Proposition 8 protesters target businesses

[cboy4]

Activists who oppose the ban on gay marriage are boycotting businesses whose employees or owners contributed money to the Yes on 8 campaign.

By Tami Abdollah and Cara Mia DiMassa
November 14, 2008

More than a week after the passage of Proposition 8, activists opposed to the ban on gay marriage have shifted their protests to new arenas -- using boycotts to target businesses and individuals who contributed to the winning side.

The effect of the boycotts remains unclear. Merchants said that the overall poor economy made it difficult to tell whether their businesses were declining specifically because of the threats. But the protests have been highly visible and have drawn strong objections from backers of the initiative.

"No matter your opinion of Proposition 8, we should all agree that it is wrong to intimidate and harass churches, businesses and individuals for participating in the democratic process," Ron Prentice, of ProtectMarriage.com, said in a statement. Boycotters were "unabashedly trampling on the rights of others," he said.

Activists behind the boycott effort argue they are simply exercising their political rights.

"People are determining who their friends are, and who are not their friends," said Fred Karger, a Los Angeles resident and retired political consultant. "I think people need to be held accountable for their financial support."

The activists have pored though campaign contribution databases and then "outed" Proposition 8 donors on sites like Facebook.com and craigslist.com. "People are going to do what they want, and it's in this society where you have campaign reporting that is all public information," said Karger.

Some gay rights activists also have gone onto the restaurant website yelp.com, giving bad reviews to eateries linked to the Yes on 8 movement.

"This one star is for their stance on Prop. 8," one poster wrote of El Coyote Mexican Cafe. "Enjoy it. . . . You deserve it."

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-boycott14-2008nov14,0,7176761.story



* Angrier response to Prop. 8 steps up

[dropkickpa]

1. Yakknow...

If yes donors give money to destroy civil rights, I think those whose rights were stripped from them have the right to hurt the donors in the way they hurt others, with their money, by boycotting and protesting their businesses (the earning of which suipplied their donations)..

[bbernardini]

2. Boycotters were "unabashedly trampling on the rights of others," he said. Pot, meet kettle. nt

[mondo joe]

5. As if they have a right to our dollars. NT

[Zuiderelle]

3. Great, we need to keep it up!

I love the idea of rating restaurants based on their stance on Prop 8. I know that I don't want to eat at a restaurant owned by a bigot, so it's a perfectly legitimate way to affect them.

[demodonkey]

4. This is great! I always prefer businesses that agree with my beliefs, & avoid those that don't

Don't think for a minute that the fundies and the thugs don't do this against "liberal" businesses. We need more information nationally; sites like Buy Blue have been wonderful.

I would avoid Prop 8 supporters like the plague.

[tavalon]

6. Call the waaahmbulance!

Fuck 'em. If they spent money on being bigots then they can lose money on being bigots.

[Rainbowreflect]

9. Why the hell would I want to give my hard earned money to

someone I know will turn around and give it to a cause that is against everything I stand for?????

[tavalon]

11. Exactly!

This is how a free market economy is. We are free to spend our dollars any which way we see fit.

[mondo joe]

7. Check out the video from the get together at El Coyote - the second video, with Q&A

is really worth seeing.

http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2008/11/13/6227

[Maven]

8. This article is so unbelievably slanted

making boycotters look like vicious bullies instead of people who are pissed off about their money being used against them.

[RetiredTrotskyite]

10. Intimidate? Harass?

Bigots have harassed and intimidated us for centuries. It's time they got a taste of their medicine. Don't like it? Then "do unto others as you would have them do unto you" Yanno--the Golden Rule.

[KitchenWitch]

12. Well WAAAAH FUCKING WAAAAH - they want to take away rights?

We will take away money.

Seems perfectly fair and reasonable to me.

[NMMNG]

13. WTF?

Ron Prentice:

Boycotters were "unabashedly trampling on the rights of others," he said.

1. I do not recognize anybody's "right" to harm me in any way, including eradicating my rights.
2. While business owners have the right to spend their money any way they wish, so do we. We are under no obligation to give our hard-earned money to bigots who are going to turn around and use it against us. We are under no obligation to give our money to anyone, save the IRS.


As to the bigots who are turning around and crying persecution. You all claim you were "just standing up for what we believe in". Well so are we. Deal with it.