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October 09, 2008

T.R. Knight Answers No on 8's Plea for Money With $50,000

T.R. Knight Answers No on 8's Plea for Money With $50,000

Grey’s Anatomy star T.R. Knight has donated $50,000 to No on 8 to fight the proposed California constitutional amendment, Proposition 8, that would outlaw same-sex marriage in the state, Out.com’s Popnography blog reported Wednesday. The donation comes one day after Equality California called for an emergency LGBT media briefing and reported that contrary to published reports, Yes on 8 is ahead in the polls.

The donation was uncovered on the California secretary of state’s website, reporting that Knight, a self-employed actor with a New York address, had donated.

Knight’s donation comes after Ohio entrepreneur Jonathan Lewis issued a challenge of sorts to Los Angeles's entertainment industry -- raise $500,000 for No on Prop. 8, and he and his family will match the contributions dollar for dollar.

Other celebrities who have made donations since Lewis's offer to match funds include Pete Wentz and Fall Out Boy to the tune of $50,000; Angels in America scribe Tony Kushner, $15,000; and E! talk-show host Chelsea Handler, $5,000. (The Advocate

Reader Comments

These comments are reproduced as written by visitors to this Web site. They have not been edited for content, grammar, or spelling. The viewpoints appearing here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion or views of advocate.com, The Advocate, or its affiliates.

  • Name: James
    Date posted: 2008-11-04 6:19 PM
    Hometown: Anaheim

    Comment:

    Religious Political fanatics would have best used the money and energy to take rights away from minorities to feed the hungry. Instead they are preoccupied with what has become a downright OBSESSION for many churches. Why do they want to do this? Remember that this is CIVIL RIGHTS issue


  • Name: Darlene
    Date posted: 2008-10-24 4:06 PM
    Hometown: Greenfield

    Comment:

    The donated money I feel could go to better use. Starving. struggling to make ends meet. Just not me, but others as well. I'm struggling to come up with $35,000.00 to pay for fertility treatments. Thought I'd voice my opinion


  • Name: Jesse Walton
    Date posted: 2008-10-19 9:04 AM
    Hometown: San Gabriel, CA

    Comment:

    MAKE a sign. Grab poster-board and marker. Show the Astroturfers what real grass roots are. Crying, sniping, blaming...it will NOT get it done. Get out on a street corner. Go picket a Mormon church and BRING YOU KIDS AND/OR Partner/Spouse. Gala fundraisers and mushy ads got us in this position, and we can't sit by and wait for VIPs to suddenly get a clue. We lose this time, we've lost for 20 years. Paint and bed-sheets, hung on overpasses. Home-made signs. T-shirts, Arm-Bands. We've got two days left to get people registered to vote. We've all got printers to make our OWN flyers and pass them out. Take ownership of the future and in loving memory of thousands of brave men and women who we lost, so many of whom were forced to spend so many years of their lives in hiding and in fear, quit whining about what someone else isn't doing and ACTUP !


  • Name: David
    Date posted: 2008-10-18 12:13 AM
    Hometown: SF Area

    Comment:

    No on 8 has run a terrible campaign. In mid-August I asked for a yard sign. Would I be willing to pay? Sure, just get me the yard sign. When did it show up? October! This is a no-brainer folks, gotta get the signs out. If gays are marginalized, you can do whatever you want to them. If you walk down the street and keep seeing No On 8 signs, they are part of the mainstream and you can't push them around. My conclusion - I should have made my own freaking sign and stopped giving my money to people who have their heads up their you-know-whats. It's a shame that so many people will have to take a big step backwards due to the stupidity of a few.


  • Name: Jeff
    Date posted: 2008-10-10 8:15 PM
    Hometown: San Francisco

    Comment:

    Thank you, TR Knight for putting your money where your mouth is!!! Hey Ellen, Portia, Rosie, Elton and all the other gay celebs who haven't yet donated to No on 8: a few weeks ago, I dipped into my savings and wrote a check for $1,000. I'm not wealthy by any stretch of the imagination, and I know all of you make a HELL of a lot more money than I do, so WHAT GIVES???


  • Name: Matt
    Date posted: 2008-10-09 4:20 PM
    Hometown: Portland

    Comment:

    Who are you people to tell other Americans how to spend their money. If the stars don't want give to the cause mind your business and worry about your own paycheck


  • Name: Wayne
    Date posted: 2008-10-09 2:57 PM
    Hometown: NYC

    Comment:

    GAYS NEED TO LET THE OBAMA CAMP KNOW THAT IF OBAMA DOESN'T START MAKING MARRIAGE EQUALITY AND PROP 8 AN ISSUE AND ACTUALLY HAVE THE BALLS TO SPEAK OUT AND DO A FEW "NO ON 8" COMMERCIALS, THEN HE WILL NOT GET OUR VOTES! WHY SHOULD WE VOTE FOR OBAMA WHEN OBAMA WON'T STEP UP TO THE PLATE AND FIGHT FOR OUR RIGHTS? OBAMA SEEMS TO THINK HAVING "FAITH TOURS" FOR ANTI-GAY BIGOTS IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN OUR EQUALITY.


  • Name: Ted
    Date posted: 2008-10-09 2:08 PM
    Hometown: Kingston, NY

    Comment:

    Ellen has been making a plea for donations from others but I have seen nothing as to how much she herself as donated to the cause. Anyone know?


  • Name: owen
    Date posted: 2008-10-09 2:07 PM
    Hometown: west hollywood

    Comment:

    Yup, time to get your tongue out of Barak's ass.. Obama will win and he has already raised over $400M. Yes folks have raised twice what the NO have. Are the $200. jeans that important?


  • Name: n gozzano
    Date posted: 2008-10-09 12:58 PM
    Hometown: Los Angeles

    Comment:

    YOU PEOPLE NEED TO FORGET ABOUT OBAMA AND STREISAND AND FOCUS ON WHY WERE LOSING THIS THING. IT'S BECAUSE THE PEOPLE RUNNING NO ON 8 HAVE PUT TOGETHER A TOTALLY INCOMPETENT AD CAMPAIGN. THEY HAVE NO COHERENT MESSAGE AND YES ON 8 HAS STEPPED RIGHT IN WITH THE MOST CONVENTIONAL AND OBVIOUS ADS AND IT'S WORKING LIKE A CHARM. HEADS HAVE GOT TO ROLL AT NO ON 8 AND THEY NEED TO GO TO A HARD HITTING SCARE THE VOTERS ABOUT THE OTHER SIDE CAMPAIGN (HOW IS EASY IS THAT WHEN YOUR DEALING WITH PSYCHO FUNDAMENTALISTS). COMPLAIN ABOUT ABOUT CELINDA LAKE, STEVE SMITH AND GEOFF KORS COMPLETELY BLOWING THIS THING FOR US! THAT'S WHERE THE REAL BLAME LIES.


  • Name: Joe
    Date posted: 2008-10-09 11:20 AM
    Hometown: Fort Worth

    Comment:

    Wow, there are a lot of Obama haters here. Obama has said that he's AGAINST Prop 8. The election is winding down. I don't think he has the time or wants to risk losing voters by making Prop 8 a big issue. Whether or not you like him not taking a more public stand against Prop 8 is one thing, blaming him for celebrities' (both gay & straight "allies") failure to pony up money is something ENTIRELY DIFFERENT.


  • Name: Chris Sullivan
    Date posted: 2008-10-09 10:22 AM
    Hometown: Chicago, IL

    Comment:

    OK - great to hear! Now WHERE IS ALL THE MONEY FROM THE DIVAS WHOSE CAREERS HAVE BEEN KEPT ALIVE BY THE GLBT POPULATION FOR DECADES? I swear, if I find out that Streisand, Cher, Madonna, Midler etc. didn't contribute a cent to this - they can kiss any future money from me goodbye FOR GOOD!


  • Name: Wayne
    Date posted: 2008-10-09 7:02 AM
    Hometown: NYC

    Comment:

    WHEN IS SOMEONE IN THE GAY PRESS GOING TO HAVE TO BALLS TO SAY THE TRUTH. OBAMA IS STANDING BY WHILE HIS OWN CONSERVATIVE AFRICAN AMERICAN SUPPORTERS ARE MOBILIZING TO PUSH PROP 8 THROUGH. OBAMA EVEN ENCOURAGED THEM WITH HIS CALIFORNIA "FAITH TOUR" THAT WAS HEADLINED BY AN ANTI-GAY MARRIAGE, PRO PROP 8 BIGOT. AND YET THE GAY PRESS CONTINUES TO SING OBAMA'S PRAISES. WE ALL KNOW THAT IF OBAMA WOULD EVEN TAKE JUST 10 SECONDS AND DO A QUICK AND SIMPLE "VOTE NO ON PROP 8" ADD, THAT PROP 8 WOULD FAIL. DON'T HOLD YOUR BREATH. OBAMA IS QUITE HAPPY TO SEE GAY MARRIAGE FAIL, AS LONG AS IT HELPS TO GET HIM ELECTED. WAKE UP PEOPLE. YOU ARE BEING PLAYED.


  • Name: nat g
    Date posted: 2008-10-09 3:44 AM
    Hometown: Los Angeles

    Comment:

    Money's not the real problem. 8's going to pass and not because anti gay marriage forces have more money but because CA EQ has pissed away 10million in advertising with nothing to show for it. Their warm, fuzzy and incoherent ads are completely forgettable and ineffectual. Yes on 8 is running boiler plate hard hitting attack ads that hammer away at simple messages. I can only conclude that the no on 8 folks thought they were smart and ignored people with real experience at this. It's probably too late now but they have to radically pivot and directly attack the right wing fundamentalists and carpet bagging backers of prop 8 and there attempt to rewrite the state constitution to reflect their extremists beliefs. I'm sure there's plenty of tape of prop. 8 backers making ignorant, scary statements that would make the Gavin Newsom clip sound like childs play and voters hair stand up on end. The no on 8 campaign needs to wake up and go negative or it's all over for gay marriage in CA.


  • Name: brian
    Date posted: 2008-10-08 11:54 PM
    Hometown: las vegas

    Comment:

    Where are all of Ellen's straight friends. It's one thing to say you have gay friends, it's another to put your money where your mouth is.


  • Name: mick
    Date posted: 2008-10-08 11:50 PM
    Hometown: new york

    Comment:

    Barack Obama has not helped our cause by sayinig he's not in favor of gay marriage. Not helped our cause at all. Is he afraid of offending blacks who are socially conservative?


  • Name: simon
    Date posted: 2008-10-08 11:49 PM
    Hometown: los angeles

    Comment:

    Where is Beyonce? Where is Madonna? Where is Britney? Where is Kanye? These people have made money from the gay community. It's time they gave us some thanks by donating money to the gay marriage cause. The music industry, with the exception of Pete Wentz, has been awfully unwilling to donate. This indicates the high level of homophobia in the American music industry, I'm afraid.


  • Name: blacksteel
    Date posted: 2008-10-08 11:11 PM
    Hometown: LA

    Comment:

    Wayne said: "WOULDN'T IT BE NICE IF OBAMA COULD TAKE 10 SECONDS.." Wayne, wouldn't it be even nicer if you'd have the courtesy to stop typing your messages all in caps, which is called shouting. Maybe you do it because no one pays attention to you. But if no one's paying attention, maybe it's because you're not saying anything worth paying attention to.


  • Name: Cleo
    Date posted: 2008-10-08 7:52 PM
    Hometown: D.C

    Comment:

    where is ellen and melissa?!


  • Name: Onerain
    Date posted: 2008-10-08 7:10 PM
    Hometown: Riverside

    Comment:

    Just as important as the big donations are lots of small ones. If you haven't given to the No on 8 campaign you should do so now. 20,50 or 100 dollar donations in enough quantity can make a huge difference.


  • Name: Wayne
    Date posted: 2008-10-08 7:09 PM
    Hometown: NYC

    Comment:

    WOULDN'T IT BE NICE IF OBAMA COULD TAKE 10 SECONDS OUT OF HIS SCHEDULE AND DO A QUICK COMMERCIAL THAT SIMPLY SAYS "VOTE NO ON PROP 8". MAYBE OBAMA WAS TO BUSY ORGANIZING "FAITH TOURS" HEADLINED BY PRO PROP 8 ANTI-GAY MARRIAGE BIGOTS. THAT'S LEADERSHIP FOR YOU.


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