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Saturday, Nov 21, 2009
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UPDATE: No on Prop 8 in
California "We're confident." |
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| UPDATE: No on Prop 8 in California "We're confident." | ||
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by Mike Andrew -
SGN Contributing Writer Responding to concerns that opponents of marriage equality are now leading in California public opinion polls, Ali Bay, spokesperson for California's No on Prop 8 Campaign told SGN unequivocally, "We're confident in our campaign plan. We're confident in our ads. We will win the election." Titled "Eliminates Right of Same-Sex Couples to Marry," Prop 8 would amend the California state constitution to specify that "only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California." Sponsored by a coalition of right-wing anti-Gay and religious groups, Prop 8 would reverse the California Supreme Court's historic May 15, 2008 decision recognizing a constitutional right to marriage equality in the state of California. In an article carried by SGN last week, nationally syndicated columnist Rex Wockner reported that internal polling done by Equality California, the parent organization of the No on Prop 8 Campaign, showed the measure winning by 47% to 41%. These findings also agree with a recent SurveyUSA poll showing 47% in favor and 42% opposed. Previous polling done in September had shown Prop 8 losing by as much as 17 points. The new poll numbers caused serious concern among California's LGBT community and supporters of marriage equality nationally. Reporting the new polls, San Francisco's Bay Area Reporter carried a huge red banner headline proclaiming "RED ALERT." The No on Prop 8 Campaign's Bay conceded to SGN, "Obviously we have a little bit of a struggle. We have some catching up to do." She attributed the campaign's difficulties to heavy funding for Prop 8. "We're being outspent by $10 million," she said. "We didn't expect that much money to come in to the opposition." "The key issue now is people talking to their friends and family," Equal Rights Washington's Advocacy Director Josh Friedes told SGN. "Obviously it will be a real challenge to win, but it's certainly possible if every supporter of marriage equality takes personal responsibility to talk to everyone they know in California." "It would be a big mistake to be complacent," Friedes continued, "to think that ads or campaign staff could be decisive. You know, there's no silver bullet. There's no magic message. It's just person-to-person contact." According to Bay, some 10,000 Gay and Lesbian couples have been married in California since the state Supreme Court's ruling went into effect in June this year. That means many Californians already have a vested interest in preserving marriage rights, either for themselves or for Gay and Lesbian friends and relatives. "I can't tell you the exact number of volunteers we have statewide," Bay said, "but it's in the thousands. We always need more, of course, for phonebanking, doorbelling&." Bay also acknowledged many anti-Prop 8 volunteers from faith communities. The LDS (Mormon) Church, Roman Catholic organizations like the Knights of Columbus, and several evangelical Protestant groups have put significant resources into the Yes on Prop 8 campaign. On the other side, the No on Prop 8 Campaign has gotten support from the Board of Rabbis of Southern California, the Unitarian Universalists, and progressive Methodist and Lutheran organizations. "For our faith community allies it's a religious freedom issue," Bay said. "They want the freedom to perform same-sex marriages." The supporters of Prop 8 have run ads falsely claiming that churches which declined to perform same-sex weddings would lose their tax exemptions unless Prop 8 passed. In addition to progressive churches, the No on Prop 8 campaign is getting support from a wide range of labor and community organizations. The California Labor Federation AFL-CIO, and Change To Win unions UNITE HERE, SEIU, and UFW have endorsed the No on Prop 8 Campaign. So have California's NAACP, League of Women Voters, Log Cabin Republicans, and the California Democratic Party. "Nearly every newspaper in California has endorsed a No vote," Bay said. "I don't know of a newspaper that hasn't endorsed us." The No on Prop 8 Campaign's fundraising has also improved in the last couple of weeks, according to Bay. "When we announced that we were $10 million down, we got a phenomenal response from our supporters," she said. "Lots of money came in. I don't know how much yet, but we were very happy." Bay believes that the No on Prop 8 Campaign may benefit from Barack Obama's coattails in November. "I think Barack being on the ballot will help get out votes, especially young people," she said. "Most young people are on our side." Obama is expected to win in California by 16 points, according to SurveyUSA polling done at the same time as their Prop 8 polls. With only 17 days left before the November 4 election, Bay hopes for even more assistance from supporters of marriage equality nationally. "We need money," she says, "and we need volunteers. People can go to our website - NoOnProp8.com - to donate or to contact us." ERW's Friedes also emphasized the importance of fundraising. "Money matters in a campaign," he said. "There's no way around it. It's time for the supporters of marriage equality to open our checkbooks very, very wide." "That said," Friedes continued, "we in Washington State have pay attention to local issues as well. Prop 8 is a nail-biter, but the Gregoire race is also a nail-biter. I'd like to see our community contribute more to the Gregoire campaign or to ERW's PAC. If Prop 8 passes it will be a real setback, but it will be more of a bump in the road than a stopping point for us here in Washington." |
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