The federal judge who denied the request of the Proposition 8 donors to have their names withheld for privacy reasons should be applauded for exercising common sense in the face of what can only be described as blatant stupidity.
I have zero sympathy for those individuals who wished to keep their names private for fear of “harassment” or “boycotts of their businesses.” Were there a legitimate, credible threat of violence against these individuals, that might be a different story, but what we have here is people who made a choice to support a bigoted, disgusting piece of legislation, one that stripped their fellow citizens, their neighbors, their customers, of the right to marry the person they love, the right to obtain the benefits and the recognition that marriage confers upon a couple in our society. With their financial support, they actively enabled legislation that could tear beautiful, loving families apart, simply because there happen to be two dads or two moms.
To cry now, belatedly, that they are afraid of retribution for their bigotry, beggars belief. If they were that afraid of having their names made public, they should have considered the fact that the law requires the names and addresses of any political donor to be made public.
There is no good reason why an exception should be made for Proposition 8 supporters simply because they are now realizing the potential economic impact of their political convictions. Their cowardice in the face of potential economic boycotts of their businesses is embarrassing, and shows the utter shallowness of their convictions. If they feel so certain that their belief that marriage should be legally restricted to being between a male and a female, they should have the guts to maintain that conviction even when knowing their names will be made public. To me, their unwillingness to do so only reinforces the idea that they know, deep down, that their views are repulsive.
They made their decision, now they must live with the consequences. After all, just as they have the right to contribute money to a political cause that I disagree with, I have the right to know who supported Proposition 8 and act accordingly. That’s the beauty of a free society. You reap what you sow.
1 Comment
March 1, 2009 at 4:32 pm
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