UPDATED: Money Hungry Anti-Gay Activists Fight Accountability, Transparency in Prop 8 Court Battle

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS
by Meg White

^{Photo by theslowlane}

Scroll to bottom for update.

A list of donors to the campaign against legalizing gay marriage in California is due out today, after a judge ruled against an injunction filed to keep that list secret last week.

Yes on 8, the group that filed the injunction, consistently reports that donors to the Prop 8 referendum initiative have been on the receiving end of harassment in the form of e-mails and phone calls, though they don't produce any evidence, even anecdotally.

Tom Elias writes for the Press-Telegram in Long Beach, CA that "all that's been reliably documented are a few examples of gays and their supporters staying away from businesses whose owners were Proposition 8 donors. No physical harm whatsoever."

Elias goes on to note that supporters of Prop 8 were the ones making threats during the campaign to people who supported gay marriage, noting the Yes on 8 members were "silent back then about nasty communications by their backers."

Taking a political stand often involves criticism from the other side. Supporters of Prop 8 clearly aren't being manhandled; if they were, you can bet there'd be a huge media blitz about any credible threat or attack.

Furthermore, the list of donors who contributed $1,000 or more (as well as those who donated $100 or more before October 18, 2008) has already been disclosed. Although the Mormon Church is now being investigated for impropriety in its campaign contribution disclosures -- they initially said they contributed around $2,000, when in reality they contributed nearly 100 times that amount -- we already know the extent of the involvement of the major players in this political fight.

So, if all we stand to find out are the people who donated $100 to $999 in the last two weeks of the election cycle, what's the big deal?

Shockingly, it's all about money. Yes on 8's Web site, ProtectMarriage.com, contains this telling passage in a Q&A about the Yes on 8 v. Bowen suit fighting the campaign disclosure requirements:

"This is as much about protecting donors to a future campaign as it is to protecting donors to the Proposition 8 campaign. The unmistakable intent of opponents of Prop 8 is to intimidate donors so that they do not participate in a future campaign to preserve traditional marriage in California."

If businesses feel that their political contributions might hurt their chances of retaining gay customers, they might not donate in the future. Yes on 8 knows that it can always count on the Mormons and others to fund these initiatives. But smaller donors not only help fill the coffers, but also offer a sense of legitimacy and grassroots support. Yes on 8 needs these donors, who are often small business owners vulnerable to losing support from gay customers.

The nonprofit group Californians Against Hate clearly encourages readers to vote with their checkbooks. Besides compiling a comprehensive list of all Prop 8 donors of more than $5,000, they also have organized several boycotts against businesses run by those who oppose gay marriage with significant donations.

On a very basic level, this type of protest makes more of a dent than angry phone calls and e-mails ever will. If your local hotelier or self-storage company owner chooses to spend his or her money on a campaign that denies your rights or the rights of your family members and friends, why help fill their bank account?

While it's all about money on the Prop 8 side, it's all about transparency on the flip side. The law being opposed by the Prop 8 people has supported Californians' right to know who is behind referenda campaigns since the 1970s. There's no reason to overturn it just because some people are afraid of losing a rainbow buck or two.

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS

UPDATE: The list was officially released this morning. You can see it here.

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