November 4, 2008
Defending marriage in California these days takes a lot of spunk. Those supporting Proposition 8 – the measure on this week's ballot that called for a state constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman – have been facing everything from media blitzes to their opponents' almost insurmountable financial advantage.
And one place where the battle was certainly entrenched was in Chino Hills, where proponents of Prop. 8 were caught between the proverbial “rock and a hard place,” fending off assaults not only from local vandals but their own city government.
When members of a local church started setting up signs in their front yard calling for “Yes on 8,” they suddenly found themselves accosted by local officials citing an obscure city ordinance that prohibits placing political signs on private property without a permit – and a $250 deposit. They also found they could be cited $25 a day ‘til the signs came down.
Once city officials learned that Calvary Chapel Chino Hills was providing the signs, they threatened church leaders with a $250 fine if they didn't stop handing them out.
Alliance Defense Fund attorneys sent a letter to Mayor Curt Hagman on October 15 pointing out that the city's ordinance was unconstitutional (
www.telladf.org/UserDocs/ChinoHillsLetter.pdf). The mayor – a self-described "supporter of ADF issues" – took immediate action, and the city attorney moved quickly to reassure both the church and the homeowners that the sign law would not be enforced (
www.telladf.org/UserDocs/ChinoHillsResponse.pdf).
"Supporters of Proposition 8 should not be punished for advocating their position on the marriage amendment," said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Erik Stanley. "They are Americans, and they not only have a right to vote on and promote Prop. 8 – they also have a right to be free of fear, intimidation, and the destruction of their property."
As you might guess from that last statement, city ordinances turned out to be only one of the problems for Prop. 8 supporters in Chino Hills. One church family had their "Yes on 8" sign stolen from their front yard. When they replaced it with another sign, vandals keyed the family cars, scratching "GAY SEX IS LOVE" and "SEX" into the paint of one, and scribbling other graphic messages in permanent marker on both vehicles. They also bent a windshield wiper and broke off an antenna.
The family kept their sign up. And they covered some of the graffiti with "Yes on 8" stickers.
Like I said: spunk.
Please pray for all those who are working so diligently and courageously to defend marriage. Pray for public officials like Mayor Hagman who really want to do what's right. Pray, too, for our staff and allied attorneys as we defend the right of these conscientious citizens to hear and speak the Truth. And pray, maybe most of all, for those whose furies and frustrations fuel their legal – and illegal – aggressions… and blind them to that Truth.