Gay Conservative Shuts Down Blog, Abandons Prop. 8

Gay conservative David Benkof has closed down his blog Gays Defend Marriage, in which he supported marriage as a union between one man and one woman. In a statement to LGBT advocacy group Truth Wins Out the writer, formerly known as David Bianco, said, “I no longer feel comfortable being allied with the people running the Prop. 8 campaign.”

In his last blog entry, posted Sunday, Benkof wrote, “I recently learned quite a bit of disturbing information that makes it impossible for me to continue supporting a movement I no longer respect.” Benkof did not identify what it was he’d learned about Proposition 8 or its backers.

According to Wayne Besen, the founding executive director of Truth Wins Out, Benkof must have encountered “unsavory elements within the California [Proposition 8] campaign that so repelled him that he decided to halt his antigay campaigns.”

Benkof’s campaigns, which Besen refers to as “horrible antigay diatribes,” included negative faith-based claims about gay sex and LGBT lifestyles. (Hannah Clay Wareham, The Advocate)

Reader Comments

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Name: John
Date posted: 2008-11-14 12:59 AM
Hometown: SF

Comment:

Last time I checked, all that’s required for life is air, water, and food, in that order. Sex is optional, although you wouldn’t guess that from some folks. Since sex is not a requirement for life, only for pro-creation, then having sex, and with whom you have it, is a choice. It’s strictly a social issue, not one of behavior, genes, birth, or pre-disposition. No one’s rights are being “violated” here. You can’t change or control if you are born red, yellow, black, or white. Civil and Equal Rights are for minorities, based upon their pre-disposition; being born into a particular group, the circumstances of which are beyond that group’s control. Since sex is a choice, there is no equal rights issue. The Constitution was upheld, the people voted, and you lost. Get over it! Or, are you too intolerant to tolerate those who disagree with you?

Name: Malina
Date posted: 2008-11-03 6:04 PM
Hometown: Dublin, CA

Comment:

If you have baby boy and you notice him loving to play with dolls will you stop him? If you were a good mother you wouldn't because you will not deprive your child of the things he loves. Why would you? I wouldn't! I will let my child be happy and if playing with dolls make him happy then I will let him be happy. Also, I would like my child to be taught about the gay lifestyle and safe sex. The worse nightmare of a parent is the worse thing that can happen which can be prevented if they are taught about it. The only way we can teach our kids is by teaching and teaching them the right way. We do not know if we will have a child that will like the same sex and if we do then we need to prepare them for that lifestyle and help them and also teach them about safe sex educating them about the lifestyle. We need to open up our eyes to what is reality and reality is using our smarts to educate our kids now rather than later when it's already to late.

Name: Malina
Date posted: 2008-11-03 3:45 PM
Hometown: Dublin, CA

Comment:

It is upsetting to see that as Americans we say we want to move forward. I believe that moving forward means moving forward and we should not half step the tansition into a world that we as closed minded individuals do not know what it is all about. Equality means equality and the word should not be abuse just like we Americans tend to abuse the word love. Voting Yes on prop 8 is taking the equal meaning of being treated equal. If we as Americans want change then we should accept the things we can't change and letting the meaning of equality make it's course. It is wrong to discriminate and to be bias! Saying Yes on 8 means that you are not ready for a Black president nor are you ready for change!

Name: Catherine
Date posted: 2008-10-31 4:44 PM
Hometown: Rancho Cucamonga

Comment:

I do not hate anyone from the gay community and I am voting “yes” on prop 8. It’s obvious to me from various articles and statements I have read that there are those who don’t think it is possible to put these two assertions in the same sentence. But I am writing this to let people know that there are many, many people who are voting “yes” on 8 and are not doing so out of hate. I am not motivated by hate. The reason I go out and encourage people to vote “yes” and have a “yes” sign in my yard is motivated by my love for God and His laws and commandments. As a Christian, I believe with all my soul that God Himself started this institution called marriage at the beginning of time and established it as a union between a man and a woman; that’s it! No addendums, no “but maybe later”s, a union between a man and a woman. I am working to keep God’s institution the way He established it; nothing more and nothing less.

Name: Todd
Date posted: 2008-10-31 1:19 PM
Hometown: Irvine

Comment:

Why call a committed relationship between two persons of the same sex the same as a committed relationship between the two persons of the opposite sex. Let gay couple have all the same rights (which they do, therefore it is not discriminatory) but don't call it "marriage." Don't call it marriage because it is not the same thing. On one hand it is same sex and on the other it is opposite sex. If I am a man and I want to use the women's restroom, is it discrimination because other women are allowed to use the women's restroom? No, because there are fundamental differences between men and women. The fundamental difference between gay couples and heterosexual couples is the gender make up of the couple.

Name: Mary
Date posted: 2008-10-18 2:52 PM
Hometown: Los Angeles

Comment:

I know some people in California are not for Prop 8 passing and I completely understand why and i feel like a jerk in a way for supporting proposition 8. My reasoning is this. It is clearly a desire for gays to have religion sanctify their way of life. It can not be so. Any good religion will not sanctify stealing or murder or adultry or premarital sex and yet people want to force religion into sanctifying homosexual relations. It is clear homosexuality is not condoned by the bible. Because of that, homosexuals should not want the religious symbol of marriage to bind them. If i was a homosexual i would not want a religious term to bind me to my lover. I would want a union established by a secular source. Because if religion says my way of life is wrong, why would i want any part in it. Likewise, it isn't fair for religion to sanctify something it believes so strongly against.

Name: David Benkof
Date posted: 2008-07-17 6:08 PM
Hometown: St. Louis

Comment:

Thanks, L. Myron. It always was, and still is a possibility that I will reveal at least some of what I know. If I reveal all of it, there is no way Prop. 8 will pass. However, since I have stopped supporting the Prop. 8 campaign, members of the LGBT community have been smearing me in the most needless and insulting ways (try a google blogs search of my name). The more that happens, the less inclined I am to help the "marriage equality" movement out in any way, especially because I believe its arguments are so weak. On the other hand, if Prop. 8's evil deeds intensify, I may feel I have no choice but to expose them, or at least some of them. For now, I'm going to watch and wait.

Name: L. Myron
Date posted: 2008-07-17 10:00 AM
Hometown: Edgewater, New Jersey

Comment:

Perhaps Mr. Benkof could do the gay community a service by articulating the specific reasons why he disassociated himself from the pro-Prop 8 effort. It's always good to know what the enemy is thinking. He should interview some of the leaders of the anti-marriage campaigns of 2004 that helped get Bush reelected. Some of those statements, which were published in newspapers and magazines, would probably reinforce his decision to run away from these kinds of hateful people as quickly as he could. If his participation in this homophobic movement in California was an eye-opening experience for Mr. Benkof, then I'm glad he was a part of it. Some of us need to get bashed over the head before we know who are enemies are.

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