The Prop 8 Mafia Claims Another Victim

Then Prop 8 argument, was settled by the voters almost three weeks ago and in that time the argument has shifted from "should there be gay marriage" to "should people/institutions be punished for their political views? Two weeks ago a theater director was forced to resign because he gave money to the pro-Prop 8 forces, now the head of the LA Film Festival has been forced to resign for the same reason.

This no longer has to do with the definition of marriage and everything to do with the definition of Freedom in America. On one hand the constitution only protects freedom of speech from government interference, not from private interference. But on the other hand, if Obama voters started forcing McCain voters to resign, there would be a national outrage:

'Hollywood witch-hunt' claims film boss
Mormon head of LA Film Festival donated to campaign against same-sex unions

By Guy Adams in Los Angeles

In the latest episode of Hollywood's biggest witch-hunt since the era of McCarthyism, the director of the Los Angeles Film Festival has resigned over revelations that he helped to fund the campaign to outlaw gay marriage in California.

Richard Raddon was hounded from office after it emerged he had donated $1,500 (£980) to support Proposition 8, the electoral ballot measure which banned same-sex unions, when it was backed by 52.5 per cent of the state's voters on 4 November.

Mr Raddon is a devout member of the Mormon Church, which asked members to donate time and money to "Yes on 8", securing tens of millions of dollars that helped finance a series of hard-hitting, and in many cases misleading, TV attack ads.

After his financial support for Proposition 8 was made public, Film Independent, the organisation that oversees the festival, was swamped with phone calls and emails from activists threatening to boycott next May's week-long event. Although Film Independent's board of directors offered a unanimous vote of confidence, Mr Raddon announced late on Tuesday that he would quit after eight years in office. "I have always held the belief that all people, no matter race, religion or sexual orientation, are entitled to equal rights," read his somewhat mealy-mouthed resignation letter. "I consider myself a devout and faithful Mormon. I prefer to keep the details around my contribution through my church a private matter. But I am profoundly sorry for the negative attention that my actions have drawn to Film Independent and for the hurt and pain that is being experienced in the GLBT [gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender] community."

Mr Raddon's name was first discovered on lists of "Yes on 8" donors two weeks ago, by a blogger called David Poland. A similar protest recently led to the departure of Scott Eckern, the artistic director of California Musical Theatre in Sacramento, who was exposed for donating $1,000 to the campaign.

Many gay rights activists are now manning picket lines outside the offices and outlets of other businesses whose executives supported the measure.

The Sundance Film Festival, which takes place in January, is firmly in their firing line, since its venue is in Park City, Utah, the state which represents the spiritual home of the Mormon faith. Sundance also has a screening room run by the Cinemark chain, whose chief executive Alan Stock donated $9,999 to "yes on 8". Activists are planning to demonstrate outside Cinemark venues this weekend, to prevent it cashing-in on the film Milk, about the gay rights pioneer Harvey Milk.

Separately, the California Supreme Court has announced that it would hear a legal challenge to Proposition 8 brought by a selection of the 18,000 same-sex couples who had tied the knot in the five months since gay weddings were legalised.

The media who cover the Prop 8 battle keep calling it a "civil rights" battle, nothing can be further than the truth. Gay Couples in California have the same civil rights as a traditional married couple "spousal benefits" etc. For the Anti-Prop 8 forces, it is a matter of entitlement, for the pro-Prop 8 forces it is a matter of FAITH. People of faith should have the same right to support political causes as anyone else; I would suggest that the folks who support gay marriage look for a political solution to win their cause, than to resort to the McCarthy-like tactics that they have been following since they LOST in the last election.