Lawyers For Proposition 8 Plaintiffs File Supreme Court Appeal To Block Cameras, Proposition 8 Live Viewing In Five American Cities, Hawaii To Pass Civil Unions Law, New Jersey Gays Done Supporting Democrats Cart Blanche

Attorneys for the plaintiffs protecting Proposition 8 have filed an emergency appeal with the United States Supreme Court Saturday again seeking to bar cameras from covering the federal case that challenges the constitutionality of the California same sex marriage ban, set to begin Monday, in San Francisco. The trial will determine whether the voter amendment forbidding California from issuing marriage licenses to gay men and women is in violation of the American Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection. Lawyer Charles Cooper wrote that the trial “has the potential to become a media circus. The record is already replete with evidence showing that any publicizing of support for Prop. 8 has inevitably led to harassment, economic reprisal, threats, and even physical violence. In this atmosphere, witnesses are understandably quite distressed at the prospect of their testimony being broadcast worldwide on YouTube.” Chad Griffin, Board President of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, said “Those who want to ban gay marriage spent millions of dollars to reach the public with misleading ads, rallies and news conferences during the campaign to pass Prop. 8. We are curious why they now fear the publicity they once craved.”

While the world will be – barring an injunction – able to view the trail on time delayed basis via YouTube, five American cities will be able to watch the proceedings live at a federal courthouse. The five cities chosen are San Francisco, Pasadena, Seattle, Brooklyn, and Portland, Oregon.

The Hawaii Senate could soon pass a bill that would afford same sex and opposite sex couples the right to enter into civil unions, thereby receiving the same rights, benefits, and responsibilities as those enjoyed by married couple under state law.

Gay activists in New Jersey Friday said they will withhold financial funding for Democrats who did not support the state’s same sex marriage measure. Steven Goldstein, founder and director of the group Garden State Equality, said that the absence of campaign contributions will cost candidates thousands and thousands of dollars, stating that “the gay ATM is done.”