Levi’s joining to defeat Calif. Prop. 8, marriage amendment-"The San Francisco-based jeans maker said Thursday it will co-chair with Pacific Gas & Electric a group trying to drum up opposition to Proposition 8 in the business community . . . Levi Strauss has pledged $25,000 to Equality for All, the coalition leading the No on 8 campaign, says company spokesman E.J. Bernacki. Robert Haas, the company’s chairman emeritus, and his wife have given $100,000, Bernacki said . . ."
Massive corporate support for homosexualist movement-"The fight against retaining natural marriage in California has also been joined by the California Council of Service Employees and the California Teachers' Association, each of which have given $250,000. The telecommunications company AT&T has given $25,000. Google, the internet search engine and e-mail service, said in a September 26 blog entry it would be supporting the push for homosexual "marriage," despite the fact that "we do not generally take a position on issues outside of our field, especially not social issues."-See below on Googles' flip flop.
PepsiCo Foundation grants $500,000 to PFLAG-"PageOneQ reports (warning objectionable ads): “In a move that may upset conservative organizations and leaders, the PepsiCo Foundation has given a grant of $500,000 to Parents, Family and Friends of Lesbians and Gays to support Straight for Equality, a national education campaign, and to fund training and chapter support.”-Not the Marriage Amendment in California however it is telling.
Google Opposes Cal. Marriage Amendment, Prop. 8-"The LA Times reports: “Google has taken the unusual step of publicly opposing Proposition 8, an upcoming ballot initiative that would ban same-sex marriage in California . . .Sergey Brin, Google’s co-founder, noted in a blog post that Google is “an active participant” in policy debates that relate to its core businesses.”
NY Times takes stand against Cal. Marriage Amendment, Prop. 8-"The NY Times has this editorial that begins: “California voters will have a chance in November to protect the rights of gay men and women, and to preserve the state’s Constitution. They should vote against Proposition 8, which seeks to amend that Constitution to prevent people of the same sex from marrying.”
Washington: “State bar association supports same-sex marriages”-"The Seattle Times reports:
The Washington State Bar Association is now on record in favor of equal marriage rights for same-sex couples as a matter of practicality for lawyers and of fairness in society.
The resolution was adopted unanimously by the group’s 14-member Board of Governors despite considerable opposition from association members, board president Mark Johnson of Seattle said."
Hundreds of Churches Participate in Initiative to Pass Proposition 8, Supporting Traditional Marriage in California-"in countries where same sex marriage is legal, religious freedoms are lost, because it becomes illegal to speak out against the homosexual behavior and in favor of 'one man/one woman' marriage. Pastor Ake Green of Sweden, preaching from Romans chapter one about homosexuality, was arrested, tried, found guilty of 'disrespect' and sentenced to one month in prison. There are many such examples. "Third, our California Education Code (#51890) will permit children as young as kindergartners to be indoctrinated about homosexuality. In Massachusetts, when David Parker objected that his kindergartner was being taught homosexuality, he was arrested and jailed."...Pastors are preaching sermons on the topic of marriage and the family during the month of October. Families are encouraged to vote together on "Family Voter Weekend" Oct. 18-19, casting absentee ballots in advance of the election, so that they are free to work to get other voters to the polls on Election Day.
Finally, church members throughout the state have committed to fasting and praying for the 40 days leading up to the vote - they began Sept. 24...These pastors and churches have joined across denominational and racial lines in the defense of marriage. Garlow works closely with African-American pastors Miles McPherson, senior pastor of The Rock Church in San Diego, and Phillip Goudeaux, senior pastor of Calvary Christian Center in Sacramento. From denominational to independent, from charismatic to evangelical, churches across the spectrum - such as Shepherd of the Hills Church in Porter, led by Dudley Rutherford; and Cornerstone Church in Fresno, led by Pastor Jim Franklin - have locked arms in the effort.
Garlow reminds pastors and individuals around the state that "We are at one of those moments. This is the major change point of the last few decades. While the abortion issue is a foundational issue, the marriage definition issue is a survival issue. No single social issue has threatened to forever muzzle Bible believing Christians like this contest," he said.
Orrick’s Internal Battle Over Proposition 8-"Above the Law has this post that reports: “Apparently, the partnership of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe also holds strong opinions about Prop. 8. Political divisions at the firm came to a head when one Orrick partner made a $5,000 contribution to the “Yes On 8” campaign. “
Above the Law details some of the exchanges that have occured."
Florida Marriage Amendment
Protesters target Orlando Magic owner for supporting marriage amendment-"The Orlando Sentinel reports:
Professional sports and political street theater intersected Sunday as opponents of a proposed amendment to the Florida Constitution vented their wrath on Magic owner Rich DeVos on the day season-ticket holders were selecting their seats.
The protesters were calling attention to DeVos’ contribution of $100,000 to Florida4Marriage, a group that supports Amendment 2, which would add the existing ban on gay marriage to the state constitution. Opponents say the measure could also deny domestic-partnership benefits for unmarried couples — gay and straight."
Arizona Marriage Amendment
$6.9M raised by AZ marriage amendment proponents-"The AP reports: “Figures released Thursday show the campaign in support of Proposition 102 has raised $6.9 million. That’s compared to the roughly $355,000 raised by the measure’s opponents.”
http://yesformarriage.com/"
BoyScouts
Boy Scouts Defeat Dismissal Motion in Philadelphia Headquarters Building Dispute-"U.S. District Judge Ronald L. Buckwalter has rejected the City of Philadelphia’s motion to dismiss federal and state constitutional claims by the Cradle of Liberty Council of the Boy Scouts of America, which is fighting the city’s move to evict the Scouts from a city-owned building because of the BSA’s anti-gay membership policy. While rejecting state law claims of breach of contract and unjust enrichment, Judge Buckwalter’s September 25 ruling held that the Scouts had sufficiently alleged constitutional claims to survive the motion to dismiss. Cradle of Liberty Council v. City of Philadelphia, 2008 Westlaw 4399025 (E.D.Pa.)....The building was completed in 1929 and has been in continuous use since then. Annual maintenance costs to the Scouts have averaged $60,000 in recent years, and they spent $1.5 million on a major renovation project in 1994.
After the Supreme Court held that the Boy Scouts have a First Amendment right to exclude gay men from being adult members of the organization in the Dale case, gay activists began to exert pressure on municipal officials and school boards around the country to reexamine their sweetheart deals with local Scout units, as being inconsistent with local ordinances forbidding sexual orientation discrimination. The theory behind these efforts was that the Scouts may have a right to exclude gays, but local governments have a right to refrain from subsidizing discriminatory organizations. In California, this resulted in an epic legal battle between the City of Berkeley and the Sea Scouts over city marina privileges, which ended up in a California Supreme Court decision vindicating the city’s right to terminate the sweetheart deal....The city did provide an alternative, offering to allow the Scouts to keep using the building if they would pay market rent, foregoing any subsidy from the city, but the estimated market rent is $200,000 annually, which would break the budget of the Cradle of Liberty Council....In support of their equal protection claims, the Scouts allege that the city has gone after them but not after other similarly situated groups that enjoy city subsidies but are arguably in violation of one or another provision of the city’s Fair Practices Ordinance. This logically brings into play as well the First Amendment claims. The Scouts allege that they are being singled out for their exercise of the First Amendment right, recognized by the Supreme Court in Dale, to exclude gays from adult membership positions....Judge Buckwalter found that these claims could not be simply dismissed, noting that in this kind of case it is enough for the plaintiff to credibly allege unequal treatment and a content-based burden on their free speech rights, raising the question of whether the city has a “rational basis” for its action and a content-neutral basis for its policies, and only after the building of a factual record through discovery would it be appropriate for the court to dispose of these constitutional claims through a summary judgment ruling or – if there are contested facts – a trial on the merits. Thus, the constitutional portion of the lawsuit will continue, and the Scouts will presumably continue to occupy the building while the litigation plays out or a settlement is reached."
High School Libraries
Good News: Students Challenge Library Policies, Ask for Equal Viewpoint Representation-" Fairfax County high school students challenged censorship in their school libraries today at a student-led news conference at West Springfield High School in Virginia. Reporters from local TV stations and The Washington Post were in attendance. The students, representing more than 100 of their classmates who have donated books and materials on the topic of homosexuality to their school libraries during the last year, have had their donations rejected; students believe this was due to the books’ content. With the American Library Association’s Banned Books Week as a backdrop, students and parents asked school officials to reconsider their rejection of the materials in the name of fairness, and offered officials a new donation of approximately 100 books. Last year, students launched the True Tolerance project — sponsored by Focus on the Family — to counter the one-sided promotion of homosexuality in Fairfax County high school libraries, which offer more than 300 pro-gay books. “This censorship is wrong. All we want is to have our views represented in a fair manner," said Liz Bognanno, a senior at West Springfield High School. "True tolerance means that we also have a seat at the table, and that students are free to decide what they believe on issues like homosexuality.” True Tolerance students donated 85 books that approach homosexuality from a Christian perspective. Just one of the 13 schools where donations were made accepted the books; other librarians called the books “too Christian” or “too one-sided.”
Christian Students Protest Book Ban-""What's happening is we're seeing more and more promotion of homosexuality happening in public schools. And often in the name of tolerance, Christian students are finding that their viewpoints and their beliefs are being belittled and often even ridiculed."Tom Bognanno read out one example of anti-Christian discrimination from a book found on the shelf of a Fairfax County school library.
Quoting the book, he read, "'Recent studies illustrate that Americans hate gays and lesbians in direct proportion to the number of times they attend their local church.' That's insulting to me as a Christian. I don't feel that way, the students here don't feel that way, most Christians I know don't feel that way. Why is that book on the shelf and not another book that would say that as a Christian, as a parent or as a student, the dialogue I want to have is one of respect, true tolerance and a message that we can work together and talk together in a civil dialogue, not polarized?"
Psychology
Legalization of Same-Sex Marriage Will Increase Prevalence of Homosexuality: Voters Unaware of Research-"most voters are unaware of scientific research which reveals that social endorsement of homosexuality, as would be the case with the legalization of same-sex marriage, will lead more individuals into a homosexual lifestyle.Trayce L. Hansen, Ph.D., a licensed psychologist, recently reviewed extensive worldwide research on the origins of homosexuality and the impact social endorsement has on the rate of homosexual behavior.Dr. Hansen's findings are reported in a newly released article entitled, "Legalizing Same-Sex Marriage Will Increase Prevalence of Homosexuality: Research Provides Significant Evidence." This latest piece is the author's third in a series of articles concerning same-sex marriage, homosexuality, and children. The previous articles in the series are entitled, "Love Isn't Enough: Five Reasons Why Same-Sex Marriage Will Harm Children" and "Pro-Homosexual Researchers Conceal Findings: Children Raised by Openly Homosexual Parents More Likely To Engage in Homosexuality." All three articles, as well as other background information and research references, are available on her website at http://www.drtraycehansen.com/."
