Prop 8 Briefs: Republicans Come Out Against 8
Bay Area News
Compiled by Seth Hemmelgarn
August 7, 2008
Log Cabin Republicans President Patrick Sammon has announced the formation of
a campaign committee to help increase opposition to Prop 8 among party members.
A statement released by Log Cabin said, "While Republicans Against 8 will
draw support from Log Cabin members across the country, it falls to us here in
California to help execute the campaign's ground game. Early polls look
promising, but victory is not assured. We need your help to safeguard the
freedom to marry."
"Our message to California Republican voters is simple: 'Opposing Proposition
8 is the conservative thing to do,'" the statement said.
The group is seeking volunteers to help identify Republican allies, reach out
to friends and family members to contribute, and speak to the media, among other
activities.
For more information, visit www.republicansagainst8.com
No on 8 campaign goes 'Crazy Eight'
The No on 8 – Equality for All campaign is hosting an open house at its San
Francisco headquarters from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, August 8 in hopes of gathering
volunteers and raising money.
During the eight days between Thursday, July 31, and Friday the campaign's
been aiming to have 800 conversations and raise $8,000.
Friday at 8 p.m. (the time polls close on Election Day, November 4) will mark
88 days until the election, and the campaign is looking for volunteers to show
up at the headquarters to help it reach its goals.
People can call (530) 329-3501 to sign up for a "Crazy Eight" volunteer
shift. The headquarters is at 2278 Market Street (the former Tower Records).
Refreshments will be served.
Report looks at whether couples use legal recognition
A recently released report from the Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation
Law and Public Policy at the UCLA School of Law that analyzes data from states
that have extended legal recognition to same-sex couples shows that such couples
not only want these new legal statuses, but they also use them when they're
available.
According to the report, almost one-fourth of the country's population lives
in a state that legally recognizes same-sex couples in some way.
More than 40 percent of same-sex couples have formed legal unions in states
that provide such recognition, the report states.
The report also found that same-sex couples prefer marriage over civil unions
or domestic partnerships. Thirty-seven percent of same-sex couples in
Massachusetts married in the first year the state offered marriage. In states
that offered civil unions, the report said, only 12 percent of same-sex couples
took advantage of this status in the first year, and, in states with domestic
partnership registries, only 10 percent did so.
Approximately two out of three legally recognized same-sex couples are
female, according to the report.
The bishops of the California Catholic Conference are voicing their support
of Proposition 8.
The group released a statement encouraging Catholics "to provide both the
financial support and the volunteer efforts needed for the passage of
Proposition 8. And please exercise your citizenship and vote in November."
The statement calls marriage "the ideal relationship between a man and a
woman for the purpose of procreation and the continuation of the human race" and
says, "the ideal for the well being of children is to be born into a traditional
marriage and to be raised by both a mother and a father."
According to the group's Web site – cacatholic.org – "Our church is made up
of nearly 11 million Catholics in California."
The Rainbow Sash Movement, a group of LGBT Catholics, responded, stating that
the bishops are "guilty of fuzzy thinking."
"It is not the bishops' place to tell people how to vote," the group said,
adding that the statements about the well-being of children are "irrational."
Bar association forms task force to help defeat Prop 8
The president of the Bar Association of San Francisco, James Donato, led an
effort that resulted in May in the formation of the Marriage Fairness Task
Force, which was designed to educate the community about marriage fairness and
defeat Prop 8.
The task force includes a fundraising committee and a community/legal
outreach committee and is working with community organizations to defeat the
measure.
BASF is a nonprofit, voluntary membership organization of over 8,000
attorneys, law students, and legal professionals in the Bay Area.
Russell Roeca, the president-elect of the BASF, is the chair of the task
force, which has more than 50 members.
