Prop 8 Foes to Decide Whether to Fight in 2010

From SF Gate:

This is a big week for same-sex marriage advocates, as a clearer picture will emerge about whether they’re going to put the issue before voters again in November 2010 or wait until 2012. Or beyond.

On Wednesday, Equality California, one of the organizations at the forefront of the anti-Proposition 8 campaign last year, will announce which “way forward” it suggests taking.

On Thursday, the 700,000-member liberal online hub Courage Campaign, whose members advocate a 2010 run, will say whether a $200,000 challenge grant it issued for preliminary campaign work was met. If it wasn’t, then as Courage Campaign founder Rick Jacobs wrote to supporters, “We will have to accept that our movement is not ready to repeal Prop. 8 in 2010.”

Read more: www.sfgate.com

Courage Campaign: Please Don’t Divorce My Sons!

For the past year we have heard a lot about Prop 8–as a court case, as an initiative, and now as a court case yet again. It’s time for us to show the community that Prop 8 is far more than a legal proceeding.  No matter whether you are straight or gay, the lives of your spouses, your friends, and your family members are in the balance.

Thank you for helping us send this important message to the lawyers working to divorce 18,000 happy, law-abiding, tax-paying couples.

We will send another email to you and other Courage Campaign members when the project is complete so that you can view your own and many others’ pictures online and see what we send to Ken Starr, the media,
and our partners.

We need your help to make this action possible. Will you contribute whatever you can afford to support “Please don’t divorce…” and the “MILK + LOVE” events? Please contribute here:

http://www.couragecampaign.org/contribute

If you are having difficulty sending your picture, please send a reply to this email with the type of file you are trying to send and we will work with you to make sure we receive your picture.

Thank you for everything you are doing to restore marriage equality in California.

-The Courage Campaign Team

You can also learn more at ConnVanDyke!

Proposition 8 May Have a Short Lived Life

If the battle over Proposition 8 is revived in 2010, according to recent polls and census data, demographic trends may eliminate the amendment’s winning margin.

Several gay rights groups (equality groups) have already vowed to bring a 2010 repeal against the initiative to the table.  As you’re aware, Prop 8 took away the right for same-sex couples to marry, the right which had just been granted by the California Supreme Court in May. However, as history shows, it is typically easier to get a no vote than a yes vote, so a repeal campaign could have a tough road ahead.

Rick Jacobs, founder and directory of the Courage Campaign stated;

“We have not determined, with our allies, exactly when that will be, but we will be absolutely ready to put it on the ballot in 2010.”  The repeal effort has already documented over 300,000 signatures.

LA Mayor Gives $25,000 to Fight Proposition 8

Antonio Villaraigosa, The Mayor of Los Angeles has donated $25,000 to help defeat Proposition 8, a California ballot initiative that would take away the right for gay people to marry in that state.

In a statement released Tuesday by Courage Campaign, an online political organizing Web site, the mayor noted that he has officiated many weddings for gay couples since same-sex marriage was legalized in California in June.

Villaraigosa said he entered politics because “the America of my dreams includes everyone, not just a few.”

Like San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, whose words and image have appeared in television ads by Proposition 8’s supporters, Villaraigosa has mentioned interest in campaigning for governor in 2010.