Republicans
Against 8 Pairs With Milk Scribe Dustin Lance Black
for PSAs

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)