TV Ads Promoting
Repeal of Prop. 8 to Hit California

A television campaign aimed at warming Californians to the idea of same-sex marriage will premiere during inauguration week in January.

Part of an effort by the group GetToKnowMeFirst.org, the five 30-second spots will run in both rural and urban markets. The ads feature gay families describing their experiences and urging their neighbors to "get to know" them before judging them.

"Don't take my family's rights away," plead Sonia and Gina, a lesbian couple with two children, in one of the ads. "Get to know me first. Our families may look different from yours, but we're not. We need the same things ... like marriage ... so we can protect and provide for our kids."

The hope is that the commercials -- produced by POWER UP, a nonprofit film organization based in Los Angeles -- will change the voter sentiment that led to the passage of Proposition 8, the November 2008 ballot initiative that banned same-sex marriage in the state. Although the voters have no say in the next decision to be made in legalizing same-sex marriage in California -- the state supreme court will decide on Proposition 8's constitutionality in March -- "it's important that ... Californians see the faces of the real families that are directly affected by the passage of Proposition 8," John Ireland, GetToKnowMeFirst.org's founder, said in a press release.

Robin Tyler and Diane Olson, two of the original plaintiffs in the marriage lawsuit that eventually led to the overturning of a ban on same-sex marriage (which was later overturned itself by Proposition 8), are featured in one of the commercials. (Neal Broverman, Advocate.com)