# CA Prop 8 backers= extortion? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 24, 2008, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-prop-8-backers-extortion/469416 "2008-10-24T19:42:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2008, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-prop-8-backers-extortion/469416/21 "2008-10-25T01:43:40Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Precisely. > > And exactly what libel is going to be committed, in any of the cases under discussion here? In the case originally under discussion, nothing - but the PTC commits libel all the time. ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2008, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-prop-8-backers-extortion/469416/22 "2008-10-26T09:51:03Z")
The Yes on 8 crowd is really pissing me off lately. They run ads claiming that schools will be forced to teach kids about gay marriage. It’s not true, and even if it was, so what? O Lord, do not let our children learn about teh ghey!!!1! :rolleyes: Earlier today I saw some people standing on a street corner waving signs claiming that Prop 8 “protects religious freedom”. Yeah, the freedom to impose your fucked up religion on others maybe. Lying sacks of shit. And to top it off, some bastards came to my fucking house and stole a fucking No on Prop 8 sign off my fucking lawn. I don’t go around stealing your signs, even though there are way more of them around here. Assholes. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2008, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-prop-8-backers-extortion/469416/23 "2008-10-26T13:42:39Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > As a company CEO, I would simply respond, “We will not make a like donation to your organization, and if you do make a public scene about our contribution, that will compel us to double\* that contribution in response to your efforts. No on 8!” Myself, I’d go with the old standby, [“Publish and be damned!”](http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/14599.html) ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2008, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-prop-8-backers-extortion/469416/24 "2008-10-26T16:54:22Z")
Isn’t this bolded bit possibly libelous? I don’t know, is why I’m asking. > [@](#): > > Make a donation of a like amount to [ProtectMarriage.com](http://ProtectMarriage.com) which will help us correct this error," reads the letter. "Were you to elect not to donate comparably, it would be a clear indication that **you are in opposition to traditional marriage**. … The names of any companies and organizations that choose not to donate in like manner to [ProtectMarriage.com](http://ProtectMarriage.com) but have given to Equality California will be published. ---
**Author:** ![UnwrittenNocturne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/6de8d8/32.png) [@UnwrittenNocturne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UnwrittenNocturne)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2008, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-prop-8-backers-extortion/469416/25 "2008-10-26T17:06:38Z")
Ah the religious right. The biggest anti-civil rights activists. And they fail to grasp a couple of simple principles. You cannot be in favour of civil rights at all if you want those rights to exclude anyone. Ensuring equality of rights does not remove rights from anyone else. They’re batshit insane and a detriment to society. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2008, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-prop-8-backers-extortion/469416/26 "2008-10-26T17:41:15Z")
> [@sturmhauke](#): > > The Yes on 8 crowd is really pissing me off lately. They run ads claiming that schools will be forced to teach kids about gay marriage. We were in the car yesterday and a commercial came on the radio in opposition to Prop 8. They specifically mentioned this charge about teaching gay marriage in schools, and noted that it was a load of crap. It was a clear, well-argued, well-presented ad. I was happy to hear it. The thing is, these culture warriors opposing gay marriage are getting desperate, because they know the world is passing them by. Most people, even people who in the past might have come out against gay marriage, just don’t get as worked up about it anymore. With the nation going to hell in an economic handbasket, the last thing most folks are thinking about is whether two guys should be able to tie the knot. Even if Prop 8 passes—and i certainly hope it doesn’t—the writing is on the wall. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2008, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-prop-8-backers-extortion/469416/27 "2008-10-26T18:54:18Z")
> [@sturmhauke](#): > > The Yes on 8 crowd is really pissing me off lately. They run ads claiming that schools will be forced to teach kids about gay marriage. It’s not true, and even if it was, so what? Well, after they ran all those ads, there’s no need to teach it in schools-- all the kids have already seen it on TV. Kind of ironcalistic, no? Bricker: Does this actually fit the legal definition of blackmail or extorsion? ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2008, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-prop-8-backers-extortion/469416/28 "2008-10-26T19:34:07Z")
I personally think that it’s contemptible – and that’s putting it mildly. However, I’m casually acquainted online with Daniel R. Kirk Jr., author and full-time paid employee as well as long-time volunteer for Equality California. His comment on another forum at which we’re both members: > [@](#): > > t’s not illegal, really. That being said, there will definitely be a backlash. The main Yes on 8 groups are the Mormon Church and the Knights of Columbus (go figure, mormons and catholics working together!). > > The No side has targeted donors to the Yes side as well, but they focus mostly on calling for boycotts of supporters of the Yes side. That’s been fairly effective at least at cutting off funds to the Yes side from corporate donors, but they didn’t demand money from those folks…just asked them to stop contributing to the Yes side. It’s politics folks… ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2008, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-prop-8-backers-extortion/469416/29 "2008-10-26T20:17:36Z")
That these sort of campaigns work at all, if they do work, is our own fault to an extent. Progressive people have allowed the boycott to become a weapon of those who seek to deny rights, when it has been used successfully throughout history as a force for change. The banks didn’t divest from apartheid South Africa because it made them feel warm and fuzzy, for example. I’d bet, though I don’t have the numbers in front of me, that higher disposable incomes are associated with higher support for gay rights. It’s time to use that economic power. We have to inform companies that financially support such initiatives as Prop 8 that while we respect their rights to hold such opinions, we find them abhorrent enough that we will no longer allow our dollars to pay their executive salaries. And we need to keep to that promise. Is there a list available of corporations that have donated money to this campaign? ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-prop-8-backers-extortion/469416/30 "2008-10-27T00:03:08Z")
You know what pisses me off about the “Yes on 8” crowd? They have these Facebook icons- like little pictures people are putting up instead of pictures of their face. Now, it’s one thing to “join a cause” or whatever. But our 10 year high school reunion is coming up, so we are all in the process of reconnecting with old friends. When I search for people from my school, I get a small pile of people with “Yes on 8” instead of their picture. It just seems so personal and so hurtful. Facebook is where a lot of us share our joys- our travels, our marriages, our kids, our accomplishments. And here we have people using this as a platform to trash the joys of people they know personally. I shouldn’t blame them. 100% of the people doing this are Mormon. The kids of girls that dropped out of BYU Sophmore year when they got married to start popping out the kids. But really, why you gotta go out of your way to hurt people? Why do you gotta act like a mindless robot for your church when you know and I know a lot of your friends are gay and they are okay people? ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-prop-8-backers-extortion/469416/31 "2008-10-27T00:42:19Z")
> [@sturmhauke](#): > > The Yes on 8 crowd is really pissing me off lately. They run ads claiming that schools will be forced to teach kids about gay marriage. It’s not true, and even if it was, so what? O Lord, do not let our children learn about teh ghey!!!1! :rolleyes: Earlier today I saw some people standing on a street corner waving signs claiming that Prop 8 “protects religious freedom”. Yeah, the freedom to impose your fucked up religion on others maybe. Lying sacks of shit. And to top it off, some bastards came to my fucking house and stole a fucking No on Prop 8 sign off my fucking lawn. I don’t go around stealing your signs, even though there are way more of them around here. Assholes. We had our No on Prop 8 sign stolen last night, too, after having just put it up on Friday evening! [Here’s the new sign we put up](http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dgt9hk5k_7hcg8pvc5)\*. I “laminated” it in clear contact paper and used packing tape, wrapped around about a dozen times, to secure it to our giant magnolia tree. :mad: \*If for some reason that link doesn’t work, I “recreated” it in [this post](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=10363092&postcount=36). Feel free to print it and use it yourself if you’d like. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-prop-8-backers-extortion/469416/32 "2008-10-27T00:49:14Z")
> [@Shayna](#): > > We had our No on Prop 8 sign stolen last night, too, after having just put it up on Friday evening! > > [Here’s the new sign we put up](http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dgt9hk5k_7hcg8pvc5)\*. I “laminated” it in clear contact paper and used packing tape, wrapped around about a dozen times, to secure it to our giant magnolia tree. > > :mad: > > \*If for some reason that link doesn’t work, I “recreated” it in [this post](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=10363092&postcount=36). > > Feel free to print it and use it yourself if you’d like. That’s awesome! (unless they’re just, like, drunk college kids, or something) ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-prop-8-backers-extortion/469416/33 "2008-10-27T01:05:51Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > That’s awesome! (unless they’re just, like, drunk college kids, or something) Thanks. But I doubt it was drunk college kids, as both my Obama '08 sign and the sign for a local candidate for Health District remained untouched. No, this was clearly a targeted theft. Pigs. I hope their G-d kicks their ass to the curb if they try to get through the pearly gates. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-prop-8-backers-extortion/469416/34 "2008-10-27T01:08:56Z")
> [@Shayna](#): > > Thanks. But I doubt it was drunk college kids, as both my Obama '08 sign and the sign for a local candidate for Health District remained untouched. No, this was clearly a targeted theft. Pigs. I hope their G-d kicks their ass to the curb if they try to get through the pearly gates. You’d think that Prop 8 backers would have taken the Obama sign too, though… ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-prop-8-backers-extortion/469416/35 "2008-10-27T02:25:25Z")
I just added a new sign. . . [http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dgt9hk5k\_8fw28kxdg](http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dgt9hk5k_8fw28kxdg) ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-prop-8-backers-extortion/469416/36 "2008-10-27T07:49:23Z")
Heh, I like the signs you made there. But my wife has already gone and installed multiple replacement No on 8 signs, plus an Obama sign. And it seems we’ve inspired at least a few neighbors to put up some of their own, to counter the bullshit “restore marriage” Yes on 8 signs. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Gay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@Enola\_Gay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Gay)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-prop-8-backers-extortion/469416/37 "2008-10-27T15:43:41Z")
> [@sturmhauke](#): > > The Yes on 8 crowd is really pissing me off lately. They run ads claiming that schools will be forced to teach kids about gay marriage. It’s not true, and even if it was, so what? O Lord, do not let our children learn about teh ghey!!!1! :rolleyes: Earlier today I saw some people standing on a street corner waving signs claiming that Prop 8 “protects religious freedom”. Yeah, the freedom to impose your fucked up religion on others maybe. Lying sacks of shit. And to top it off, some bastards came to my fucking house and stole a fucking No on Prop 8 sign off my fucking lawn. I don’t go around stealing your signs, even though there are way more of them around here. Assholes. I laugh out loud when those commercials come on. They remind me of something out of the 1950s- with the conservative white parents with worried faces, wringing their hands that their young son just learned \*at school \*that he could marry a man. I was not aware that homosexuality was so contagious. Good to know. I also see a direct parallel with the groups (decades ago) who used to vocally oppose inter-racial marriage and instilled the fear in parents that their, gulp, innocent white daughters would hook up with black men. Go browse the microfiche of the LA Times at the library for some comedy gold on this subject. The stuff is so dated, it is downright comical…just like those Prop 8 commercials. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-prop-8-backers-extortion/469416/38 "2008-10-27T16:19:14Z")
> [@Enola\_Gay](#): > > I laugh out loud when those commercials come on. They remind me of something out of the 1950s- with the conservative white parents with worried faces, wringing their hands that their young son just learned \*at school \*that he could marry a man. I was not aware that homosexuality was so contagious. Good to know. Yes, the look of worried concern on the Mom’s face when her daughter sez “I can marry a princess!”. Look, Mom, your daughter doesn’t even know what “marry” really means, and reading a book like that will not turn her into a lesbian. But even more importantly- it wouldn’t matter if it did. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-prop-8-backers-extortion/469416/39 "2008-10-28T03:51:50Z")
What kills me is that all the fear-mongering says if 8 doesn’t pass then X will happen, or Y will occur, or Z will not become legal and commonplace. But the thing is, Gay Marriage is Legal Right Now!!! If all these warnings were true, then X would already be happening, and Y would already be occurring, and Z would already be showing up in the courts. But they’re not. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-prop-8-backers-extortion/469416/40 "2008-10-28T07:57:27Z")
The local Yes on 8 dickheads have stolen my signs again. Do they really think this is going to change my mind? Seriously, don’t you fuckers have anything better to do? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-prop-8-backers-extortion/469416.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-prop-8-backers-extortion/469416.md?page=3)