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Message From Dustin Lance Black
 The Proponents of Prop. 8 have launched a new, multi-pronged attack to defend discrimination and bigotry. We saw their true stripes during the horrific campaign that stripped the freedom to marry from gay and lesbian Californians. Now, they have reached a new low.
They have filed two insidious motions. One is a blatantly homophobic attempt to throw out the historic decision that ruled Prop. 8 unconstitutional because the judge who presided over the case was gay. The other demands that the court forever conceal the video recording of the Prop. 8 trial.
We need to fight back and expose them for who they really are.
They are looking for every attempt to discredit a sound judicial proceeding and put the video evidence of their inept arguments under lock and key, hidden from public view.
It is said that sunlight is the greatest disinfectant. I know that if the American people can see the video of the trial first hand, if they can see how absurd their arguments really are and how little evidence they produce, they will realize that there is no rational reason for denying loving gay and lesbian couples the freedom to marry.
Please join me in signing an open letter asking the court to release the Prop. 8 tapes.
When you sign the letter, you’ll be joining a group of people who believe that everyone should have the freedom to marry.
The American Foundation for Equal Rights is the organization behind the federal challenge to Prop. 8. They brought together one of the best legal teams in the country, led by former Bush v. Gore adversaries Theodore B. Olson and David Boies.
Representing the politics of the left and the right, this dynamic duo is proving that marriage is not an issue that divides, but an American value that unites.
As a board member of this great organization, I know AFER is holding the anti-equality, anti-marriage forces accountable – fighting them both in the court of law and in the court of public opinion. But we need your help.
If you believe in transparency and equality, sign AFER’s open letter asking the court to release the Prop. 8 tapes.
Together, we will right the horrible wrong imposed by Prop. 8 – for the loving couples who are currently denied their constitutional right to marry, for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth who are shunned because their own government does not recognize them as equal, and for everyone who believes that our great country was founded on the simple principle of equality for all.
Sincerely,
Dustin Lance Black
Academy Award-winning screenwriter, director and AFER board member
Courage Campaign Needs Your Help
The so-called National Organization for Marriage has declared war on the judicial branch of America's government, in its neverending quest to shred the 14th Amendment's guarantee of equal protection under the law.
First, NOM attacked Judge Vaughn Walker's perceived sexual orientation. Then they organized a judicial jihad in Iowa, abusing the purpose of a retention vote to force three state Supreme Court justices off the bench for their historic unanimous decision to allow same-sex marriage.
Now, in the last 96 hours, NOM mobilized 300,000 members to attack one of the three appeals court judges who will determine the fate of Prop 8. Prior to today's hearing before the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the "Yes on 8" attorneys attempted to disqualify Judge Stephen Reinhardt from the case. The reason? His wife works for an organization that opposes Prop 8.
Their weak legal motion was immediately denied, but that didn't stop NOM from mobilizing their members to crush the Ninth Circuit's phone lines in an egregious attempt to bully the court, to no apparent end. As Adam Bink wrote Friday on Courage's Prop 8 Trial Tracker web site:
"If a judge is about to do something that NOM doesn't like, NOM will viciously attack the judge on any grounds it can find -- judicial independence be damned."
With NOM declaring war on the judicial branch, it's up to you to stop them. That's why we launched the Prop 8 Trial Tracker -- to hold NOM and the Yes on 8 attorneys accountable for their outrageous attempts to undermine the case against Prop 8. But without donations from people like you, the site would not exist. To keep coverage going, we need your help urgently. Please show your support by contributing $25, $50, $100 or more right now:
http://www.couragecampaign.org/ShowYourSupport
Today, the Prop 8 Trial Tracker is the eyes and ears of marriage equality supporters, with more than 3.7 million views and 84,000 comments and counting. If you haven't been reading Prop8TrialTracker.com on a daily basis, you've missed some amazing moments.
The best part might actually be what's happening in the comment threads of each Prop 8 Trial Tracker post. The relationships that have formed in the comments -- and the discussions and debates that have developed -- are sometimes quite moving and emotional. Two people even met on the site and have been dating ever since.
Meanwhile, NOM is spending $10 million a year attacking LGBT families, while cultivating the animus and isolation that leads to tragedies like the recent spate of LGBT teen suicides. Right now, even with the Prop 8 case potentially on its way to the Supreme Court, NOM is moving to roll back marriage equality in New Hampshire and other states.
We can't continue to hold NOM accountable and bring you breaking news on the Prop 8 case if we aren't able to cover the costs of the Prop 8 Trial Tracker. To continue our relentless coverage, we urgently need your financial support. Please show your support right now by making a tax-deductible contribution of $25, $50, $100 or more today:
http://www.couragecampaign.org/ShowYourSupport
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