from my friend Stan H.
Here is the list of people and organizations that donated more than $5,000 to the Yes on 8 campaign. Pass it on.We present the Californians Against Hate Dishonor Roll. We want the country to know who gave the $36 million to the Yes on Proposition 8 campaign that ended same-sex marriage in California. We have posted all major donors on our web site who gave $5000.00 and more, many much more! We've taken public information from the California Secretary of State’s Office and added telephone numbers and web sites when available. We also included commentary on some of the more interesting and controversial donors. Individuals and businesses gave a vast amount of money to take away our equality, and we want you to know who they are.
Knights of Columbus, New Haven, CT
Headquarters: 1 Columbus Plaza, New Haven, CT 06510 • Tel: 203.752.4000 • Web: www.kofc.org/un/index.cfm
California: 15808 Arrow Blvd, Suite A, Fontana, CA 92335 • Tel: 909.434.0460 • Web: www.kofc-california.org
$1,425,000
Knights of Columbus (Headquarters) gave: $250,000 on 2/4/08, $1,000,000 on 8/15/08 and $150,000 on 10/21/08
Knights of Columbus (California) gave: $25,000 on 4/18/08
Headquartered in New Haven, CT, the Knights of Columbus has 1.7 million members and is required to provide life insurance to its members. Founded in 1882, it acts as the political arm of the Catholic Church. It has given millions of dollars to fight stem cell research initiatives and to fund constitutional amendments to ban same-sex marriage across the United States. The Knights of Columbus is chartered as a fraternal benefit society, and is set up as a 501(c)8 corporation.
Howard Ahmanson, Jr., Irvine, CA
P.O. Box 19061, Irvine, CA 92623-9061
$1,395,000
Howard "Howie" Ahmanson, Jr.'s company Fieldstead & Co. gave: $100,000 on 2/22/08, $200,000 on 2/29/08, $100,000 on 3/24/08, $100,000 on 8/26/08, $100,000 on 8/28/08, $300,000 on 9/25/08, $95,000 on 10/18/08, $250,000 on 10/27/08 and $150,000 on 10/22/08.
Fieldstead & Co. is a company owned by the heir of the Home Savings & Loan fortune, Howard "Howie" Ahmanson, Jr. Ahmanson is a major contributor to numerous far right religious political causes. His past association with R.J. Rushdoony’s controversial Christian Reconstructionist movement was an early influence on Ahmanson’s political viewpoint. Ahmanson has stated that his “goal is the total integration of biblical law into our lives.”
Referring to his close friend Rashdoony, Ahmanson is reported to have “never supported his mentor’s calls for the death penalty for homosexuals,” rather, as the Orange County Register reported many years later in 2004, “he stops just short of condemning the idea”, saying that he “no longer consider[s] [it] essential” to stone people who are deemed to have committed certain immoral acts. Ahmanson and his wife Roberta completed a four part interview with the Orange County Register in 2004 in an attempt to clarify the rumors that swirled around them. Ahmanson has connections with three other major donors on this list: Roland Hinz, Robert Hurtt and Edward Atsinger III, who have pooled their money to support like-minded candidates and causes through the Capitol Commonwealth Group (CCG) and Allied Business PAC. They spent more than $3,600,000 back in the 1992 election cycle alone. [1]
John Templeton/Josephine Templeton, Bryn Mawr, PA
300 Conshohocken State Road, Suite 500, West Conshohocken, PA 19428 • Tel: 610.941.2828 • Web: www.templeton.org and www.letfreedomringusa.com
$1,100,000
John Templeton, Chairman and President of the John Templeton Foundation, gave: $450,000 on 8/19 (to NOM), $450,000 on 8/19 (to Protect Marriage), $100,000 on 10/8/08 and $100,000 on 10/29/08.
John Templeton, Jr. is the son of the late John Marks Templeton. John, Sr. was born in Winchester, Tennessee in 1912, and made his fortune through the Templeton Funds that he started and later sold in 1992 to Franklin Group for $440 million. John, Jr. is now the President of the John Templeton Foundation which has nearly $1.5 billion in assets, and gave away $70 million in grants in 2007. The Foundation funds research into “life’s biggest questions,” including science, religion, ultimate reality and wisdom.
John Templeton, Jr. founded and is Chairman of 'Let Freedom Ring, Inc.' (www.letfreedomringusa.com), a far right think-tank that he set up in 2004 with a $1 million donation. [14] He is a member of the Cradle of Liberty Council of the Boy Scouts of America, which made news when they were forced to leave their Philadelphia headquarters due to a conflict between Philadelphia’s non-discrimination policy, and that of the Boy Scouts, which allows discrimination of gays. Legal proceedings continue on the case. [12] [13]
National Organization for Marriage, Princeton, NJ
20 Nassau Street, Suite 242, Princeton, NJ 08542 • Tel: 609.688.0450 • Web: www.nomcalifornia.org and www.nationformarriage.org
$1,041,134.80*
The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) gave: $225,000 on 1/22/08, $38,132.50 on 2/1/08, $47,402.25 on 2/18/08, $172,500 on 2/21/08, $108,000 on 2/22/08, $105,000 on 3/7/08, $50,000 on 4/14/08, $25,000 on 4/18/08, $25,000 on 4/18/08, $100,100 on 4/24/08, $25,000 on 4/25/08, $20,000 on 7/30/08 and $100,000 on 10/21/08.
The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) is headed by syndicated columnist Maggie Gallagher, President and Brian Brown, Executive Director. Gallagher has worked for several other organizations before founding NOM. She is best known for being in the center of a (George W.) Bush Administration scandal. She had a $21,500 contract with the Health and Human Services Department in 2002 to help promote the administration’s $300 million “healthy marriage” initiative, but did not disclose her contract and was using her column to promote the program. Gallagher attempted to withhold this information until she finally admitted the conflict four years later. [2]
Due to its sizeable early financial support of ProtectMarriage.com, NOM is chiefly responsible for the qualification of Proposition 8. Their funds made it possible to hire the signature gathering firm of Bader and Associates. Bader then was able to hire hundreds of professional petition circulators to collect the necessary signatures to qualify Proposition 8 for the November ballot. The Protect Marriage Campaign spent $1,227,263 with the Bader organization alone between January and June of 2008.
Terry Caster & Family, San Diego, CA
A-1 Self Storage–4607 Mission Gorge Place, San Diego, CA 92120 • Tel: 800.219.4854 • Web: www.a1storage.com and www.castergrp.com and www.servinghands.com
$693,000
The Caster Family has given: Terry Caster–$100,000 on 1/5/08, $62,500 on 2/5/08 and $10,000 on 3/27/08; Barbara Caster–$9,100 on 4/10/08; Brian Caster–$10,000 on 1/28/08, $9,100 on 4/10/08 and $10,000 on 7/8/08; Candice Caster–$9,100 on 4/10/08; Cha Cha Caster–$9,100 on 4/10/08; Christina Caster–$9,100 on 4/10/08; Craig Caster–$9,100 on 4/10/08; Gary Davidson–$9,100 on 4/10/08; Justin Caster–$9,100 on 4/10/08; Kenneth Kremensky–$9,100 on 4/10/08; Mechele Kremensky–$9,100 on 4/10/08; Nick Caster–$9,100 on 4/10/08; Caster Family Trust–$400,000 on 10/30/08
The Caster Family owns A-1 Self Storage, with 40 locations throughout California. Terry Caster is quoted in the San Diego Union Tribune as saying “without solid marriage you are going to have a sick society.” Son Craig Caster is the Founder/Pastor of Family Discipleship Ministries in San Diego (www.familydiscipleshipmin.com). The Caster family has donated more to Proposition 8 than any other family in San Diego.
Robert Hurtt, Orange, CA
Container Supply Company–PO Box 5367, Garden Grove, CA 92846-0367 • Tel: 714.892.8321 • Web: www.containersupplycompany.com
$550,000
Robert Hurtt, President of Container Supply, gave: $25,000 on 4/18/08, $25,000 on 7/22/08 (from Container Supply), $250,000 on 9/5/08 and $250,000 on 10/17/08.
Former California State Senator Rob Hurtt owns Container Supply Company in Garden Grove. Hurtt had a quick rise to power when he spent $300,000 of his own money to win an Orange County State Senate seat in 1994. Hurt went on to overthrow the Republican leader Ken Maddy in 1995, and become the Minority leader. He was defeated 3 years later in 1998 by Democrat Joe Dunn.
Focus On the Family, Colorado Springs, CO
8605 Explorer Drive, Colorado Springs, CO 80920 • Tel: 800.232.6459 • Web: www.focusonthefamily.com
$539,643.66*
Focus on the Family gave: $50,000 on 12/4/07, $22,259.46 on 1/22/08, $10,834 on 1/28/08, $50,000 on 4/7/08, $250,000 on 6/13/08, $20,000 on 7/24/08, $9,152.63 on 7/29/08, $1,669.37 on 8/6/08, $21,402 on 9/4/08, $4,306.83 on 9/4/08, $1,739.37 on 9/15/08 and $100,000 on 10/28/08.
Founded in 1977 by Dr. James Dobson, Focus on the Family is the most powerful evangelical ministry in the country. Focus on the Family is located in Colorado Springs, CO and is now run day-to-day by President & CEO, Jim Daly, but James Dobson is still the face and voice of Focus on the Family. Their 2005 budget was $129 million and they have 1,300 employees. They advocate creationism and have called same-sex marriage “the most radical human experiment.”
One of James Dobson’s more famous quotes: "Communities do not let prostitutes, pedophiles, voyeurs, adulterers, and those who sexually prefer animals to publicly celebrate their lifestyles, so why should homosexuals get such privileges?" Dobson receives lucrative royalties from the many books that he writes.
*Contributions to this organization also appear separately on this report.
American Family Association, Tupelo, MS
P.O. Drawer 2440, 107 Parkgate, Tupelo, MS 38803-2440 • Tel: 662.844.5036 • Web: www.afa.net
$500,000 on 7/22/08
The American Family Association (AFA) of Tupelo, Mississippi was founded in 1977 by Donald E. Wildmon. He serves as Chairman and his son Tim is President. According to its web site, “AFA exists to motivate and equip citizens to change the culture to reflect Biblical truth and traditional values.” They are established as a 501(c)(3) Corporation and according to their IRS Form 990 for 2007, brought in $22.5 million. AFA owns over 180 American Family Radio stations in 28 states across the country. [3] AFA has led several national boycotts against companies such as Walt Disney (1996–2005) www.afa.net/disney Ford (2005) www.boycottford.com and just launched a boycott against McDonalds Corporation www.boycottmcdonalds.com all due to their support of fairness and equality for gays and lesbians. AFA is currently targeting the Hallmark Card Company because it began selling a same-sex wedding cards.
Claire Reiss, La Jolla, CA
Reisung Enterprises
$500,000 on 10/30/08
Elsa Prince, Holland, MI
Edgar & Elsa Prince Foundation–190 River Ave, Suite 300, Holland, MI 49423 • Web: www.frc.org
$450,000
Elsa Prince gave: $200,000 on 8/8/08 and $250,000 on 8/14/08
Elsa Prince of Holland, Michigan is a board member of James Dobson’s Focus on the Family and their lobbying operation, the Family Research Council (FRC). Her late husband, Edgar, founded Prince Automotive and invented the lighted sun visor mirror which made them billionaires. Prince Automotive was later bought out by Johnson Controls. Edgar Prince was instrumental in creating the FRC and upon his death, Elsa Prince provided the money to build their new headquarters in Washington D.C. [8] At Edgar’s funeral, he was eulogized by James Dobson and Gary Bauer.
Prince’s son Erik serves as Vice President of the Edgar & Elsa Prince Foundation, but is best-known as co-founder and CEO of Blackwater Worldwide www.blackwaterusa.com the highly controversial private security company with federal contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan worth a reported $500 million/year. The Princes have a sprawling ranch in Cody, Wyoming not far from Vice President Dick Cheney’s principal residence in Jackson, WY. Over the years, Blackwater has been represented by high-profile lawyer Ken Starr. [9]
The Edgar & Elsa Prince Foundation is a major donor to the Alliance Defense Fund, whose other major donors include Prince’s daughter and son-in-law, Richard and Betsy DeVos (Richard is the son of the Co-founder of Amway) and the Bolthouse Foundation, whose founder, William Bolthouse, also appears on this list. [10]
Concerned Women for America, Washington, DC
1015 Fifteenth Street NW, Suite 1100, Washington, DC 20005 • Tel: 202.488.7000 • Web: www.cwfa.org
$409,000 on 9/26/08
Concerned Women for America was founded in 1979 by Christian Beverly LaHaye, wife of Christian Coalition co-founder Timothy LaHaye. The organization is a conservative Christian political action group that focuses on six “core issues”, which they view as Biblically-based. LaHaye was quoted in a 1987 interview with Ms. Magazine, “Yes, religion and politics do mix. America is a nation based on biblical principles. Christian values dominate our government. The test of those values is the Bible. Politicians who do not use the Bible to guide their public and private lives do not beling in office.” [21]
Hartford Holdings, LLC, Provo, UT
$300,000 on 10/31/08
John Dalton, Yorba Linda, CA
J & L Consulting, Inc.
$250,000 on 10/27/08
David Moon, Alpine, UT
Esnet, Ltd.
$200,000 on 10/28/08
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Washington, DC
$200,000 on 10/27/08
The Vineyard Group, LLC, Mesa/Queen Creek, AZ
1223 S. Clearview Ave., Mesa, AZ 85209 • Tel: 480.222.5800
$160,000
The Vineyard Group gave: $25,000 on 6/23/08, $35,000 on 7/15/08 and $100,000 on 10/29/08.
The Vineyard Group is part of Cardon Hiatt Bowden, a real estate and investment company based in Mesa, AZ. Principals include Elijah and Craig Cardon, Broc Hiatt and Brent Bowden, many of whom were big financial backers of Mitt Romney for President. Broc Hiatt is a Director of the New York based Institute for American Values, where NOM founder Maggie Gallagher is an Affiliate Scholar.
Dorothy Nielson, La Verne, CA
$150,000
Dorothy Nielson, a retiree of La Verne, CA gave: $150,000 on 8/8/08
Doug Manchester, San Diego, CA
Manchester Financial Group–One Market Place, 33rd Floor, San Diego, CA 92101 • Tel: 619.231.3800 • Web: www.mresorts.com
$125,000
Doug Manchester, Chairman of Manchester Financial Group, LLC, gave: $125,000 on 1/22/08
Among Doug Manchester’s many holdings are The Manchester Grand Hyatt and the 1 year old Grand del Mar Hotel, both in San Diego. His $125,000 early contribution to qualify Proposition 8 is now possibly the most famous political contribution in America. When it became public on March, 15th there were cries for a boycott of his hotels. Californians Against Hate along with Unite Here, Local 30 and many other gay and lesbian leaders officially called for a boycott of Doug Manchester’s hotels on July 18, 2008. www.boycottmanchesterhotels.com. The boycott has been highly successful, resulting in several conventions and meetings being cancelled and moved to competing locations.
Pacific Shores Masonry, Corona, CA
Stephen Lang is owner of Pacific Shores Masonry. [11]–1369 Walker Ln., Corona, CA 92879 • Tel: 951.371.8550
$125,000 on 8/13/08
Mike Murray, Redmond, WA
Crystal Springs Foundation
$100,000 on 10/27/08
Michele Adams Watterson, Cache, UT
Watermark Investments, LC
$100,000 on 10/29/08
Roger Bayer, SCC, UT
The Byron Company
$100,000 on 10/27/08
Katharine Garff, Bountiful, UT
$100,000 on 10/29/08
Belinda Vandersloot, Idaho Falls, ID
$100,000 on 10/28/08
Matthew S. Wheelwright, Bakersfield, CA
Wheelwright Consulting, Consultant
$100,000 on 9/11/08
Joseph Moran, Los Altos, CA
Retired
$100,000 on 9/24/08
ECCU, Brea, CA
$100,000 on 9/23/08
Kelvin H. Moss, Granite Bay, CA
KH Moss Company, Investor
$100,000 on 9/10/08
William Bolthouse, Bakersfield, CA
The Bolthouse Foundation–2000 Oak Street, Suite 200, Bakersfield, CA 93301-3058 • Tel: 661.334.1915 • Web: www.thebolthousefoundation.org
$100,000 on 4/3/08
William Bolthouse, Jr. and his wife created the Bolthouse Foundation "to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ by supporting charitable and religious organizations whose ministry, goals, and operating principles are consistent with evangelical Christianity as described in The Bolthouse Foundation Statement of Faith. [17] He was made wealthy through his family business, Bolthouse Farms, the 2nd largest producer of carrots in the world. He helped expand the business into beverages and salad dressings, and in 2005 sold 72% of the business to Madison Dearborn Partners, a Chicago-based private equity firm. 28% of Bolthouse Farms is now owned by Bolthouse's daughter and son-in-law, Andre Radandt, who is the company's Chairman. Bolthouse Farms recently took significant steps to demonstrate that it is committed to diversity, including those in the LGBT community. They recently extended medical benefits to same sex partners of employees, and have given generously to
several national and California LGBT organizations.
Donald G. Laws, Laguna Beach, CA
N. American Health Care, 3 Monarch Bay Plaza, Suite 203, Dana Point, CA 92629 • Tel: 949.240.2423 • Web: www.nahci.com
$100,000
Donald G. Laws, Director with North American Health Care Inc, gave: $100,000 on 8/13/08
North American Health Care, Inc. contracts on a formal and informal basis with health care providers in the Western United States. It owns nursing homes and long term health care facilities.
