• California Supreme Court,  Gay Marriage

    California Supreme Court Challenge Filings for Proposition 8 – The Links

    Yes on prop 8 400

    The California Supreme Court legal challenge to Proposition 8

    The links:

    S168047
    KAREN L. STRAUSS, et al., Petitioners v. MARK B. HORTON, et al.


    S168066
    ROBIN TYLER, et al., Petitioners v. STATE OF CALIFORNIA, et al.


    S168078
    CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO et al. Petitioners v. MARK B. HORTON, et al.


    S168281
    ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN LEGAL CENTER, et al., Petitioners v. MARK B. HORTON, et al.


    S168302
    EQUAL RIGHTS ADVOCATES AND CALIFORNIA WOMEN’S LAW CENTER, Petitioners v. MARK B. HORTON, et al.


    S168332
    CALIFORNIA COUNCIL OF CHURCHES, et al., Petitioners v. MARK B. HORTON, et al.

    Flap will update as the cases proceed.


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  • Gay Marriage

    California Proposition 8 Sparks Gay-Black Divide?

    Wanda Sykes Comes Out at The Gay & Lesbian Center of Southern Nevada’s Stand OUT for EQUALITY rally Nov. 15, 2008


    The Gay-Black Divide?

    ABC News exit polls found that blacks voted in support of Prop 8 and to ban gay marriage by heavier margins than other ethnic groups. The exit polls indicated that 70 percent of black voters supported Prop 8, while 49 percent of whites and Asian Americans voted for it and 53 percent of Latinos supported the ban.

    Some charged that socially conservative blacks were responsible for the demise of gay marriage. Others said that largely white gay advocacy groups didn’t do enough to persuade them.

    And many blacks say that gay groups — in six legal challenges — have unjustly labeled their cause a civil rights issue.

    Is being Gay the New Black?

    The debate will rage on……


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  • Gay Marriage

    Gay Marriage Proponents Boycotting Lassen’s Natural Foods & Vitamins Over Proposition 8?

    Lassens logo

    Lassen’s Natural Foods & Vitamins – Over 30 years in business serving California with the finest natural foods and supplements available.

    Are gay marriage proponents boycotting Lassen’s Natural Foods & Vitamins because its Mormon owner contributed to the Yes on California Proposition 8 campaign that restored the definition of traditional marriage to the California Constitution?

    Although Ventura County’s largest gay and lesbian organization has not organized a protest against the store, some activists have independently targeted it. Handmade signs calling for people to boycott Lassen’s were on display at a rally of some 600 people Saturday in downtown Ventura, and a small group protested Sunday outside the Lassen’s store in Thousand Oaks.

    Gay activists say the backlash against Lassen’s and other businesses that financially supported Proposition 8 is likely to intensify, fueled by text messages, e-mails and calls for action on Web sites such as Facebook and MySpace.

    “There is definitely a movement to educate people,” said J.J. Wilner of Ventura, who criticized the owner of the Lassen’s store in Ventura forpromoting a position that he said conflicts with the egalitarian beliefs of many customers.

    “People have always seen Lassen’s as progressive and forward-thinking,” said Wilner, co-founder of Community Organized for Liberty, Opportunity and Respect, or COLOR, a gay-straight alliance. “I know a lot of customers — gay and straight — who felt blindsided.”

    State campaign finance records show the Ventura store contributed separate checks of $25,000 and $2,500 to Proposition 8. The Lassen’s in Camarillo also contributed $3,000 to the proposition, and the store in Simi Valley $1,000. Election law allows business owners to contribute as much as they want to ballot initiatives.

    Next, will likely be the extortion request for business donations to overturn Proposition 8 that was passed on November 4th by over half a million votes. Sound familiar?

    Looking at the demographics of the Lassen’s stores, Flap doubts any reduction in business will occur in the majority of their stores. Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley and Bakersfield are not bastions of support for left-wing thought or protest (Ventura and Kerns Counties overwhelmingly supported Proposition 8). And, Lassen’s has been doing business for many years in left-leaning bastions of Ventura and Santa Barbara.

    Most customers will have this philosophy:

    In the parking lot outside the Ventura store recently, longtime customer Christine Burke said she voted against Proposition 8 and was disappointed to learn of Lassen’s support, but it wouldn’t change her shopping habits. “I believe he has the right to believe in what he believes in,” she said. “It’s a complex issue.”

    Shopper Chris Hoover, a Ventura contractor, agreed. “I don’t support his point of view,” he said, “but I think he has a right to it.”

    And, the next time Flap gets his haircut, instead of moaning about the lack of parking because of all of the Lassen’s shoppers in the lot, he will instead go into the store and buy something.

    Just because………

    Lassens-Store
    Lassen’s Health Food in Goleta, California

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  • Gay Marriage

    The Crocodile in the Bathtub for the California Supreme Court – Proposition 8

    Yes on California Proposition 8 Television Ad featuring California Supreme Court – “Whether You Like it Or Not”

    The Crocodile in the bathtub?

    “It is a time of lots of crocodiles in the bathtub,” said Santa Clara University law professor Gerald Uelmen, who has followed the court for decades. “Their oath requires them to ignore these kinds of political threats. But the threat of having to face a contested election is a significant one.”

    Uelmen used a metaphor coined by California Supreme Court Justice Otto Kaus, a Democrat who served on the court after voters recalled Chief Justice Rose Bird and two other justices who had voted against death sentences.

    Kaus later said that, as hard as he tried to decide cases impartially, he was never sure whether the threat of a recall election — “the crocodile in the bathtub” — was influencing his votes.

    “It was like finding a crocodile in your bathtub when you go to shave in the morning,” Kaus said. “You know it’s there, and you try not to think about it, but it’s hard to think about much else while you’re shaving.”

    You bet.

    Yes on 8 proponents will NOT say it because they do not feel it is in their best interests to attempt to intimidate the California Supreme court but Flap will. Those Justices that vote to overturn Proposition 8 WILL be recalled and stand for election in June 2010 (a primary election where the turnout is lower and decidely more conservative).

    Difficult to do, you ask?

    No, the million of signatories of the original Proposition 8 petition will be rounded up and the donors will pony up again for the campaign. Flap does not doubt there will be additional California Constitutional amendments restricting the jurisdiction of the California Supreme Court as well.

    Stay tuned……


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  • Gay Marriage

    California Proposition 8 Proponents Urge California Supreme Court to Reject a Stay of Gay Marriage Ban

    Yes on prop 8 400

    Flap receives e-mail from the Yes on California Proposition 8 Committee:

    Dear Friends,

    The five official Proponents of Proposition 8, along with the ProtectMarriage.com – Yes on 8 campaign, today filed legal papers with the California Supreme Court asking the Court to accept original jurisdiction of three lawsuits challenging the measure’s validity, seeking to intervene in the lawsuits as Real Parties In Interest, and urging the Supreme Court to reject a stay of the initiative.

    We are confident that we will prevail on the merits and that Proposition 8 will be upheld.  

    In calling for the Supreme Court to take original jurisdiction of three challenges to Proposition 8, we said in our legal papers, “The people of California are entitled to a prompt resolution of whether Proposition 8 properly amended their Constitution.  Proposition 8 was the subject of a vigorous and expensive campaign that generated an intense debate and very strong feelings on both sides.  The people have a right to know as quickly as possible the status and definition of marriage under the California Constitution.”

    Three lawsuits have been filed with the California Supreme Court claiming that Proposition 8 is a “constitutional revision” and thus allegedly could not have been enacted by voters. While urging the Supreme Court to accept original jurisdiction of the challenges, the authors of the measure and our campaign committee, which spent approximately $38 million campaigning in favor of the proposition, expressed confidence that the Court would uphold Proposition 8. “When using the initiative process to amend the Constitution, the people exercise their sovereign power of self-government.  The three branches of government must accord profound respect and great deference to that authority, which is the very basis of the government’s democratic legitimacy,” we wrote in papers filed with the court.  

    Our legal filing pointed out to the California Supreme Court that the courts in neighboring states have uniformly rejected nearly identical challenges to measures banning same-sex marriage. “Other courts addressing similar revision/amendment arguments under closely analogous constitutional provisions have rejected them,” we said. “Proposition 8 is simple, narrow, and targeted to a single issue.  It restores the definition of marriage to what it was and always had been prior to May 15, 2008—nothing more…Whatever one’s view of the wisdom of Proposition 8, the people of California have spoken and their will should be respected.”

    We also urged the Supreme Court to deny the request of those challenging Proposition 8 to stay implementation of the initiative. We told the Court that a stay would create a class of “interim same-sex marriages whose validity would be highly questionable” when Proposition 8 is upheld.  Additionally, we told the Court that a stay of Proposition 8 would undermine the preeminence of the Constitution as the ultimate expression of the people’s will. “Enjoining or staying the enforcement of Proposition 8 – as if it were a mere statute or municipal ordinance to be set aside by the judiciary pending further proceedings, rather than a presumptively valid expression of the people’s sovereign will – would be widely perceived as the judiciary ignoring or countermanding the supremacy of the Constitution and silencing the voice of the people on a vitally important matter of public policy.  That would be deeply harmful to the democratic process.”

    Seeking to intervene as Real Parties in Interest in the three lawsuits on behalf of the official proponents of the measure, we argued in court papers that their fundamental rights as initiative proponents are at stake. As official proponents, the five authors of Proposition 8 have a unique legal position that requires legal representation separate from that provided voters by Attorney General Jerry Brown. Our Motion to Intervene noted that Brown has vigorously opposed Proposition 8 and cannot be counted on to vigorously defend the measure. Additionally, we noted in our filing that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger similarly cannot be counted on to defend the People’s vote since he has already publicly urged the Supreme Court to invalidate Proposition 8.  

    The whole point of the initiative process is for the people to be able to pass laws despite opposition from government leaders.  It just makes no sense that we should have to rely solely on hostile government leaders to defend the will of the people when they opposed the measure in the first place.

    Our legal team will continue to mount a vigorous defense of Proposition 8 and will update you on developments.

    Thank you for your continuing support of Proposition 8.

    P.S. — The cases seeking to invalidate Proposition 8 are Strauss v. Horton, S168047; City and County of San Francisco v. Horton, S168078; and Tyler v. State of California, S168066.

    Indeed, California voters have spoken but will the California Supreme Court roll the dice with their probable recall over gay marriage?

    Remember Rose Bird and the death penalty?

    Stay tuned……

    Update:

    In the meantime, California Attorney General Jerry Brown, an anti-Proposition 8 supporter, today asked the California Supreme Court to also reject a stay in the implementation of Proposition 8.

    Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown today urged the California Supreme Court to review lawsuits that seek to overturn Proposition 8, but to permit the measure to take effect during that review.

    Brown, whose office is supposed to defend the initiative, said the lawsuits raised issues of statewide importance that should be addressed by the state’s highest court.

    “But, due to the potential uncertainty that may be caused in important legal relationships by a temporary stay, the public interest would be better served by allowing Proposition 8 to remain in effect while expediting briefing,” Brown’s office said.

    There would be mass confusion if the California Supreme Court issued a stay and there would be a flood of same sex marriages that would likely be invalidated once the court issued its ruling on Proposition 8 revision vs amendment issue.

    The California supreme Court should NOT issue a stay in the matter, should hear timely arguments and dismiss the challenges to the vote of the California people.

    Update #2:

    Liberty Counsel
    filed its preliminary opposition summarizing its position regarding why the California Supreme Court should not consider petitions seeking to overturn the California Marriage Protection Act (Proposition 8). The Court has asked each party to provide these today. Liberty Counsel previously filed a motion to intervene on behalf of Campaign for California Families, and Liberty Counsel is submitting its preliminary opposition proposed byinterveners.

    Read Liberty Counsel’s filing here. (PDF File)


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  • Gay Marriage

    California Proposition 8 Watch: San Francisco Homosexuals Chase Christians Out of the Castro

    Justice House of Prayer San Francisco members chased out of the Castro (Homosexual District of San Francisco)

    More class and tolerance from the gay community.

    In San Francisco’s Castro District, people on both sides of the same-sex marriage controversy confronted each other on Friday night, as police tried to keep the peace. Proposition 8 passed in a close vote and eliminated the right of same-sex couples to marry.

    Members of the gay community said that almost every Friday night, a Christian group meets at the corner of Castro and 18th Streets. They try to convert gays and lesbians into a straight lifestyle.

    This Friday night, the message didn’t go over well. Some gays and lesbians reacted by trying to chase the group out of the Castro.

    “Their rights were respected,” said Joe Schmitz, an opponent of Prop 8. “They got a chance to go ahead and pray on the sidewalk and I had the opportunity to express my freedom of speech which is telling them to get out of my neighborhood.”

    San Francisco Police officers in riot gear formed a line and escorted the religious group into a van to safely get them out of the area.

    Members of the gay community insisted that their reaction to the Christian group was spontaneous. “It was not an organized thing. We’re tired of it. It’s not religious. It’s not a racial thing. It’s about hate. We’re trying to send a message across the world that we’re standing up and we don’t want this to go on anymore,” said Adam Quintero.

    The graphic description as to what happened is here.

    I went to the Castro (the homosexual district of San Francisco) with JHOPSF (I have been with the Justice House of Prayer San Francisco since April 2008.) like we usually do on Friday nights.
    Normally, we sit on 18th and Castro, and someone plays the guitar, and we all worship God.
    Sometimes a person will yell at us, or maybe a few. Sometimes people will ignore us. Sometimes people will let us pray with them.
    This time was not a normal night. It was the first time we’d been back in the Castro to do our normal outreach since California Proposition 8, which defined marriage as “one man with one woman” was passed. We played the guitar and sang together and worshiped the Lord. After just singing and worshiping God for a while, Roger decided that we should all hold hands in a circle and continue singing. So we did.
    Someone (Actually a person who came up and hugged and kissed some of us who he knew from the past) convinced some people that we were there to protest against the no on 8 campaign.
    Then some guy who was dressed up like one of the sisters (The sisters of perpetual indulgence is a group of men who dress up like nuns and call themselves the spiritual authority of the Castro.) took a curtain-type thing (Which I think they use to curse people) and wrapped it around us.
    Then a crowd started gathering. We began to sing “Amazing Grace”, and basically sang that song the whole night. (At some points we also sang “Nothing but the Blood of Jesus” and “Oh the Blood of Jesus”.) At first, they just shouted at us, using crude, rude, and foul language and calling us names like “haters” and “bigots”. Since it was a long night, I can’t even begin to remember all of the things that were shouted and/or chanted at us. Then, they started throwing hot coffee, soda and alcohol on us and spitting (and maybe even peeing) on us. Then, a group of guys surrounded us with whistles, and blasted them inches away from our ears continually. Then, they started getting violent and started shoving us. At one point a man tried to steal one of our Bibles. Chrisdene noticed, so she walked up to him and said “Hey, that’s not yours, can you please give it back?”. He responded by hitting her on the head with the Bible, shoving her to the ground, and kicking her. I called the cops, and when they got there, they pulled her out of the circle and asked her if she wanted to press charges. She said “No, tell him I forgive him.” Afterwards, she didn’t rejoin us in the circle, but she made friends with one of the people in the crowd, and really connected heart to heart. Roger got death threats. As the leader of our group, people looked him in the eyes and said “I am going to kill you.”, and they were serious. A cop heard one of them, and confronted him. (This part is kinda graphic, so you should skip the paragraph if you don’t want to be offended.) It wasn’t long before the violence turned to perversion. They were touching and grabbing me, and trying to shove things in my butt, and even trying to take off my pants – basically trying to molest me. I used one hand to hold my pants up, while I used the other arm to hold one of the girls. The guys huddled around all the girls, and protected them. Soon after, the cops came and stood between us and the mob. When it was getting more heated, the cops were like “You guys should leave.” and Roger said “We want to stay.” Someone tried to steal my backpack, but I tapped a cop on the shoulder, and said “Hey, that’s my bag.” and he got it from him and gave it to me. Others weren’t so lucky. Probably half our team got their jackets stolen. Eventually, as the crowd was getting more and more uncontrollable, the cops were afraid for our lives, so they escorted us to our van. (The cops were very nice to us from start to finish.) Our van was parked pretty far because it was hard to find parking that day. As the cops escorted us, the mob followed us, until the cops formed a line, and held off the people so we could drive away. We took the long way home, just in case anyone tried to follow us. When we got home, we prayed and sang more, and then prayed over each-other. Please know my heart. All of what we do is for the Love of Jesus Christ, and the love for those in the Castro. The Bible says to love God, and then love people. We can only love because He loved us first. We can’t hate the people because they are just broken and blinded by the spirit of this age. Our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against Principalities and Powers. It’s not a political thing, we just love the people.

    Proposition 8 passed and there have been numerous lawsuits filed to stop it but the harassment, intimidation has to stop.

    Where are San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom or California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in denouncing the harassment and violence?

    Crickets……

    Is it because they favor gay marriage at any cost?

    “Whether You Like it or Not?”


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  • Arnold Schwarzenegger,  Gay Marriage

    California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger Supports Overturn of California Proposition 8 But Opposes Gay Marriage

    California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger Against Gay Marriage and Proposition 8

    Say what?

    STEPHANOPOULOS: Proposition 8 here in California, it passed, defining marriage as exclusively for men and women. I know you’ve said you hope the court overturns it. Will you join Democrats who are filing a challenge in the court?

    SCHWARZENEGGER: No. I mean, I have been asked to join this fight, and I had my own fight with Proposition 11, and that’s what I’ve focused on.

    But I made it very clear. I personally am — for me, marriage is between a man and a woman. But I don’t want to ever force my will on anyone.

    I think that the Supreme Court was right by saying that it’s unconstitutional. And that everyone should have the right, just like we had the battle in 1948 and the Supreme Court decision came down, that, you know, it was unconstitutional for blacks and whites not to be able to get married with each other, and they overturned that. And since then, that has been taken care of.

    And now the Supreme Court says that it’s also unconstitutional to not let gay people get married, the same-sex marriage. So to me, that is the important decision here, and everything else is not that important. So people can pass initiatives, like Proposition 187 passed under Wilson that said we should not give, you know, Latinos and those that are illegally here any educational services or any kind of medical services. The Supreme Court said, well, the people maybe had some intentions there, but it’s unconstitutional.

    STEPHANOPOULOS: So you think the courts should overturn Proposition 8?

    SCHWARZENEGGER: The court has overturned it. And now they went back. And the people have voted for it again, against the gay marriage. So the Supreme Court, you know, I think ought to go and look at that again. And we’ll go back to the same decision, basically.

    STEPHANOPOULOS: And you believe they will.

    SCHWARZENEGGER: I think that they will. And I think that the important thing now is to resolve this issue in that way.

    SCHWARZENEGGER: In a peaceful way, rather than, you know, going out and protesting, and going out and boycotting and all those things. I think that’s not the best way to go about it.

    STEPHANOPOULOS: In the meantime, some legal experts have suggested that you should, if you believe that, issue an edict, a ruling, that says that the marriages that have already taken place in California are absolutely legal. Will you do that?

    SCHWARZENEGGER: Well, I have to get together with Jerry Brown, our attorney general, and see what the legal opinion is, because he’s my lawyer, basically. And so, we always do those things together.

    STEPHANOPOULOS: But you’re inclined to do it?

    SCHWARZENEGGER: It’s a conversation that I can have with him about the — if that’s the legal way to go.

    Arnold Schwarzenegger is talking out of both sides of his mouth AGAIN. He supported the No on Proposition 8 effort early on but yet did NOTHING for the campaign.

    Now, Arnold wants the California Supreme Court to impose gay marriage again while he says virtually nothing about the harassment and intimidation by gay marriage proponents of Proposition 8 supporters.

    Flap thought Arnold took an oath to support and defend the California Constitution which the voters amended November 4th?

    California’s economy is in a shambles, unemployment is rising, wildfires rage and Arnold has been the worst Governor in modern California history. Too bad there is not enough time remaining in his term to recall him before he does more damage.


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  • Gay Marriage

    Los Angeles Proposition 8 Gay Marriage Protest a Flop

    Gay-rights supporters march in Los Angeles to protest the passage of California Proposition 8

    Not a very good turn out for the gay marriage folks on a warm summer-like day in Los Angeles to protest the passage of California’s Proposition 8 which restored the traditional definition of marriage.

    In Los Angeles, protesters clustered shoulder to shoulder near City Hall before setting off on a downtown march, chanting and carrying rainbow flags and signs bearing messages such as “No More Mr. Nice Gay” and “No on Hate.”

    The Los Angeles Police Department estimated that 10,000 to 12,000 people attended the event, well below the 40,000 the department had expected.

    There were wild-fires in Los Angeles and Orange Counties which did tie up some of the freeways (but not towards downtown) but the heat was not oppressive (despite what the Los Angeles Times or laist said). The No on 8 did NOT turn out a crowd. And, this is why despite a biased ballot proposition language by left wing radical, California Attorney General Jerry Brown and endorsement by every major newspaper in California Yes on 8 passed – banning gay marriage.

    Of course, there was the obligatory Christian and Mormon bigotry at the Los Angeles demonstration:

    Among other colorful or provocative anti-Proposition 8 signs on display around the state, some making reference to support for the initiative by Mormons:

    “If heaven discriminates, I don’t want to go.”

    “The same Bible was used to justify slavery.”

    “Hmm. . . . What’s so traditional about polygamy?”

    “Are you better off now that I can’t marry?”

    “Where’s My Gay Tax Break?”

    “Joseph Smith had 33 wives. Gays only want one.”

    “I was born gay. You were taught religion.”

    “My brother is getting married . . . again. Why can’t I get married once?”

    “WWJD with $76 m? Not Prop. 8.”

    Flap can only imagine the film footage being accumulated for the next ballot proposition regarding gay marriage in California.

    But, if the homosexual community wishes to win the next election they will have to turn out more folks and win some hearts and minds of California voters.

    Today’s demonstration failed miserably in both categories.


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  • Gay Marriage

    El Coyote Mexican Cafe Bullied Into $500 Donation to Homosexual Advocacy Group

    El Coyote Restaurant Target in Anti-Prop 8 Demonstrations

    Another example of the intolerant pro gay marriage crowd.

    The Los Angeles restaurant that came under fire this week after a manager gave $100 to the campaign to ban same-sex marriage in California said that it had donated $500 to the advocacy group that is raising money to challenge Proposition 8.

    The Thursday online donation to Equality California, an advocacy group for the gay and lesbian community, came at precisely 7:22:03 p.m., about 22 minutes into a planned demonstration outside the restaurant’s doors for the second night in a row.

    What a load of BS. And, what is ironic is that most of the El Coyote restaurant employees are gay. Thus, any drop off of business will mean their fellow homosexuals will be laid off.

    Remember before Proposition 8 passed, how the gay crowd whined about the Yes Committee asking for equal donations and how they called it blackmail or extortion?

    Protest you say?

    Nope this whole gay marriage protest rage has degenerated into bitter, meaningless and vindictive harassment.

    Want to bet the Mormon owners of the El Coyote pay their tribute to the gay thugs demanding reparations and then sell the business? Then, they will donate even more to support traditional marriage.


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  • Gay Marriage

    Video: Pro Gay Marriage Protesters Assault Cross Bearing Old Lady

    California Proposition 8 – Protect Traditional Marriage Supporter to Press Charges After Assault

    Real class from the pro gay marriage crowd in attacking a 69 year old woman with a cross.

    A woman says she wants to press charges against protesters at a gay marriage rally last week in Palm Springs, California. 69-year-old Phyliss Burgess is a supporter of Proposition 8. She showed up at a same sex marriage rally, with a cross. That didn’t go over well and the scuffle happened during a live report.

    “It really peeled back a very thin vainer of a crowd that was calling me a Nazi.”

    Burgess remembers the names protesters called her Friday night as she marched with cross in hand in support of Proposition 8. One protester knocked the cross out of her hand. Others shouted at her while she left the scene. But, through it all, she never wanted to retaliate.

    Palm Springs Police, absent at the time of the alleged attack, convinced her to press charges. She has also received several calls from residents who saw the attack and support her position.

    Exit Question: Can these pro gay/homosexual marriage THUGS be charged with a “hate crime” or elder abuse?

    The intolerance staggers the mind……

    Update:

    Here is more video:


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