the United Nations General Assembly and the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, and the boards of directors of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce and the American Foundation for AIDS Research. He was appointed United States Ambassador to Luxembourg by President Bill Clinton in 1999. When he was appointed through a recess appointment, he became the first openly gay man to represent the United States as an ambassador.
“The James C. Hormel Gay & Lesbian Center at the San Francisco Public Library is the gateway to collections documenting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) history and culture, with a special emphasis on the San Francisco Bay Area.”)
- Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), $250,000. (From their website, insight into their corporate philanthropy: “Through its corporate Foundation and lines of business, PG&E Corporation has demonstrated its commitment to the communities it serves with a wide range of programs, activities, and donations and grants to educational, environmental and community organizations.” And their Environmental Justice Policy: “PG&E Corporation will conduct its operations in a manner that is consistent with and promotes environmental justice principles. We are committed to:
* Comply with the letter and spirit of environmental justice laws and regulations in our operations.
* Set high standards of environmental performance to minimize environmental impacts from our operations.
* Work diligently to address all environmental justice issues.
* Incorporate environmental justice considerations in the purchase of existing facilities and the planning and development of new facilities.
* Work with stakeholders to ensure that future development around our facilities is compatible with our existing and planned facility use.
* Maintain open and responsive communications with all stakeholders.
* Communicate and reinforce our environmental justice values within the corporation.
* Accept responsibility for our operations, and in so doing work collaboratively with our neighbors and surrounding communities.”)
- Center Advocacy Project Issues PAC, $234,000. (From their website: “The Center Advocacy Project, Inc., [is] a new, non-partisan 501 C4 organization whose mission is to is to secure equal civil and human rights for the LGBT and allied communities through public education, legislation, and issue advocacy. The Center Advocacy Project will actively and consistently engage in lobbying and campaigning on the core social issues that affect our community. From hate violence, to employment discrimination, to school safety, to the freedom to marry, The Center Advocacy Project will be on the front lines to advocate and protect LGBT San Diegans.”)
- Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Service Center, $225,000. (After some digging, I assume this to be in reference to the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center; if I’m correct, this is their info from their website: “Since 1971 the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center has been building the health, advocating for the rights and enriching the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Today it is a $51 million organization with 300 employees and 3,000 active volunteers. The Center’s wide array of services includes: free HIV/AIDS care and medications for those most in need; housing, food, clothing and support for homeless LGBT youth; low-cost counseling and addiction-recovery services; essential services for LGBT-parented families and seniors; legal services; health education and HIV prevention programs; transgender services; cultural arts program and much more.”)
- National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, about $215,200. (Mission statements from their website: “The mission of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force is to build the grassroots power of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. We do this by training activists, equipping state and local organizations with the skills needed to organize broad-based campaigns to defeat anti-LGBT referenda and advance pro-LGBT legislation, and building the organizational capacity of our movement. Our Policy Institute, the movement’s premier think tank, provides research and policy analysis to support the struggle for complete equality and to counter right-wing lies. As part of a broader social justice movement, we work to create a nation that respects the diversity of human expression and identity and creates opportunity for all.
“Mission of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Action Fund: …founded in 1974 as the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Inc., works to build the grassroots political power of the LGBT community to win complete equality. We do this through direct and grassroots lobbying to defeat anti-LGBT ballot initiatives and legislation and pass pro-LGBT legislation and other measures. We also analyze and report on the positions of candidates for public office on issues of importance to the LGBT community.”)
- GLAAD, $100,000. (From their website: “Our Mission: The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is dedicated to promoting and ensuring fair, accurate and inclusive representation of people and events in the media as a means of eliminating homophobia and discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation.”)
- Horizons Foundation, $100,000 (Mission statement from their website: “A community foundation rooted in and dedicated to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community, Horizons Foundation exists to:
* Mobilize and increase resources for the LGBT movement and organizations that secure the rights, meet the needs, and celebrate the lives of LGBT people.
* Empower individual donors and promote giving as an integral part of a healthy, compassionate community.
* Steward a permanently endowed fund through which donors can make legacy gifts to ensure our community's capacity to meet the future needs of LGBT people.”)
- Apple, $100,000 (The computer company. I’m typing this on one right now. ‘Nuff said.)
- Google, $100,000 (The search engine company. I’ve used them indirectly to gather most of the information here. If you’re reading this blog, you know who and what Google is.)
So there it is, the hardly complete list of where the money came from, for and against. I hope I have been able to present some of the data behind where the money came from, and perhaps even a glimpse of why it came from where it did.
I’ll open my big, fat, stupid mouth tomorrow.