Senator Chris Buttars Forced to Resign for inciting HATE

A picture of what most Republicans, Conservatives and Yes on 8 supporters look like now or will look like when they get older, sexy huh:

Welcome to The Senate Site

Friday, February 20, 2009 For the Record By Chris Buttars State Senator, District 10 I was disappointed to learn of the Utah State Senate’s censure on Feb. 20, 2009. However, this action will not discourage me from defending marriage from an increasingly vocal and radical segment of the homosexual community. In recent years, registering opposition to the homosexual agenda has become almost impossible. Political correctness has replaced open and energetic debate. Those who dare to disagree with the homosexual agenda are labeled “haters,” and “bigots,” and are censured by their peers. The media contributes to the problem. Increasingly, individuals with conservative beliefs are targeted by a left-leaning media that uses their position of public trust as a bully pulpit. This pattern of intimidation suppresses free speech. For the record, I do not agree with the censure I see it as an attempt to shy away from controversy. In particular, I disagree with my removal as Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, since my work there is entirely unrelated to my opposition to the homosexual agenda. Still, I’m a grown man and I can take my knocks. When it comes right down to it, I would rather be censured for doing what I think is right, than be honored by my colleagues for bowing to the pressure of a special interest group that has been allowed to act with impunity. Thanks to the many citizens who have written and called to express their support. Please know that I’ll live through this to fight another day. In years to come, we’ll all look back at this point in history and see it as a crossroads. I have no intention of resigning.” Previously: Buttars also came under fire after earlier this month speaking on the floor about a school-funding bill. “This baby is black,” he said according to the Salt Lake City Tribune. “It’s a dark, ugly thing.” The local NAACP demanded that he resign, calling his words “despicable.”

Donated to Yes on 8

Who donated to Yes on 8? Who donated to increase hate and discrimination in this country?

Playa Del Rey, California had no Yes on 8 supporters.  Playa Del Rey is officially Hate Free!

Westchester is another story, but westchester you’re going into more of a poorer area that contains many minorities, foreigners, blacks and latinos, so it’s not surprising they waste money on ridiculous causes while kids are hungry and on the streets.

 

DO NOT SUPPORT THESE PEOPLE OR THEIR BUSINESSES!  These are horrible people and I pray that the good people of this country do not ever have to encounter such vile creatures.  And if you disagree with me, I really don’t give a fuck.

WESTCHESTER YES ON 8

Mrs. Elizabeth Tanner
Librarian
County Of Los Angeles Pub Lib.
$200.00	8/31/2008

 

Mr. Joseph Czyzyk
Businessman
Mercury Air Group
$99.00	10/4/2008

 

Mr. Kenneth Bartholomew
Media Market Research Director
Otx-Online Testing Exchange
$500.00	9/14/2008

Mr. Kenneth Bartholomew
Media Market Research Director
Otx-Online Testing Exchange
$500.00	9/14/2008

Mr. John Lee
Chemical Engineer
Chevron
$500.00	8/5/2008

Mrs. Debora Robinson
Homemaker
N/A
$250.00	8/20/2008

Westchester

EL SEGUNDO – YES ON 8 donators

They tend to be old, retired or foreign, minority, mexican.  Not a surprise.

Mr. Juan Acuna
Driver
Sparkletts Water
$150.00	10/2/2008

Mr. Darryl Amour
Self – Darryl Amour
Amour Way Limousine & Travel
$100.00	8/1/2008

Mr. Joseph Czyzyk Businessman

Mrs. Karene Hansen
Homemaker
N/A
$95.00	9/4/2008

Mercury Air Group $99.00 10/4/2008

Mr. Casey Tennyson
Cpa
St Cloud Capital
$50.00	10/11/2008

Mr. Kevan Shurtliff
Audiologist
Kevan L Shurtliff, M.S.
$250.00	8/28/2008

Mr. Craig Layne
General Contractor
Cc Layne & Sons, Inc.
$200.00	10/1/2008

Mr. James Haugen
Officer
Us Air Force
$250.00	10/17/2008

Mr. Allen Carlson
Retired
N/A
$300.00	9/30/2008

Mr. Richard Searle
Retired
N/A
$1,000.00	8/12/2008

Mrs. Marian Goyette
Homemaker
$200.00	3/28/2008

Mr. Allen Carlson
Retired
N/A
$300.00	9/30/2008

Mr. Fred Horton
Retired
N/A
$100.00	7/23/2008

 

Donna Hepworth
Homemaker
Homemaker
$250.00	10/9/2008

Mr. Lloyd Carlson
N/A
Retired
$50.00	7/21/2008
$25.00	8/4/2008

Mrs. James Stewart
Account Assitant
Manning, Selvage & Lee
$100.00	10/2/2008

Mrs. Nancy Whitney
Retired
N/A
$200.00	9/11/2008

Mr. David Curcillo
Realtor
Shoreview
$30.00	5/21/2008

Mrs. Leeelle Tullis
Asl Interpreter
Ucla
$100.00	10/2/2008

Mr. Doug Hillhouse
Trim & Drill Operator
Northrup Grumman
$125.00	6/18/2008

Mr. Dan Chatwin
Physical Therapist
Pt Plus
$100.00	8/5/2008

Mr. Damon Chambers
Engineer
Northrop Grumman
$500.00	10/5/2008

Mr. Jim Johansen
Engineer
Aerospace
$500.00	6/19/2008

 

Mrs. Barbara Vidmar
Retired
N/A
$500.00	8/21/2008

Mr. Steven Adams
Lawyer
Musick, Peeler & Garrett Llp
$300.00	8/13/2008

Mr. Rand Putnum
Physicist
Boeing
$250.00	9/3/2008

 

MANHATTAN BEACH yes on 8 supporters:

They include a lazy fucks who sit at home all day and contribute nothing but money towards causes that increase hate in this country and take rights away from people.

Mr. Christopher Watkins
Law Enforcement
Department Of Justice
$100.00	8/28/2008

Mrs. Annie Han
Homemaker
N/A
$500.00	10/11/2008

Mrs. Cynthia Strand
Homemaker
N/A
$100.00	7/11/2008

Natalie Foley
Homemaker
N/A
$100.00	8/25/2008

Linda O’Brien
Owner Of Lazy R Christmas Tree
Self-Linda E O’Brien
$100.00	10/16/2008

Mrs. Jesse Mcclure
Homemaker
N/A
$500.00	10/17/2008

Mr. Michael Kurz
Administrative Law Judge
State Of California
$100.00	9/6/2008

Mr. Peter Williams
Pilot
Mc Group
$200.00	10/13/2008

Mr. Edward Millwski
Computers
Coastal Interactive
$100.00	10/14/2008

Cheryl Yee
Homemaker
N/A
$100.00	10/12/2008

Mr. Dale Ford
Analyst
Isuppli
$250.00	10/7/2008
$250.00	8/14/2008

Mr. Jacob Hodgman
Finance
H & G Capital
$250.00	8/19/2008

Mr. John Sterling
Retired
N/A
$30.00	10/16/2008
$25.00	8/1/2008

Mrs. Mary Zapf
Homemaker
N/A
$50.00	10/17/2008
$50.00	10/1/2008

Mrs. Karen Westover
Retired
$100.00	3/20/2008

Mr. David Dameron
Engineer
D. Consultants
$200.00	9/22/2008

Mr. William Loucka
Not Employed
Not Employed
$100.00	5/19/2008

Mrs. Lori Stark
Homemaker
N/A
$1,000.00	8/26/2008

Mr. Dale Ford
Analyst
Isuppli
$250.00	10/7/2008
$250.00	8/14/2008

Dorothy Egger
Homemaker
N/A
$50.00	8/11/2008

Jeff Kreager
Commerical Banker
Union Bank Of Ca
$100.00	10/16/2008

Mr. Edward Millwski
Computers
Coastal Interactive
$100.00	10/14/2008

Mrs. Kristin Palmer
Physical Therapist
Pediatric Therapy Network
$620.00	9/3/2008

Mr. Clarence Dickson
Retired
N/A
$500.00	9/9/2008

Mrs. Shirley Borden
Retired
N/A
$100.00	10/11/2008

Mr. Robert Sullivan
Retired
N/A
$250.00	8/4/2008

Linda Kaeoing
Retired
N/A
$50.00	10/9/2008

Mr. John Dowd
Software Tester
Volt Resources
$35.00	10/5/2008
$50.00	8/10/2008

Mr. Ramon Giuliani
Linguist
Mvm, Inc
$300.00	10/9/2008

http://www.eightmaps.com/

Yes on 8 Supporters Get Slap On the Hand

Resolution Opposing Prop. 8 Introduced in California Legislature

 

It looks like all those Yes on 8 supporters are on their way to finally getting that hard slap in the face they all deserve.  Justice is on it’s way and is going to be served, because any kind of hate is intolerable, and voting to take rights away from a group of American Citizens is not only disgusting, but it’s inexcusable in the eyes of the law. 

 

Members of California’s senate and assembly introduced a resolution on Tuesday, opposing the passage of Proposition 8. With the resolution, sponsors Sen. Mark Leno and Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, both San Francisco Democrats, suggest that Proposition 8 represents an improper revision of the state constitution. They maintain that both houses of the California legislature must approve any proposed revision to the constitution by a two-thirds vote before it can even go on the ballot, which was not the case with Prop. 8.

 

The California supreme court is slated to hear arguments for and against the proposition in March 2009.  Legal and civil cases and suits have been filed with the Supreme Court on November 5 and since challenging the validity of the marriage ban. The suit was filed even before Equality California, the official group that organized to defeat Prop. 8, had conceded defeat.

The court has repealed only two ballot measures in its history, a 1966 law that would have allowed racial discrimination in housing, and an anti-immigration proposition passed in 1994, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The resolution is a public decree, showing that the state legislature takes an official stance on an issue, and not actual legislation. While the document has no law-binding power, it is likely to be directed to the supreme court as it make its decision next spring.  This is only the beginning in a long line of justice serving retaliation against the Yes on 8 supporters to put an end on hate.

Florida Court Strikes Down Gay Adoption Ban!

In the Wake of the horrible Proposition Hate, I mean Proposition 8 passing, courts across the country begin striking back against the people of this country who are on a rampage to take rights away from individuals who are more capable then them to be in relationships and to adopt.  We begin seeing the first of a long line of goodness coming down from the United States Courts, beginning with the State of Florida.  What a beautiful surprise this was.

Florida Trial Court Opens Way For Lesbians And Gay Men To Adopt

 

Court strikes down ban, ruling Two Foster Children Can Be Adopted by Gay Foster Parent

 

November 25, 2008

 

MIAMI – A Florida circuit court today struck down a Florida law that bars lesbians and gay men from adopting.  The court granted adoptions to a gay man, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, who has been raising two foster children since 2004. 

 

“Our family just got a lot more to be thankful for this Thanksgiving,” said Martin Gill, a North Miami resident who is raising two brothers, four and eight, with his partner.  “We are extremely relieved that the court has recognized that it is wrong to deny our boys the legal protections and security that only come with adoption.” 

 

The court ruled that the ban violated the equal protection guarantees of the state constitution because it singles out for different treatment gay people and the children they raise for no rational reason.  The court also found that the ban denies children the right to permanency provided by federal and state law under the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997.

 

“While the decision will be welcome news to many lesbian and gay Floridians, the children in Florida foster care are the real winners today,” said Leslie Cooper, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Project and a member of the legal team that tried the case.  “The court put the interest of the children first, recognizing that the gay ban served no legitimate purpose and only made it more difficult for the state to find homes for the many children in foster care.”

 

The court’s decision comes after a four-day trial in October where the court heard from experts on children’s health and development and listened to the justifications offered by the state for the ban.  In reaching its decision, the court rejected the false assumptions and stereotypes about gay people presented by the state, holding that many “reports and studies find that there are no differences in the parenting of homosexuals or the adjustment of their children. These conclusions have been accepted, adopted and ratified by the American Psychological Association, the American Psychiatry Association, the American Pediatric Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Child Welfare League of America and the National Association of Social Workers. As a result, based on the robust nature of the evidence available in the field, this Court is satisfied that the issue is so far beyond dispute that it would be irrational to hold otherwise; the best interests of children are not preserved by prohibiting homosexual adoption.”

  

The court also rejected claims by the state that children do better when raised in homes with a mother and a father and that children raised by gay parents face social stigma.  The court found, “. . . the professionals and the major associations now agree there is well established and accepted consensus in the field that there is no optimal gender combination of parents.”

 

“Judge Lederman made clear today that it violates every rule of decency and fairness to threaten to tear a four-year-old boy from the only home he has ever known, and to send him to strangers who don’t even know him simply because his beloved Papi is gay,” said Robert Rosenwald, Director of the LGBT Project of the ACLU of Florida and one of the attorneys who tried the case.

 

Martin Gill and his partner of more than eight years became foster parents to the two boys on December 11, 2004.  The couple, who had been parents to seven other foster children over the years, was initially told that the placement would be temporary, but a plan to place the children with their grandmother fell through.  Both boys had significant health problems when they arrived in the home.  The older boy, who was four at the time, was withdrawn and didn’t speak.  Today both boys are healthy, have lots of friends and are doing well in school.  The older boy started out behind educationally and had to repeat the first grade, but with the couple’s help, he has progressed significantly. 

 

The Florida law barring lesbians and gay men from adopting is the most expansive anti-gay parenting law in the country.  It was passed in 1977 in response to an anti-gay crusade led by former Miss America and Florida orange juice spokesperson Anita Bryant. 

 

In addition to Cooper and Rosenwald, Gill is represented by James Esseks, Litigation Director of the ACLU’s Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Project and Shelbi Day, a Staff Attorney with the ACLU of Florida.  The children are represented by Hilarie Bass and Ricardo Gonzalez of Greenberg Traurig, and Charles Auslander, an attorney and former District Administrator for Florida’s Department of Children and Families (DCF).

 

For additional information about the case, including a video and podcast of Martin Gill talking about his experiences as a foster parent as well as a copy of today’s decision and a copy of the trial transcript, visit www.aclu.org/gill.

 

##

California Senator Dianne Feinstein supports Gay Rights

California Senator Dianne Feinstein has long been a supporter of gay rights.  In an interview for NBC Nightly News with Maureen Dowd she talks about her decision to speak out against Prop. 8 in California and her evolving views on same-sex marriage.

“I think as more and more people have gay friends, gay associations, see gay heroism, that their views change,” Feinstein said. “I think people are beginning to look at it differently, I know it’s happened for me.

“I started out not supporting it. The longer I’ve lived, the more I’ve seen the happiness of people, the stability that these commitments bring to a life. Many adopted children who would have ended up in foster care now have good solid homes and are brought up learning the difference between right and wrong. It’s a very positive thing.”

Feinstein had previously said that while she would not endorse a statewide ban on same-sex marriage, she supported civil unions over “redefining” marriage.

Proposition 8 – Successful Financial Companies DO NOT support Yes on 8

One of the most horrific displays of Anti-Americanism and Anti-Humanism in History came on November 4, 2008 when 51% of Americans voted to take rights away from a minority group because they disapproved of their lifestyle.  Nevermind that their lifestyle wasn’t hurting anyone, they still felt it best to strip away rights from them just to be nasty.  Plain and simple.

The demographics on who voted Yes on Proposition 8 were very clear, most who voted Yes were statistically uneducated and never voted before.  They were also religious, black, minorites themselves.  Whereas the ones that voted No registered statistically as far more intelligent, college graduates, young, rich and even more powerful.

Read on…

Although thousands of individuals, organizations, and businesses donated to the Yes on 8 campaign, not one Fortune 500 company is among those names. But on the opposite side, the side of fairness and basic rights, you’ll find some of the nation’s most successful and powerful corporate players.

It was communities of faith, who with breathtaking efficiency raised millions of dollars to enshrine discrimination into the Golden State’s constitution.  They forgot the basic teachings of faith that included thou shall not judge and thou shall exhibit compassion, and turned to evil and were a big chunk of the reason for the ban’s passage; and the lasting ramifications of those premature, divisive, and ultimately false assertions that they preyed on the most innocent and unintelligent voters who now regret check marking the Yes box next to Proposition 8, unaware of what they were doing until it was too late. 

Although thousands of individuals, organizations, and businesses donated to the Yes on 8 campaign, not one Fortune 500 company is among those names. But on the opposite side, the side of fairness and basic rights, you’ll find some of the nation’s most successful and powerful corporate players. The popular vote was lost, but the steadfast backing of one important segment — the nation’s largest employers — remains.

American corporations have gone beyond the four walls of their headquarters, factories, and retail stores and made a firm commitment to equal treatment of LGBT people. The nation’s largest and most successful businesses are not just fostering inclusive and safe work environments– they’re taking the fight for full equality to the streets and the halls of government. Though it may still be a struggle to capture 51% of the popular vote, same-sex marriage and other manifestations of equal rights have already won the vote of corporate board members and CEOs.

Although the Yes on 8 voters and supporters just want the No on 8 voters to sit silently and accept defeat, they are angered even more into bitter territory that this isn’t happening.  Yes on 8 voters and supporters want LGBT people back in the closet and to keep quiet while they rule the way they want to rule, which is through hate and discrimination.  Unfortunately for them, although they have a temporary win, the United States and California laws have clauses written in the books that prevent this kind of dispicable and callous thought process.

According to a Witeck-Combs/Market Research.com study, the buying power of the LGBT community is estimated to be $759 billion in 2009.  During difficult economic times, our nation’s businesses know that every dollar spent by consumers figures into the success of their organization.  The LGBT community has proven to be the top dollar bread winners, more successful, financially and the biggest contributors to boosting the economy, but trying to explain those numbers and figures to the less evolved Yes on 8 supporters and voters is like trying to explain something to an adult with the mindset of a child. 

What does Prop 8 really mean? How do Yes on 8 supporters really feel?

What is Proposition 8 really all about?  Everyone keeps threading and debating and attacking and it’s so exhausting.  More for the people that are affected by it.  Affected by it because of assholes.  Point blank.

The debate goes around and around, the church says, God says, the blacks say, the whites say, it’s the same thing over and over.  What it really boils down to and is really all about is the Yes on 8 people when they hear same sex, there dirty, kinky little minds go straight to the sex.  They have a problem with two men fucking each other.  That’s the bottom line, that’s all this is about.  They only want to see a throbbing, hot, hard cock sliding into a woman’s cunt, pussy hole, that’s it.  That’s all it’s about.  Unfortunately, they have it so completely backwards, and no nothing about what that lifestyle really is.  They also couldn’t possibly every understand it, because they got lucky, life made them heterosexual and attracted to the opposite sex, well aren’t they fucking lucky.  They know nothing about walking in someone else’s shoes and never will while they’re here.  They’re parents fucked them up and raised them completely wrong.  It’s a cycle that keeps getting repeated generation after generation, abuse and hate continue to be passed on.  The ones that stop the cycle are the intelligent ones, the ones that think for themselves.

I saw this stupid, dumb black woman in South Central outside of her loving Church, “Two men are not supposed to have sex, it is not the same thing with my color, I can’t choose my color.”  Yeah.  But someone who is gay can choose to be gay?  That makes no sense whatsoever.  Why would a human being choose a lifestyle or choose to be attracted to their same sex when they know society is going to ostracize them?  How on God’s fucking Earth does that make sense to this stupid Church woman?

Eeesh!

What Yes on Prop 8 supporters believe:

This is HILARIOUS……..

and highlights the idiocy of this whole debate

01) Being gay is not natural. Real Americans always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, and air conditioning.

02) Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall.

03) Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract.

04) Straight marriage has been around a long time and hasn’t changed at all; women are still property, blacks still can’t marry whites, and divorce is still illegal.

05) Straight marriage will be less meaningful if gay marriage were allowed; the sanctity of Britany Spears’ 55-hour just-for-fun marriage would be destroyed.

06) Straight marriages are valid because they produce children. Gay couples, infertile couples, and old people shouldn’t be allowed to marry because our orphanages aren’t full yet, and the world needs more children.

07) Obviously gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents only raise straight children.

08) Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire country. That’s why we have only one religion in America.

09) Children can never succeed without a male and a female role model at home. That’s why we as a society expressly forbid single parents to raise children.

10) Gay marriage will change the foundation of society; we could never adapt to new social norms. Just like we have not adapted to cars, the service-sector economy, or longer life spans.

Focus on the Family – Donated to Prop 8 – now faces financial crisis

The Focus on the Family Ministry spent more than $500,000 to pass California’s Prop. 8 gay marriage ban.

UPDATE: Focus on the Family announced this afternoon that 202 jobs will be cut companywide — an estimated 20 percent of its workforce. Initial reports bring the total number of remaining employees to around 950.

 

Focus on the Family is poised to announce major layoffs to its Colorado Springs-based ministry and media empire this week. The cutbacks come just weeks after the group pumped more than half a million dollars into the successful effort to pass a gay-marriage ban in California.  Now because of this a big chunk of their staff is out of a job.

 

Critics are holding up the layoffs, which come just two months after the organization’s last round of dismissals, as a sad commentary on the true priorities of the ministry.

“If I were their membership I would be appalled,” said Mark Lewis, a longtime Colorado Springs activist who helped organize a Proposition 8 protest in Colorado Springs on Saturday. “That [Focus on the Family] would spend any money on anything that’s obviously going to get blocked in the courts is just sad. [Prop. 8] is guaranteed to lose, in the long run it doesn’t have a chance — it’s just a waste of money.”

In all, Focus pumped $539,000 in cash and another $83,000 worth of non-monetary support into the measure to overturn a California Supreme Court ruling that allowed gays and lesbians to marry in that state. The group was the seventh-largest donor to the effort in the country. The cash contributions are equal to the salaries of 19 Coloradans earning the 2008 per capita income of $29,133.

In addition Elsa Prince, the auto parts heiress and longtime funder of conservative social causes who sits on the Focus on the Family board, contributed another $450,000 to Prop. 8, but she doesn’t seem to be losing any sleep at night that she’s also contributed to job losses with her own supporters.

“They should do more with their half-million dollars than spending it to collect signatures to take the rights away from a class of people,” said Fred Karger, the founder of the anti-Prop 8 group Californians Against Hate. “I think it’s wrong and it’s hurtful to so many Americans.”  Not to mention pointless, counter productive and a waste of time.  Your own personal beliefs on same sex marriage should remain hum.

In addition to promoting socially conservative issues such opposition to abortion and gay rights, and supporting abstinence-only education, the evangelical Christian ministry is a purveyor of Christian books, CDs and DVDs. Two months ago, citing Wal-Mart and online retailers as having cut into its product market, Focus announced that 46 employees would be laid off from its distribution department. Late Friday, Focus spokesman Gary Schneeberger confirmed that more layoffs are in store, but said the ministry will not release details until Monday afternoon. Schneeberger hinted that some programs may be eliminated entirely, but declined to elaborate.

“We’re going to need to talk to our own family first,” he said. “We need to respect the people who are affected.”  Although at this moment most would agree to little too late, as this horrible lay off is something that could’ve easily been avoided, but Focus on the Family chose to be fiscally irresponsible because of their religious values, now they’re seeing they just shot themselves in the foot.

Schneeberger also refused to discuss the funding priorities that Focus made this fall, including pumping money and in-kind contributions into Proposition 8.  Schneeberger refuses to disuss it, because he knows this is the first most obvious thing that people will notice is the #1 cause for the layoffs of innocent people in their organization for a socially violent effort. 

This is the third year that Focus has laid off employees due to budget cuts. In its heyday, the ministry, which relocated to Colorado Springs from Arcadia, Calif., in 1991, employed more than 1,500 people. Many of those employees worked in mailroom and line assembly jobs, processing so much incoming and outgoing correspondences that the U.S. Postal Service gave Focus its own ZIP code.

In September 2005, nearly 80 employees were reassigned or laid off in an effort to trim millions of dollars from its 2006 budget. In addition, 83 open positions were not filled in the layoff, which included eliminating some of the ministry’s programs. At the time, Focus employed 1,342 full-time employees.

“To the extent that we can place them within the ministry, we will try to do that,” said then-spokesman Paul Hetrick. “Most of them will not be able to be placed.”  Focus on the Family more or less admits that they’ve given a lot of money towards banning same sex marriage and Proposition 8, a fight that deep down they know will get them nowhere, as it’s the trajectory of history shows us that same sex marriage is to come to light at some point in time.

In September 2007, amid a reported $8 million in budget shortfalls, Focus on the Family laid off another 30 employees; 15 more were reassigned within the company. Most of the layoffs were from Focus’ constituent response services department (i.e. the mailroom).

At the time, Schneeberger, who had replaced Hetrick, said that giving was actually up by $1 million during the fiscal year. However, a very “aggressive” budget goal of $150 million did not materialize.

In a statement issued this September, marking the end of the ministry’s fiscal year, Chief Operating Officer Glenn Williams weighed in on the additional layoffs of 46 people.

“It is certainly heartbreaking that in this case fulfilling that duty means having to say goodbye to some members of our Focus family, but industry realities really leave us no alternative,” he note in his statement. “We are accountable to our donors to spend their money in the most cost-effective and productive manner possible.”

But Lewis, the Colorado Springs activist, wonders whether the families who donate to the nonprofit ministry, realize where their funds really end up.

“Seriously, I would imagine their supporters have got to be asking the question about whether their church is really practicing their theology.”

For Lewis, who is straight, the issue boils down to the significance of targeting a class of citizens for exclusion, at the expense of the families that the ministry could be helping — in this case their own employees.

Lewis likened Proposition 8 to Colorado’s Amendment 2, the 1992 anti-gay measure that was designed to prohibit gays and lesbians from seeking legal protections. Colorado voters approved the measure, which was marketed by proponents, including Focus on the Family, as an effort to prohibit gays and lesbians from seeking “special rights.” The U.S. Supreme Court stuck down the measure as unconstitutional four years later.

“You can’t make homosexuals second class citizens — we’ve learned that already,” Lewis said. “People will look back on this and see how absurd it is.”

Days before this year’s election, Focus founder James Dobson appeared at a closing rally at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego to rally the anti-gay troops.

Karger of Californians Against Hate, termed the rally a “big bust.” Organizers promised that more than 70,000 supporters would show up; the final tally was close to 10,000, he said.

Yet three days later, California voters approved the measure with 52 percent of the vote. While the measure will certainly head back to court, California has become the 31st state in the country to pass measures that define marriage as being between a man and woman only. In all, Proposition 8 has proven to be the most expensive social issue in the country, with more than $73 million pumped into the cause from both sides. One of the larger contributors to the anti-Prop. 8 efforts was Colorado gay philanthropist Tim Gill, who contributed $720,000 to oppose the measure.

“I’m very disturbed by organizations from out of state like Focus on the Family,” Karger said. “They came in early to make sure the measure got on ballot; they’ve got muscle and they are out to hurt a lot of people and destroy a lot of lives.”

How Proposition 8 Supporters Are Ku Klux Klan Members

Question:  How are Yes on 8 Supporters like Ku Klux Klan members?
Answer:    During the late 1860s, some Southern veterans of the defeated Confederacy created the Ku Klux Klan. This organization’s original goal was to deny African Americans the same rights and opportunities as white people in the South. The American Civil War and the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments, to the United States Constitution had granted African Americans freedom and equality with whites. The members of the KKK hoped to keep African Americans from enjoying those rights.

Uhhh that is exactly what’s happening now with the Yes on 8 Supporters hoping to keep Same Sex couples from enjoying the same rights as them.  It is the EXACT same thing.

Many Americans became involved in reform movements during the first decades of the twentieth century. Some of these movements supported middle-class, Protestant values and believed that non-whites and foreigners were a danger to these beliefs. Because of these fears and concerns, the Ku Klux Klan was able to find new supporters.

The new Klan disliked foreigners, non-white racial groups, and non-Protestants.

The Ku Klux Klan declined in popularity but saw a revival once again during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950’s and 1960’s. The Ku Klux Klan continues to exist in the twenty-first century.

Uhh yeah, they are all the Yes on Proposition 8 supporters.  It’s the exact same thing all over again.