Opinion Resource

What Happened & What Country Am I In?

A California paper trail: 2008 - 2015

Opponents of Proposition 8

The following either donated or went on record in opposition to the California Marriage Amendment - Yet Traditional Marriage still passed at the ballot box November 5, 2008, 52% to 47%. ⁽¹⁾

Every major California newspaper including Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, La Opinion, Bakersfield Californian, Press Enterprise (Riverside) and San Diego Union-Tribune.

(Note: San Diego Union-Tribune was purchased in 2011 by San Diego real estate developer Douglas Manchester. Manchester, who before becoming the paper's publisher, experienced national media attention over the boycott of his San Diego Seaport Village Hyatt hotel by anti-Prop. 8 protesters because of his $125,000 pro-Prop. 8 donation. Manchester is Catholic. His investment in The U-T (he renamed the newspaper), was viewed as a "check" move in a political game of chess to protect marriage. However, Manchester sold the U-T in May 2015 -- one month before the U.S. Supreme Court overruled all state "one man, one woman" constitutional marriage amendments on June 26, 2015).

All six Episcopal diocesan bishops in California issued a joint statement opposing Prop 8

The California Council of Churches

Unitarian Universalists

Jewish Mosaic, the American Jewish Committee, Progressive Jewish Alliance, Council of Jewish Women, and the Anti-Defamation League in Los Angeles.

The League of Women Voters

National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peoples (all but 2 California chapters)

Google: $140k to "No on 8" campaign

Apple Inc.: $100k to "No on 8" campaign

Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education voted unanimously for a resolution to oppose Prop 8

California Teachers Association: $1 million to fight Proposition 8

Time Warner

AT&T

Pacific, Gas and Electric (PG&E): $250k to fight Proposition 8

Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger

U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein

U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer

Attorney General Jerry Brown

42 of 80 members of the state assembly

50% of the state senate

Tom Hanks

Steven Spielberg

Mayors of San Francisco (Gavin Newsom), Los Angeles (Antonio Villaraigosa) and San Diego (Jerry Sanders).

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Fast forward to 2015

"The 379"

Apple, Coca Cola and Facebook among 379 American companies petitioning U.S. Supreme Court to rule in favor of same-sex marriage and kill state voter-approved constitutional amendments ⁽²⁾ validating only traditional marriage

IC NEWS, March 5, 2015: As the U.S. Supreme Court readies to hear arguments on April 28 to weigh in the constitutional right of states to determine the definition of marriage, 379 American companies urged the Court to overturn state bans on same sex marriage in a friend-of-the-court brief expected to be filed by Friday, March 6, 2015.

The brief cited that by "allowing same sex couples to marry [it will] improve employee morale and productivity" according to The Huffington Post.

Among the 379 companies advocating the overturn of 30 state amendment bans on same sex-marriage -- and essentially flying the LGBT marriage equality flag outside their storefront -- are: Aetna Inc., Alaska Airlines, Alcoa Inc., Amazon.com, Inc., American Airlines Group, Inc., American Apparel, American Express Company, Apple Inc., Arbor Brewing Company, Aspen Skiing Company, AT&T Inc., Bank of America, Barnes & Noble, Inc., Ben & Jerry's, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Broadcom Corporation, CBS Corporation, Citigroup Inc., The Coca-Cola Company, Comcast Corporation, CVS Health Corporation, Delta Air Lines, Inc., Deutsche Bank AG, DIRECTV, The Dow Chemical Company, Dupont, eBay Inc., Earnst & Young LLP, Facebook, Inc., 1st Security Bank, General Electric Company, General Mills, Inc., Google Inc., Greater San Diego Business Association, Intel Corporation, The Jim Henson Company, Johnson & Johnson, JetBlue Airways Corporation, JP Morgan Chase & co., Levi Strauss & Co., Marriott International, Inc., Microsoft Corporation, MillerCoors LLC., Morgan Stanley, The New England Patriots, New York Life Insurance Company, Nike, Inc., Office Depot, Inc., PATH, PepsiCo, Qualcomm Incorporated, The San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, The San Francisco Giants, Sempra Energy, Staples, Inc., Starbucks Corporation, Target Corporation, Twitter, Inc., United Airlines, Inc., Verizon Communications Inc., Viacom Inc., Visa Inc., The Walt Disney Company, Wells Fargo & Company and Xerox Corporation.

* For the full list see The Huffington Post: "Here are the 379 Companies Urging The Supreme Court to Support Same-Sex Marriage."

Update 2019

We recommend canceling subscriptions to websites, daily newspapers or weeklies running same-sex classifieds advertising for roommates, personals, etc. Cancel with a clear and non-apologetic statement. Don't buy Coca Cola or Pepsi products. Buy office supplies, books and coffee at mom-and-pop stores or Walmart. Don't swipe VISA, use Mastercard. Switch to non-political businesses not on The 379 list. America will thrive on businesses that rise to replace The 379 whose CEO's crossed the line. Don't buy 379's new products, i.e. Apple Watch. Use social media to denounce social media platforms. Change banks, airlines and stores. Change channels. Change school districts. Vote Platform Repubican. Get elected on school boards, city councils, etc. Do what you can.

Over time, truth, prayer and pro-active non-violent resistance will make a difference. 

If possible, you should not support a business or public agency that uses your money to promote biblically immoral laws that will affect you and your children. A business -- and especially a public utility or tax-payer funded arm of government, i.e. school districts  -- should mind their business and stay out of politics.

The workplace and public schools are not to be a living theater to promote personal agendas and political comment distractions, but to be a team environment with a focused objective: get the job done. 

Vote 'Platform Republican' -- the war to define marriage is not lost. We lost battles, but we can win the war:

"Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, not idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God."

- 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 English Standard Version

1. Statistics and names supplied by en.wikepedia.org California Proposition 8 (2008); ballotpedia.org: Proposition 8, the "Eliminates Rights of Same-Sex Couples to Marry," ballot initiative, 2008.
2. List of U.S. states recognizing only 'one man, one woman marriage' via constitutional amendment before June 26, 2015. 

Support these organizations defending the rights of children and traditional families in 2019:

The American Family Association, California Family Council, Focus on the Family, For Kids and Country, Hope 4 Kids, Informed Parents of California, Mass Resistance, National Organization for Marriage, Pacific Justice Institute and The Ruth Institute.

Additional book resources:

• 'The Health Hazards of Homosexuality,-- What the Medical and Psychological Research Reveals,' by MassResistance, © 2017 MassResistance. Endorsed by Paul Church, M.D., Clinical Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School.
• 'Changed -- #ONCEGAY Stories, by Equipped to Love, © 2018 Equipped to Love. 

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