Homemade pleas on
both sides of California's Prop. 8 ballot
initiative that would ban same-sex marriage are
sprouting up on sites like YouTube.com. Along with the
major organizations urging residents to support their
causes, voters in California and elsewhere are getting
in on the action.
Homemade pleas on
both sides of California's Prop. 8 ballot
initiative that would ban same-sex marriage are
sprouting up on sites like YouTube.com.
Along with the
major organizations urging residents to support their
causes, voters in California and elsewhere are getting in on
the action.
One spot that
advocates for Proposition 8 titled "The Hidden Agenda of Garriage
(aka gay 'marriage')" shows photos of same-sex couples
getting married, followed by lightning striking San
Francisco and fires burning through California. The words,
"Children are entitled to a father and a mother"
appear over the photos of trees burning and lightning
descending from the clouds.
Grant Johnson,
who made the video, said the fires that erupted in
California after the state supreme court ruling was "an
elephant in the room," according to the Los Angeles
Times.
Another "yes"
video shows photos of fires blazing across California,
and then photos from a gay pride parade. This poster also
blamed the sanctioning of gay marriage for the fires.
On the flip side
of the issue, Love Honor Cherish, a grassroots
organization, has posted 19 videos, one of the most
popular from a Jewish mother who says
she wishes her son was still alive so he and his
long-time partner Michael could marry. A YouTube search for
"no on prop 8" delivers 2,190 results, while the same
search for "yes on prop 8" results in only 225.
A regular video
blogger, Kevin Briancesco, who goes by Ninja Poetry, spouts a clearly sarcastic
argument against rights.
"I don't know
about you," Briancesco says, "but I'm totally OK with
having a tiered system of rights for people based on things
they can't change about themselves. I mean, if U.S.
history shows us anything, it worked out fantastic in
regards to race, sex and ethnicity."
He eventually
adds "Facts are facts. I don't see this amendment as
anything more than blatant homophobia."
The videos cannot
be filtered or regulated by Proposition 8
organizations, which could either help or hurt the official
organizations campaigning on both sides of the
issue. Responding to videos claiming the
California fires are God's reaction to the marriage ruling,
a Yes On 8 spokeswoman said they would not inject such
messages into their television ads.
"That video...
was not produced by the campaign or affiliated with
the campaign," Yes On 8's Jennifer Kerns told the LA
Times. (Michelle Garcia, The Advocate)
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