October 15, 2009

Red-Hot Bigot List: Stand for Marriage Maine Yes On 1 Donor Filings

UPDATE: All the Maine donors (including those from outside Maine) have been imported into Base8. While we are researching each record as you read this, these records are mostly raw data and unsorted — but they are now searchable (and much easier to read).

Filed October 13, 2009

Notes:

• The data that follows is taken from the Maine Commission on Government Ethics & Election Practices (PDF file), and sorted for easy reading.

• Yes, there are Proposition 8 donors here; I’ve been working with the raw data for so long, I recognize a number of names without needing to cross-check.

• Yes, these records will be added to Base8.

• Of greatest interest will be the cash donations, but the expenditures reveal some interesting information as well. I’m not going to include expenditures (or in-kind contributions) in this post, but I encourage you to browse through the Maine.gov records.

While no one can fault a pizza parlor or a bagel shop for doing business with the Stand for Marriage Maine bigots, the expenditures list includes a number of businesses that (we can only surmise) knew exactly what sort of bigots they were accommodating, such as hotel catering services, designers and printers of banners and other anti-gay materials, those who made in-kind contributions, etc. We would never patronize any establishment that made money at our expense, by accepting business from professional homophobes.

When you get to the entries for “MAR/COM. SERVICES, INC.,” you’ll want to read this short article at the San Francisco Appeal: “San Francisco Company Making $600K To Fight Against Gay Couples.”

• No, I’m not really blogging again. This information is simply too important not to share.

And now, on to the haters and hate-enablers:

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September 10, 2009

Brian Brown’s Very Bad Week

By Fred Karger, Californians Against Hate

Poor Brian Brown. It has not been a good week for him and his Mormon front group, the National Organization for Marriage (NOM).

With two more states (Maine and Iowa) considering investigations of his organization for improper reporting of campaign contributions and money laundering, plus the on-going ten month investigation by the California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC Case #08-735), Brian went on the offensive on Friday and sent out the email below to all his supporters and the media.

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September 1, 2009

Maine Ethics Commission Hits Hard on Opponents of Same-Sex Marriage

AUGUSTA, ME — September 1, 2009 — Jonathan Wayne, Executive Director of State of Maine Commission of Governmental Ethics and Elections Practices, sent a strongly worded four page letter to Stand for Marriage Maine PAC (SFMMP) and the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), seeking more information on the charges of “money laundering” against them in their campaign to repeal Maine’s same-sex marriage law.

The letter sent to Joseph Keaney, Stand for Marriage Maine PAC’s Treasurer and Brian Brown, NOM’s Executive Director, called upon both organizations to respond in writing by September 17, 2009 “…concerning whether the Commission should conduct an investigation.”

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August 26, 2009

Formal Request for Investigation of Money Laundering Filed in Maine Gay Marriage Election

AUGUSTA, Maine — August 26, 2009 — Fred Karger, founder of Californians Against Hate, an LGBT watchdog group, sent a letter detailing alleged election law violations by Stand for Marriage Maine to the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices. The request for an immediate investigation was sent yesterday to the Jonathan Wayne, the Commission’s Executive Director and a copy to attorney General Janet Mills.

The nine page complaint (below) and fourteen attachments spell out how the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, Knights of Columbus of Washington, DC and James Dobson’s Focus on the Family had contributors give the money to their organizations, and then they in turn gave the money to the Stand for Marriage Maine in order to hide the identity of the donors.

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August 13, 2009

Karger Warns Maine of Money Laundering by NOM, Mormons, Dobson, & Others

LOS ANGELES, CA / AUGUSTA, ME — August 13, 2009 — Californians Against Hate founder Fred Karger sent a letter today warning top Maine election officials of possible money laundering by opponents of same-sex marriage.

The organization trying to overturn Maine’s same-sex marriage law, Stand for Marriage PAC recently turned in 100,000 signatures to place the question on the November ballot. These gay marriage foes hope to repeal LD 1020 — the law passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor allowing same-sex marriage in Maine.

Of the $343,689.50 raised to pay the Brighton, Michigan-based National Petition Management, Inc. to collect the signatures, only $400, or a mere .001 of that total came from individuals. The remaining $343,289.50 was given by various religious organizations and James Dobson’s Focus on the Family. The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) gave nearly half of that total, $160,000. The remainder came from Catholic organizations ($150,000) and James Dobson’s Focus on the Family ($31,000).

“It sure looks like they are trying to hide the donors in their latest effort to strip away marriage equality,” said Fred Karger. “There is no way these organizations like NOM and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland had all this money sitting in their treasuries (except for possibly Focus on the Family). They went out and raised it expressly for this campaign. It’s very expensive to hire these signature gathering firms to collect 100,000 signatures in a short period of time.”

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June 19, 2009

Now That They’ve Ruined California, Schubert and Flint Are Off to Maine

Take heart: If the Radical Religionists are right, and there is a Hell, these two monsters will be roasting nicely in it — without a cent of the blood money they’ve squeezed out of the ongoing H8 campaign:

Maine gay marriage opponents hire firm which led Proposition 8 campaign

Opponents of gay marriage in Maine have hired the public relations firm which was instrumental in bringing about Proposition 8, the initiative that banned gay marriage in California.

Stand for Marriage Maine has hired Schubert Flint to help repeal the equality law, which was signed into law by [Governor] John Baldacci in May.

To get the bill on the ballot in November, they must collect 55,000 signatures opposing gay marriage in the next couple of months. …

Related:

Money, Manipulation, and Mormons: How Schubert and Flint Passed Proposition 8, February 23, 2009

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Karen Ocamb Asks: “Will Gays Divorce the Democrats?”

Will gays divorce the Democrats? Will they stay home and withhold funds or actively get involved with a local progressive for whom equality is as essential as breathing instead of a social issue about which they must be “educated?”

One thing is certain: gay people want our voice and our vote to count. Otherwise, the democracy this republic espouses is just as much a sham as those rigged elections we decry in other countries.

Righteous (and fact-filled) rant you’ll want to read in its entirety — which also takes note of Robin Tyler’s forthcoming DivorcetheDemocrats.org (which isn’t live yet), “where she is mounting an online pledge to take money that LGBTs and allies might have given to the DNC and re-distribute it to LGBT and HIV/AIDS organizations that need help, as well as efforts in California and Maine to deal with marriage ballot initiatives. The site would also call for a ‘comprehensive’ LGBT civil rights bill, instead of the incremental pieces of legislation for which the LGBT community has had to beg and wait until it is deemed convenient for consideration.”

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June 16, 2009

So How Much Money Would Nationwide Marriage Equality Cost the Country? Actually, It Would Reap a $9.5 Billion Windfall

You read that right: nine-point-five billion dollars.

And when Forbes.com talks about money, everybody better listen:

The $9.5 Billion Gay Marriage Windfall

Howls of protest erupted last month when California’s Supreme Court upheld Proposition 8, stripping gay and lesbian couples of their right to marry. Adding to the din: all the disappointed planners, seamstresses, jewelers, travel agents and caterers who comprise the massive yet plodding American wedding industry.

There are 781,267 same-sex couples living together in the U.S., according to the Census Bureau’s 2005-07 American Community Survey. The Williams Institute, a research arm of UCLA’s law school, predicts that if gay marriage were legalized nationwide — only Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, Vermont, Iowa and (as of earlier this month) New Hampshire allow it now — about half of those couples would tie the knot within three years.

Talk about a stimulus package. While wedding-related revenues — snagged by small shops to giant corporations like Tiffany, Williams-Sonoma and Marriott International—

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May 6, 2009

And Now We Are Five: Maine’s Baldacci Signs Marriage Equality into Law!

From the office of John Baldacci, Governor of Maine:

AUGUSTA — Governor John E. Baldacci today signed into law LD 1020, An Act to End Discrimination in Civil Marriage and Affirm Religious Freedom.

“I have followed closely the debate on this issue. I have listened to both sides, as they have presented their arguments during the public hearing and on the floor of the Maine Senate and the House of Representatives. I have read many of the notes and letters sent to my office, and I have weighed my decision carefully,” Governor Baldacci said. “I did not come to this decision lightly or in haste.”

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May 5, 2009

Maine House Says YES to Marriage Equality, and D.C. WILL Recognize SSM!

From The Edge:

The Washington, D.C., Council has voted 13-0 to recognize marriages by same-sex couples legally entered into in other jurisdictions. Mayor Adrian Fenty is expected to sign the bill shortly.

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April 30, 2009

Maine Senate Passes Gay Marriage Bill (and a Blogger Gets a Call from the Governor)

Now, we’ll see what the state House does…

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April 29, 2009

New Hampshire State Senate Votes in Favor of Marriage for Same-Sex Couples

The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization, praised the New Hampshire state Senate’s vote today in favor of legislation that would permit same-sex couples to marry. The Senate voted 13-11, on second reading, in favor of an amended version of House Bill 436, which would allow same-sex couples to marry under state law. The bill passed the House last month by a 186-179 vote. Since the Senate voted on an amended version, the bill will return to the House after third reading in the Senate.

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January 14, 2009

EqualityMaine Announces Bill for Civil Marriage Equality

January 13, 2009 — At a State House press conference today, EqualityMaine and several coalition partners unveiled a bill that would extend civil marriage rights to same-sex couples in Maine.

The bill, titled “An Act to Prevent Discrimination in Civil Marriage and Affirm Religious Freedom,” is sponsored by Sen. Dennis Damon (D-Hancock). Damon recently sponsored an amendment to extend to domestic partners the protections currently provided in Maine’s Family Medical Leave law.

EqualityMaine and Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) convened the Maine Freedom to Marry Coalition to carry out a coordinated plan for education and advocacy on marriage equality. Other coalition partners include the Maine Civil Liberties Union; the Maine Women’s Lobby; the Portland Chapter of the NAACP; Maine People’s Alliance; and the Center for the Prevention of Hate Violence.

Coalition supporters include the Maine Children’s Alliance; the Maine Bar Association Family Law Section; the Maine Bar Association Elder Law Section; Community Counseling Center; the League of Young Voters; the National Association of Social Workers—Maine chapter; Planned Parenthood of Northern New England; the American Association of University Women; and the Mabel Wadsworth Women’s Health Center.

“For the past three years, EqualityMaine has been involved in a public education campaign about civil marriage equality,” Executive Director Betsy Smith said. “After careful consideration, we realized the time was right for this legislation.”

Last November EqualityMaine set out to identify 10,000 voters who support civil marriage equality. When the polls closed on Election Day, volunteers had collected 33,190 signatures. “We have pro-equality majorities in both houses of the Legislature and a strong coalition of partners,” Smith added. “Many challenges remain, but I am confident that legislators will see this bill for what it is: an attempt to provide equal treatment under the law, and to improve the lives of their constituents.”

“Times are tough,” Smith went on. “Maine families are struggling. Civil marriage automatically confers hundreds of rights and protections that affect nearly every part of life — finances, health care, worker’s compensation, parental rights, employment benefits and taxes. Now, more than ever, same-sex couples and their children need the peace of mind that only civil marriage can bring.”

Smith concluded, “Maine’s same-sex couples want and deserve the dignity, respect and legal protections of civil marriage. They want to be able to solidify their families here, where they live, work, worship, pay taxes, raise children and care for aging parents. Today we have taken an historic step toward that important goal.”

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