Prop 8 news: weekend roundup

We took our positions under the covered walkway at Raley's, Home Depot and Target

They say that in the final week of campaign work it's the personal and one-on-one contacts that matter. So, in spite of a dark, wet and cold Saturday morning (after Halloween), a dedicated group of about 15 of us showed up at the South Napa Marketplace to hand out flyers, stickers and signs for the NO on 8 campaign. We were respectfully received and shoppers responses fell mostly in 3 categories:

1. "I've already voted," they would say. I would respond with a humble, "I hope you voted NO," and smile as they walked away. Some said they did. We quietly celebrated them. According to the Napa Register, 50% of Napa's mail in votes are already in. Last year Napa converted many traditional precincts to vote-by-mail.
   
   
2. "I'm planning on voting No," they would say. To which we would offer yard signs or stickers to encourage them to spread the word. We'd send them off with a deeply felt, "Thank you for your support!"
   
   
3. "I don't want any information," they would say, obviously trying to avoid making eye contact. They didn't say it, but we could tell which way they voted.

I am not sure if the people who have voted yes on 8 (to ban same-sex marriages) are avoiding eye-contact because they feel they know the personal effect it has and they feel guilty (?) or because they don't want to look a potential homosexual in the eye.

In other Prop 8 news this weekend:

• Another Mormon family against 8: Steve Young, a famous Bay Area mormon and famous Forty-Niner proudly proclaims in a written statement from his wife and via decorations at their house, "We believe ALL families matter and we do not believe in discrimination, therefore, our family will vote against Prop 8."
  
  


• Don't believe the lies from 8: Obama's campaign, just days before the election, is reinforcing their NO stance on Proposition 8. The yessers sent out a mailer chock full of lies (again) alluding to Obama's position that marriage is between a man and a woman.
  
  
• They know not what they do: Huge anti-gay rally at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego gathers 15,000 people to pray for gay people. At the 12-hour event, "The crowd prayed, sang, spoke in tongues, prostrated themselves, sobbed (for California, for marriage, for the homosexuals) and, on numerous occasions, whipped themselves into a true frenzy." [Wockner]
  
  
• "Honey, Bill Clinton is on the phone": Automated calls from Bill Clinton, yesterday, via NO on 8 informed voters that Prop 8 would "use state law to single out one group of Californians to be treated differently -- discriminating against members of our family, our friends and our co-workers." [NOon8]

With two days until the election, there's still time for you to donate & get involved.