Money Laundering by NOM in Maine Election?
Let the money laundering begin!
Let the money laundering begin!
Letter Sent to Maine Election Officials Warning of Money Laundering by National Organization for Marriage (NOM) & Others
Of the $343,689.50 raised to pay the Brighton, Michigan based
National Petition Management, Inc. to collect the signatures, only $400, or a mere .001 of that total came from individuals. The remaining $343,289.50 was given by various religious organizations and James Dobson’s Focus on the Family. The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) gave nearly half of that total, $160,000. The remainder came from Catholic organizations ($150,000) and James Dobson’s Focus on the Family ($31,000).“It sure looks like they are trying to hide the donors in their latest effort to strip away marriage equality,” said Fred Karger. “ There is no way these organizations like NOM and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland had all this money sitting in their treasuries (except for possibly Focus on the Family). They went out and raised it expressly for this campaign. It’s very expensive to hire these signature gathering firms to collect 100,000 signatures in a short period of time.”There is an ongoing investigation into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon Church) by the California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC Case #08/735). The FPPC is looking into both the Church’s lack of reporting its non-monetary contributions to Prop 8, and also whether NOM was, in fact, established as a front group by the Salt Lake City based Mormon Church. The Mormon Church has used this tactic in several states beginning in Hawaii in 1996.
Warning Maine Officials
In a letter to Jonathan Wayne, Executive Director of the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Elections Practices (letter copy below), Karger warned of suspected money laundering by the major donors to Stand for Marriage PAC.
It begs the question; are they directing all contributions to their existing organizations, who in turn then give the money to Stand for Marriage PAC?,” Karger asked in today’s letter. “We are very familiar with how this coalition operates, and we want to warn the political leadership and the residents of Maine to beware.
The coalition has also hired the highly regarded Schubert, Flint Campaign Management firm of Sacramento, California.
Who are the Victims Here?
These major backers of Stand for Marriage PAC will do their best to play the poor victim. They like to say that their contributors are being targeted simply because they give money to “preserve marriage.” That’s what they did in California after running a very nasty campaign and spending $40 million to take away marriage equality from millions of Californians.
Let’s be clear. They are NOT the victims here. The Mormon Church and its coalition have qualified and passed Constitutional Amendments in 30 states to yank away civil rights from gay and lesbian Americans.
The Mormons began this fight in 1988. They have been destroying lives, intimidating people and demonizing an entire class to solidify their base and raise millions and millions of dollars.
After two decades of assaulting the LGBT Community, we are now fighting back with our talent, our numbers, our friends, our money and our purchasing power. They are not the victims in this equation, and even the best PR by all of their consultants cannot rewrite history.
Our hope is that as young people discover that they are LGB or T, they do not feel any less of a person because Maggie Gallagher (NOM $160,000 to the Maine campaign), Bishop Richard Malone (Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, ME $100,000 to the Maine campaign) Knights of Columbus (Catholic Church’s Political Arm $50,000 to the Maine campaign) or James Dobson (Focus on the Family $31,000 to the Maine campaign) gave so very much money to bully them and take away their rights.
Copy of Letter To Maine Election Officials
August 13, 2009
Mr. Jonathan Wayne
Executive Director
Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and
Elections Practices
135 State House Station
Augusta, Maine 04333
Re: Money Laundering — Stand for Marriage PAC
Dear Mr. Wayne:
We have reviewed the very first finance report which was recently filed by Stand for Marriage PAC, the group trying to repeal Maine’s same-sex marriage law.
It appears that there are already questionable activities.
Stand for Marriage PAC reported raising $343,689.50 during the period April 1 to July 5, 2009. We found it very suspicious that of that total, only $400 was given by individuals. The balance of $343,289.50 was contributed by various religious organizations and James Dobson’s Focus on the Family. That means that individual contributions to repeal gay marriage in Maine are only .001% of the total raised.
Are the proponents trying to hide the identities of those contributing to their campaign? Are they directing all contributions to existing organizations, who then gave the money to Stand for Marriage PAC? This appears to be the case.
If this is true, would it not be considered money laundering?
We have been very active and have closely tracked all the money that was raised to pass Proposition 8 in California last year.
Californians Against Hate was the first to uncover the vast involvement in the election by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon Church). Our extensive research revealed that the Mormon Church had its members in California and around the country give approximately 75% of the $40 million that was raised to pass Prop 8.On November 13, 2008, just nine days after the election, we filled a complaint with, the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC), your counterpart in California. Our complaint alleged that the Mormon Church had spent a tremendous amount of money in non-monetary contributions that they never reported, which is required under California election law.
We submitted evidence supporting our claim that the Mormon Church ran out of state phone banks, produced 27 slick commercials (that ranged from 30 seconds to 8 minutes long) and put them on their elaborate web site
Preserving Marraige.org for all to see. We also asked the Commission to investigate the Mormon Church for bussing people from Utah to California for precinct walking, sending out extensive direct mail and numerous other activities.Eight days later, the FPPC announced that they were launching an
unprecedented investigation into the Mormon Church (Case # 08/735) as a result of our complaint.On March 19, 2009, we filed a supplemental complaint with the FPPC. We received hundreds of secret Mormon documents that show exactly how involved the Mormon Church has been throughout the country in fighting same-sex marriage. The documents reveal how the Church established front groups to wage their battles, and shield the Church from any negative publicity
We believe that the Mormon Church established the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) in May of 2007 for the express purpose of qualifying Proposition 8 for the California ballot. This was done in conjunction with leading Catholic organizations such as the Knights of Columbus, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and James Dobson’s Focus on the Family.
It is no coincidence that these are the exact same groups that are funding and leading the effort to repeal Maine’s recently passed same-sex marriage law.
We believe that only Focus on the Family had money in its treasury. The other groups raised money expressly for the campaign to hire the professional signature gathering firm to qualify the referendum.
They are trying to hide the true identities of those contributing to the campaign.
It certainly sounds like money laundering to us. We hope that your office will investigate the genuine sources of the funds contributed to Stand for Marriage PAC.
The Mormon Church appears to be using the National Organization for Marriage to fight same-sex marriage all over the Northeast.
They admitted as much in a
Washington Post story on May 29, 2009. A spokeswoman in Salt Lake City declined to say whether the church is involved in debates going on in the Northeast except to say, “…that leaders remain intent on preserving the divine institution of marriage between man and woman. The faith holds that traditional marriage transcends this world and is necessary for the fullness of joy in the next life.”It sure sounds like the Mormon Church is involved to us.
On our web site
Mormongate.com, we describe the formation of NOM. This was done at the very highest level of the Mormon Church – the President and the 12 Apostles.You can see exactly how they operated in Hawaii in order to skirt state election laws there. They funneled money through Hawaii’s Future Today, which they established to fund that state’s campaign to ban same-sex marriage.
In the near future, we will be releasing other official Mormon documents that explain how this happened in other states.
If we can be of any assistance in your efforts to monitor Stand for Marriage PAC, please to not hesitate to call upon us.
Best regards,
Fred Karger
Founder
Californians Against Hate
619-592-2008
Saturday, August 8, 2009
News Coverage From Around the World!!!
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The LoHud Journal News
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GLT – Guest Commentary
The Advocate
Towleroad
Average Joel
GLT San Diego – Editorial
GLT San Diego – Guest Commentary
Salt Lake Tribune – Letter
Queerty
GLT – June 4th
The Women Rebel
Lavender Liberal
Gaytheist Agenda
Latter-day Chino
Gay Agenda
Queers United
Religion News Service
Lavender Newswire
Sonoma County DFA
Mashget
Instant Pride
Gay Agenda
Same Sex Marriage News
Queerty
A Couple of Things
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The Tidbits of My Life
The Gaythesist Agenda
On Top Magazine
San Diego Reader
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Bay Area Reporter
Progressive Patriot
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Sonoma County DFA
Bilerico Project
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Sex Blog for Women
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GLT July 16, 2008
Frontiers
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Cook & Schmid
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Metropolitan News-Enterprise
Pink News – United Kingdom
Monday, August 3, 2009
Global Manchester Hotels Boycott
Global Manchester Hotels Boycott
SAN DIEGO, CA — Five prominent leaders who have been boycotting San Diego developer and hotel owner Doug Manchester for one full year, held a news conference on Friday to announce plans to take the boycott of the Manchester Grand Hyatt Hotel in San Diego global for Year II of their highly successful boycott.
They unveiled three large posters in English, Spanish and Japanese representing the expansion of the Manchester Hotels Boycott to the world. Pointing to the enormous success of Year I, which by Manchester’s own estimates has cost his Hyatt property $7 million alone; the group explained their plans to expand the boycott.
Photo by Mike Tidmus
Also speaking at the news conference was longtime LGBT activist and San Diego Gay Pride Grand Marshall, Cleve Jones, who discussed how the organizers were going to reach out to all international tour operators, travel planners and meeting planners. Brigette Browning, President of UNITE HERE Local 30, whose union has been so successful in encouraging over a dozen major conventions to cancel their meetings at the Manchester Hyatt, spoke about all the lost business due to the boycott. She explained that number represents over 100,000 room nights. Rick Jacobs, Founder and Chair of the Courage Campaign, representing over 700,000 members, asked Governor Schwarzenegger to “Fire Doug Manchester” from the board of the prestigious California Travel and Tourism Commission, because the passage of Prop 8 will cost the State of California $1 billion in lost revenue. Also speaking at the news conference was well known San Diego City Commissioner Nicole Murray- Ramirez, who discussed the Human Relations Commission’s, which he chairs, unanimous support of the boycott.
Here are the three posters:
Monday, July 13, 2009
It’s The Moment of Truth, Maggie.
NOM President, Maggie Gallagher as she would appear strapped to a lie detector,if she agrees to take a polygraph test.
Maggie, you claim that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon Church) did not help establish, or give any money to your National Organization for Marriage (NOM), or to any of your other organizations or even to you personally. Let’s find out once and for all, Maggie.
Californians Against Hate will gladly pay for your lie detector test to determine the truth once and for all about whether or not the Mormon Church set up NOM as a front group, just like it has previously set up other front groups to oppose same-sex marriage around the country.
On our web site Mormongate.com, we have documentation that shows just how the Mormon Church established “ Hawaii’s Future Today” as a Mormon front group to fight same-sex marriage in that state. It hid the full extent of its involvement in fighting same-sex marriage in Hawaii until several months ago, when we received secret Mormon documents showing just how the Mormon Church, at the very highest levels, ran and funded that campaign.
As you are well aware, the California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) is in the middle of an investigation of the Mormon Church, including its involvement in setting up your National Organization for Marriage — FPPC Case # 08/735.
In just two years since NOM was formed, you claim to have spent $6 million in your efforts to deny full equality to gay and lesbian Americans. Where is all that money coming from, Maggie? Who is producing all your slick commercials, paying for your polling, travel, robo calls, direct mail, PR consultants, lobbyists, Executive Director Brian Brown’s and your large salary and for all your other staff?
Why won’t you release your IRS form 990’s for 2007 and 2008 that we have repeatedly requested? This is required by federal law. Maggie, what are you hiding?
NOM funded the qualification of Proposition 8 for the California ballot to the tune of $2 million, and is now spending millions more in a failed effort to stop marriage equality in 6 Northeast states.
Maggie, You Have Lied Before.
Remember Your Bush Administration Scandal?
After 3 years, you finally were forced to tell the truth about the $41,500 you received from the George W. Bush Administration to promote its Marriage Programs and National Fatherhood Initiative. You lied about it for 3 years until the truth finally came out. You claimed that you “forgot about your contract,” which ran from January through October 2002. According to USA Today, you were forced to apologize.
Your responsibilities included drafting a magazine article for a Health and Human Services (HHS) official, overseeing the initiative, writing brochures for the program and conducting a briefing for department officials.
Do you remember when CBS Nightly News reported about your scandal? Watch the coverage here: CBS News
In columns, television appearances and interviews with newspapers such as the Washington Post, you defended Bush’s proposal for a constitutional amendment barring same-sex marriage. All the while, you were being paid by the Department of Heath and Human Services.
This forced President Bush to order his Cabinet secretaries not to hire columnists to promote administration policy.
Take a Lie Detector Test, Maggie!!!
We have repeatedly asked you to tell the truth about the millions of dollars in funding for your 2 year old National Organization for Marriage. You have refused.
Did the Mormon Church create and fund your National Organization for Marriage? Take the test!
Please Help Us Keep Up the Fight Against NOM & The Mormon Church.
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Sunday, July 5, 2009
Maggie Gallagher’s National Organization for Marriage (NOM) Refuses to Turn Over Its Federal Financial Records as Required by Law.
Californians Against Hate began requesting your 990s (IRS non-profit tax filings) over three months ago, Maggie. You have not responded as required by law. We visited your national office in Princeton, N.J. twice to view the Form 990s, and sent our requests there by certified mail.
Someone at that address signed the US Postal Service receipt on April 25, 2009 (see copy below). You then had 30 days to comply with our request, but you still have not sent us your federal tax flings for 2007 and 2008.
What are you hiding, Maggie? Tell Us the Truth!
Is it all the involvement by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon Church) in creating and funding the National Organization for Marriage, Inc.? That is exactly what the California Fair Political Practices Commission is investigating (Case # 08/735) right now.
Since you have not complied with public disclosure laws for your 501(c)4 non-profit corporation for NOM, we have taken the liberty of preparing an invoice showing just how much you owe the United States Treasury as of today for refusing to release these documents.
June 24, 2009
TO:
Maggie Gallagher
President
National Organization for Marriage
20 Nassau Street, Suite 242Princeton, NJ 08542
Re: Fine for Nondisclosure of Federal 990 Records
National Organization for Marriage a 501(c) 4 Corporation has failed to file with the Internal Revenue Service and make its federal forms available to the public after repeated requests.
Fine shall be $20.00 per day up to a maximum of $10,000.00 for the period:
March 25 to June 24, 2009
92 days @ $20.00 per day = $1,840.00
Due and Payable to: Internal Revenue Service
$1,840.00
This is not an actual Internal Revenue Service Invoice
As you are probably aware, the IRS fine for noncompliance is $20.00 per day for every day that you do not turn over your records up to a total of $10,000. For the 92 days so far, you owe the United States Treasury $1,840. While that won’t put much of a dent in the national debt, it is what you owe the government so far in fines. Frankly, Maggie, we are tired of waiting, and are exploring other actions to force the release of your filings.
Is NOM Even a Legal Entity?
In another very interesting development, we received a letter from the IRS last week in response to the request that we filed with them on May 6, 2009 for your Form 990s. The IRS said that, “we have no record of any organization by the name (National Organization for Marriage, Inc.) or address ( 20 Nassau Street, Ste. 242, Princeton, N.J 08542). Now, can you explain that?? They do have a record of your Educational Fund, the 501(c)3, but that apparently was just established last year. NOM, Inc. was established in May 2007 to get Prop 8 on the ballot, so there should be 2 annual filings available on NOM, Inc.
Here’s the copy of the IRS letter:
Maggie, why don’t you do the right thing and release your 2007 and 2008 form 990’s? Just what is in there about your funding and expenditures that you don’t want people to see?
A recent
Washington Post story had this to say about the Mormon Church’s involvement in the same-sex marriage battles in six Northeastern States.Mormon officials have tried to stay out of the controversy that followed the California vote, when the church’s prominent role in the marriage fight became clear. A spokeswoman in Salt Lake City declined to say whether the church is involved in debates going on in states such as New Jersey and New York, except to say that leaders remain intent on preserving the “divine institution” of marriage between man and woman. The faith holds that traditional marriage “transcends this world” and is necessary for “the fullness of joy in the next life.”
Well, Maggie it’s not so divine for you to stonewall your financial records.
That Admission by the Mormon Church
Raises Many More Questions
Who is paying for your multi million dollar TV campaign? Who is funding your $500,000 New York State PAC? Your California PAC? Who is paying for all the direct mail robo-calls and millions of direct connect calls in New York alone? Where did you get the $6 million that you admit to spending as reported this week in your hometown newspaper, The Journal News:
LoHud.com ?How much are you and your executive director Brian Brown getting paid? Is the Mormon Church paying you directly or through another one of your other organizations like the
Institute for Marriage and Public PolicyIs the Mormon Church producing all of your slick new commercials? Your controversial and often maligned A Gathering Storm commercial that was made using actors pretending to be real people was chock full of Mormon actors, mostly from Arizona. Most of the bad actors on your audition tapes appear to be Mormon as well. We have that documented.
Just how much money is the Mormon Church spending now to fight same-sex marriage in at least 7 states? Mormon families spent close to $30 million in California to pass Proposition 8 last year. The Mormon Church has likely spent tens of millions of dollars directly throughout the country on all their efforts to stop gay marriage since they hired the world’s largest PR firm, Hill and Knowlton, in 1988. It even appears that the Mormon Church, through its Public Affairs Committee, was monitoring same-sex marriage activities and involved in Canada as well.
We know that the Mormon Church has not been truthful about all of its involvement in opposing same-sex marriage for 20 years. We have seen ample evidence of this in the Church documents that we received.
When we filed our complaint with the California Fair Political Practices Commission last November, Mormon Church officials first said they spent “zero dollars on Prop 8.” Then 3 months after the election, they finally admitted to have made $190,000 in non-monetary contributions. Nearly all of that was supposedly spent the week before the election.
They later changed their story again, saying that the $117,000 reported in Salt Lake City staff time ($96,000) and facilities’ usage ($20,500) was not actually spent just on election day as they had reported to the California Secretary of State. According to Church spokesman Scott Trotter, the staff time included work between August and November. Well, then shouldn’t there have been other expenditures in August or even July and September? Come on Maggie, tell the truth!
The Mormon Church announced its active participation to pass Proposition 8 in the now famous letter read from Thomas S. Monson, President of the Church. This rare act took place on June 29, 2008, and was read to every Mormon in the Western United States. President Monson called on all Mormons to give of “your time and your means to pass Proposition 8.”Well, it worked. As we now know, the Mormon Church took over every aspect of the Yes on 8 campaign, and was largely responsible for its passage.
Please, Maggie, tell America the truth for once about where your millions of dollars are coming from. We are a country of laws, and we have the right to know.
Please Help Us Keep Up the Fight Against NOM.
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Monday, June 22, 2009
NOM’s Maggie Gallagher Probed
June 22, 2009
Keith Eddings keddings@lohud.com
A national organization headed by an Ossining woman that has pledged to spend more than $1 million to defeat a gay marriage bill in New York is defending itself in California against allegations that it was organized by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to defeat similar bills nationwide.
The National Organization for Marriage said last week that it would spend $500,000 to help mount primary challenges against Republican state senators in New York who vote for a gay marriage bill proposed by Gov. David Paterson. It has passed the Assembly but stalled in the Senate, as Democrats and Republicans fight for control of that chamber.
The spending would come atop $600,000 the group says it has spent on media campaigns and telephone calls to sway senators in 25 Senate districts, including those represented by Sens. Vincent Leibell, R-Patterson, and Thomas Morahan, R-New City.
NOM says it has spent $6 million to block gay marriage in several states since it was organized in 2007, including $1.8 million to place an amendment on the ballot in California that repealed gay marriage there last year.
The campaign to repeal same-sex marriage in California was fueled in large part by the Mormon church. Critics in that state say the church began the effort by recruiting Maggie Gallagher of Ossining – who has forged a career writing about marriage for conservative think tanks – to establish NOM.
The California Fair Political Practices Commission is investigating complaints that NOM operates as a front for the Mormon church and that the church failed to report millions of dollars in nonmonetary contributions to the campaign.
The complaint was lodged by Los Angeles gay rights activist Fred Karger, who formed Californians Against Hate to protect gay marriage in the state.
“The church is the marionette, the puppeteer, of Maggie and Brian,” Karger said, referring to Gallagher, who is NOM’s president, and Brian Brown, its executive director. “The evidence is clear that the Mormon church is 100 percent behind the National Organization for Marriage and its funding.”
Gallagher said there is no connection between NOM and the church except that a Mormon serves on NOM’s board. She said she started NOM and recruited Brown to run it because conservative ministries, think tanks and charities that oppose gay marriage are not positioned to fight it on the ballot and in state capitols.
“I would not shy away from telling you if a group of Catholics and a group of Mormons founded NOM,” Gallagher said. “It’s not true. I founded NOM. I’d be happy to work with Mormons, but NOM was not started at the suggestion of Salt Lake. But I’d be OK with it if it was true.”
Once before, Gallagher faced allegations of a cover-up about who funds her work for conservative causes. In 2005, she acknowledged receiving at least $21,500 from the Department of Health and Human Services to write brochures and other material promoting the Bush administration’s marriage initiatives.
Gallagher also advocated for the Bush initiatives in a syndicated column she writes for Universal Press, but did not disclose the HHS payments. She said she earned the payments legitimately but conceded that she should have disclosed them in her column.
Karger has no smoking-gun evidence tying NOM to the Mormon church, but said the relationship would be exposed if the California Fair Political Practices Commission responds to his complaint by issuing subpoenas for church records. He said he believes the relationship exists because the Mormon campaign against gay marriage in California mimicked what he called its undercover campaign to overturn a court ruling allowing gay marriage in Hawaii in the 1990s.
On his Web site, www.californiansagainsthate.com, Karger posts documents revealing how Mormons created a group called Hawaii’s Future Today in 1995 and covered up the group’s roots in a church many Americans are uneasy about. The documents detail how the church recruited non-Mormons as figureheads for the effort, while installing a Mormon on the board, and dodged financial disclosure requirements about its spending.
“We have organized things so the Church contribution was used in an area of coalition activity that does not have to be reported,” church Elder Loren Dunn said in a June 5, 1996, memo to a church committee overseeing the effort. He added that a campaign leader was avoiding reporters who were asking about church spending on the Hawaii marriage bill.
Kim Farah, a spokeswoman for the church in Salt Lake City, responded to a question about the authenticity of the memos by e-mailing this statement: “Mr. Karger is entitled to his opinion but not to his own version of the facts.” She would not elaborate.
Farah said the church “did not establish the National Organization for Marriage.” She did not respond to a question about whether the Mormon church has been active in the campaigns to defeat gay marriage in New England and New York.
In April, as NOM was launching its $600,000 media and phone campaign in New York, Karger launched his own low-budget media campaign in the state and New England in ads on news organizations’ Web sites. The ads, called “The Mormons Are Coming!” and set to the tune of “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere,” plays on New England’s historic unease with the Mormon church. Several news organizations, including the (Albany) Times Union, rejected it.
“To attack, harass and intimidate any one religious faith and say they don’t have a right to participate in the process I think is profoundly anti-American,” said Brown, NOM’s executive director. “A lot of what Fred is trying to do is to intimidate Mormons – especially – out of supporting marriage, and it’s wrong.”
“I’ve never questioned the right of the Mormon religion or any religion to be involved in the political process,” Karger said. “All I’ve said is, if they are going to participate, they need to abide by the election laws. I believe there’s a lot more there. I don’t believe Brian or Maggie are telling the truth.”
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Two Words of Advice on How to Win Back Same-Sex Marriage — Voter Registration!
Being heavily involved right now in our LGBT civil rights movement, it is important to observe what is going on out there. Several hundred thousand people attended the Sunday morning parade and the annual weekend festival. June is Gay Pride month, and there are literally dozens of cities in California that hold Pride weekends throughout June and all summer long.
Last year’s Pride was particularity interesting, because much to our surprise, gay marriage had been made legal just weeks earlier, and it was going to take affect days later. What an exciting and historic time that was. What a difference a year makes.
I remember last year that there was no one registering voters the entire weekend of L A Pride. Odd I thought, since one year ago we knew in advance that Proposition 8 was very likely going to be on the November 4th ballot.
Voter registration is an essential element in all major political campaigns. Practically every campaign and every political party has conducted voter registration drives almost going back as far as George Washington. It’s basic, nothing really new or innovative. The idea is, to register new voters who will vote with you in order to help your side get more votes than your opponents. Like I said, pretty basic.
This year I went into the Pride Festival to do a little test. I wanted to see what all was going on with voter registration.
I had assumed that our wonderful LGBT organizations (and they are incredible organizations) would have hundreds of people out registering LGBT voters and all our friends at LA Pride this year. I figured that they would be taking advantage of this mostly younger crowd, and get everyone at Gay Pride registered to vote. After all we very likely will be back on the ballot to repeal Prop 8 in less than 17 months.
As I went to my first LGBT political booth, I asked gently if there was a way to register to vote? A young bewildered volunteer said, “not really sure.” I visited the over 20 more LGBT political booths, out of over several hundred at the festival. Sadly, I could not find one voter registration card! Not even one!!!
During my wanderings, I finally met a very nice girl who had heard that the Stonewall Democrats booth had some voter registration forms. She marched me right over there, and I was thinking bingo, but alas, after some searching around they first said “we ran out,” then said, “sorry, we don’t have any.” Then the cute volunteer added, “good idea though.”
200,000 to 300,000 LGBT individuals and so many of our friends were in one place, who all agree that marriage equality should return to California. You do the math. Talk about a missed opportunity!!!
I’m pretty certain that at least half of the mostly younger crowd at Pride is not registered to vote yet. Once they do register, they will be voting for let’s say 70 more years on many more LGBT issues and for candidates who support us. That’s a lot of Novembers and Junes. In California, all new voters have the option of checking a box to have an absentee ballot mailed to their home forever. Vote at home = very high turnout.
It’s simple. Elections are won by who gets the most votes. We narrowly lost last year. Let’s put on the biggest, most successful most fun voter registration program in California history. Let’s give it a catchy name like “Milk the Vote” or “Register for Equality.” Then brand it, use our massive volunteer force that has been and continues to be organized, and let’s go get 600,000 new LGBT voters and our friends registered now. This new army should be everywhere the next 17 months where there is a gay event, rally, march, college campus and any place that there are more than 25 gay people assembled.
It’s a lot of work, but if all our organizations and volunteers get behind “Milk the Vote,” or whatever the name is, we can make up the 599,602 votes that we lost by and win next year’s election to repeal Prop 8. Let’s make sure that California once again leads the way on equality.
I appeal to all our very effective LGBT organizations to work together and make voter registration the number one activity between now and next October 18th (last day to register for the November 2, 2010 election).
Hell, people can even register on line: http://www.sos.ca.gov/nvrc/fedform/ and then just print out the form and mail it in.
We lost by only 4% of the vote last year — 599,602 votes out of the over 13.4 million cast on Prop 8. What a change from just 8 years earlier when we lost by 23%!
Please, make this the last Pride in California, or anywhere in the country for that matter, where we are not registering voters.
It is the smartest thing that we can be doing now and for our future.
Monday, June 15, 2009
On the anniversary of Stonewall, remember we must still fight
By DANIELLE TRUSZKOVSKYJUN. 18, 2009
Although we are in another wonderful month of gay pride celebrations, it is important to remember that our community is in the midst of an active battle for equal civil rights. The National Organization for Marriage (NOM)—the group behind the nation-wide anti-gay movement—has recently expanded its efforts and ad campaigns to ensure that millions of gay Americans are denied the same basic rights as every other US citizen. Since we are fighting for our rights and the rights of our families, it makes sense that we should know as much as possible about our primary adversary.
On their website, NOM states they have a 501(c)(4) nonprofit status, which means that the group is a “Social Welfare Organization” without restrictions on lobbying expenditures. When I searched for the organization using Guidestar (the leading nonprofit research database), however, no such 501(c)(4) shows up. Instead the National Organization for MarriageInc shows up with a 501(c)(12) status which is for “Local Benevolent Life Insurance Associations, Mutual Irrigation and Telephone Companies, and Like Co.” It seems this organization is intentionally misrepresenting itself.
It is also suspicious that this group, which has a seemingly limitless supply of cash, is operating out of tiny one-room office (located at 20 Nassau Street, suite 242, in Princeton, NJ). I visited this office numerous times, but never found a single person working there.
Also strange is that this office was previously inhabited by a right-wing organization called the Witherspoon Institute, which according to the Opus Dei Awareness Network (ODAN) is an “Opus Dei-affiliated foundation.” Opus Dei is the secretive sect within the Catholic Church, with direct ties to the Vatican, that reportedly has billions of dollars in assets. They were made famous by the villain in “The Da Vinci Code,” who was a devout member of Opus Dei, albeit an uncharacteristically murderous one. It’s not surprising, however, that an Opus Dei “Numerary” is one of the founding members of NOM. ODAN states, “Numerary members pledge to remain celibate and generally live in Opus Dei houses. They commit their entire salaries to Opus Dei, submit incoming and outgoing mail to their directors, and practice various forms of corporal mortification, including use of the cilice, a spiked chain worn around the thigh, and use of the discipline, a knotted rope for whipping.”
NOM has more than one tie to a controversial religious sect. Another founding member of the group was Matthew Holland, who is a professor at Brigham Young University. His father is a member of the Quorum of 12 Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. This “Quorum” represents the governing body of the LDS church. The Mormon and Opus Dei connection comes together beautifully in NOM’s “Gathering Storm” ad campaign, and it appears that at least 3 of the “actors” in the commercial are Mormons and at least 1 is a member of Opus Dei. Although NOM portrays itself as a group of average Americans, the reality is quite different. (Most Americans do not whip themselves with knotted ropes or stab their own legs with spiked chains.) And since the Board of NOM has such close ties to religious organizations with billions of dollars in assets, it is only logical to question where NOM’s funding is coming from and if it being reported accurately.
On March 25, 2009 Californians Against Hate requested copies of NOM’s IRS 990 tax return forms. Federal law requires non-profits release this information within 30 days. It is nearly 90 days after the initial request and still NOM has failed to release their tax forms and are currently accruing IRS fines of $20 per day until their financials are released to the public. What are they trying to hide?Although NOM is continuing to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on ad campaigns across the country, no one knows where this money is coming from. They are the only national organization working to deny gay Americans equal rights and their operating practices are suspect.
Considering the Board’s obvious ties to the Mormon Church and Opus Dei—is it possible that the only nationalized effort against gay civil rights is merely a front group for controversial religious organizations in an attempt to force their religious ideology on the American public?This June let’s remember that although we may have many differences within our own community, we are all fighting for a common goal: equal rights.
If members of the Mormon Church and Opus Dei can come together in a “marriage” of sorts in a collaborative effort to deny gay Americans equal rights, then certainly we as a community can work together to ensure that we win this fight for equality.
Opus Dei can come together in a “marriage” of sorts in a collaborative effort to deny gay Americans equal rights, then certainly we as a community can work together to ensure that we win this fight for equality.
New Mormon Temple’s Angel Struck by lightning
Monday, June 15, 2009
The 60,000 square-foot Oquirrh Mountain Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was hit Saturday during a rain storm.
Friday, June 12, 2009
GLT Says, “Arnold – Fire Doug Manchester”
Lawyers turn back on Manchester Hyatt
Published Thursday, 11-Jun-2009 in issue 1120
It’s been a rough few months for Doug Manchester, owner of the Manchester Hyatt. And with the recent news that the American Association of Justice (AAJ) – and its 2,000-plus attorney members – is taking its annual conference elsewhere, things aren’t looking much better.
In fact, the AAJ has announced it is moving its annual summer convention to San Francisco. The event was originally scheduled to be held at Manchester’s Hyatt here in San Diego, but after Manchester contributed $125,000 to the “Yes on Proposition 8” campaign and the ensuing boycott, the AAJ decided to take its lucrative business away.
“The American Association for Justice, formerly the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, has relocated its annual convention to avoid meeting at the San Diego hotel that has become the target of a boycott because of its owner’s support of Proposition 8. In an undated letter addressed to members, President Les Weisbrod of Miller, Curtis & Weisbrod, in Dallas, announced that the organization’s convention has been rescheduled to take place from July 25 to 29 in San Francisco.”
Manchester Hyatt has already lost a purported $7 million in the last year as a coalition of labor and GLBT organizations have banded together for the boycott. Californians Against Hate partnered with Unite Here Local 30 (the hotel worker’s union) and several other GLBT organizations, including San Diego Pride July 18, 2008.
On a larger scale, most economic forecasters, including the prestigious Williams Institute, estimate that the passage of Proposition 8 will cost the state more than $800 million in the next three years, due to a loss of revenue for weddings and various auxiliary services.
Irony # 1: What’s ironic about this, of course, is that the state has a California Travel and Tourism Commission whose sole task is to bring people and their dollars to California. The governor appoints leaders in the travel and tourism industry to sit on this powerful commission for two-year terms.
And who should we find on this prestigious and vital commission?
Why, “Papa” Doug Manchester, of course. Manchester (papadoug@manchesterfinancialgroup.com) was appointed on Oct. 12, 2007, and his term is set to expire Dec. 31, 2009.
Irony #2: The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest GLBT rights advocate, lists Hyatt Hotels, with corporate headquarters in Chicago , as one of the “Best Places to Work for GLBT Equality.”
Both the California Travel and Tourism Commission and Hyatt Corporate have similar goals: to bring families and business travelers to hotels and increase cash infusions into local economies.
There are few groups of individuals who have more disposable income to spend at restaurants, theaters and on sight-seeing than attorneys. And while California itself didn’t lose the convention, as it merely migrated up-state to San Francisco, who is to say that it won’t next time? Phoenix , Las Vegas or Seattle are plausible alternatives.
We find it hard to imagine that other local commissioners are thrilled with Manchester’s actions. Andrea Fichthorn (andrew.fichthorn@seaworld.com), Executive Vice President and General Manager of Sea World San Diego can’t be pleased. Neither can David Cohn of the Cohn Restaurant Group (david@cohnrestaurants.com). Several of Cohn’s restaurants are within walking distance of the Manchester Hyatt.
As a community it is our obligation to stand by our brothers and sisters during this boycott, and we take our hats off to those who have publicly spoken out against holding the annual conference at the Manchester, including many prominent local attorneys and even District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis.
It’s time now for the governor to take action. While Manchester’s term expires at the end of the calendar year, Gov. Schwarzenegger could send a strong message that discrimination is not good business practice and that it will not be tolerated.
Gov. Schwarzenegger should ask Manchester to tender his resignation as commissioner. The commissioner’s role is to bring money into the state and local economies; as a “commissioner” Manchester has done just the opposite.
We’re not suggesting that every person in California who runs a business has to support marriage equality, but we are certainly in the midst of the very real consequences of what happens when business owners make public displays of their personal beliefs.
And while Manchester has hired a crisis-management firm and dispatched his marketing team to global travel and tourism conventions, the issue is far from resolved.
Manchester should resign his post at the California Travel and Tourism Commission and begin dialogue with the leaders of the boycott. Nothing less is acceptable. Nothing less will bring this to an end. And, frankly, it just makes common sense.
As Pride season nears, we urge you to remember the boycott isn’t over and there are several other places to stay in San Diego during Pride. We urge you to continue to boycott the Manchester Hyatt, as well as Manchester’s other properties, including the Grand Del Mar Resort
Blog Archive
- ▼ 2009 (59)
- ► May (7)
- News Coverage of Californians Against Hate
- Washington Post Story – The Mormons Are Coming
- Statement by Fred Karger on Supreme Court Ruling &…
- Manchester & Bragman Coverage!!! editorial LINK: …
- Manchester’s Not So Surprise Attack – Divide and C…
- Carrie Prejean: Junior Miss Bryant Beauty queen r…
- NOM Fails to Release Federal Financial Records
- ► April (9)
- New York Times – Frank Rich Op-Ed
- Californians Against Hate Kicks Off Ad Campaign in…
- Fred Karger & Maggie Gallagher Square Off
- NOM Actor’s Tryouts Reel Still Available
- NOM’s New Commercial BIG Lie — All Actors
- Help Our Friends in Iowa
- Mormongate Coverage On a Popular East Coast Blog
- Lots of News Coverage from Around the Country
- Salt Lake Tribune – Rebecca Walsh Column
- ► February (12)
- Ken Garff Automotive Boycott Ends
- STATEMENTS ON END OF KEN GARFF A…
- Salt Lake City Press Conference
- Mormongate: Public’s Help Sought
- Extree Extree Read All About It
- President Clinton Supports Repeal of Proposition 8…
- NEWS RELEASE February 16, 2009 Contact: Fred Ka…
- Boycott Announced Today of Ken Garff Automotive Gr…
- Help Fine the Missing Mormon Money / Boycott Ken G…
- Californians Against Hate In the News!
- Mormon Cover-up of Prop 8 Funding
- Mormon Church Files Late Campaign Report on Prop 8…
- ► May (7)
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