The latest round
of grassroots No on 8 public service announcements
started with a simple conversation. Republicans
Against 8 campaign director Scott Schmidt ran into
Milk scribe Dustin Lance Black, who Schmidt says
wanted to know if there was anything more than fund-raising
he could do to fight Proposition 8, California's
proposed ban on same-sex marriage.
With Black
stepping in as director, the two started making some calls,
got a bunch of people together, and combined efforts to
create two new PSAs, which began making their way
around the Web Monday.
"This
community has many, many talents that run beyond phone
banking and fund-raising," Schmidt told Advocate.com.
Schmidt said the
effort is an example of the "unprecedented
cooperation in the gay community to beat Prop. 8. I am
a Republican, Lance Black isn't one.
... It doesn't matter who you are -- Democrat,
Republican, Trojan, Bruin -- we want to work together to
accomplish the same goal."
The two ads
feature an impressive roster of everyday gay citizens,
including a Vietnam veteran and a Boeing rocket scientist,
two people who say they have devoted their careers to
protecting the rights and lives of Americans. The ads
urge Californians to now step up and return the favor
on November 4.
Schmidt says
several high-profile Republicans have been instrumental in
fighting Prop. 8.
"Having
Governor Schwarzenegger on board since the beginning made it
easier to get other people," he said. "San
Diego mayor Jerry Sanders, L.A. sheriff Lee Baca.
... Big government shouldn't be telling
people who they can marry."
Schmidt said
having Black on board gave the effort an added bit of
authenticity. The No on 8 logo that appears throughout the
ads is a re-creation of a logo from San Francisco's
1978 No on 6 effort. Proposition 6, also known as the
Briggs Initiative, would have prohibited gay people
from teaching in California.
Schmidt said
buttons featuring the No on 8 logo would be handed out at
Monday's San Francisco premiere of Milk, the
biopic about pioneering gay politician Harvey Milk.
(Ross von Metzke, The Advocate)
