Mayor, DA, Families Urge No on Prop. 8

$73 million spent on measure statewide

Updated 5:48 PM PST, Mon, Nov 3, 2008

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Mayor Jerry Sanders leads to call to urge voters to oppose Proposition 8.

Rachel Bianco

Urging voters to "reject discrimination," current and former city leaders called for a vote against Proposition 8 on Election Day.

Mayor Jerry Sanders, along with his Lisa daughter and her partner; District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis and her spouse Denise, and former city councilman Harry Mathis and his daughter, Laura, all gathered Monday morning at the Bahia Resort Hotel in Mission Bay. The families banded together in a personal call to oppose the measure that would amend the state Constitution and ban gay marriage.

"It's important to me that both of my daughters are treated equally under the law, so I am asking San Diegans to vote no on Prop. 8," Sanders said.

"I didn't grow up dreaming of a domestic partnership," his daughter said."I grew up dreaming of being able to choose who I wanted to marry and the person I love."

Mayor, DA, Families Urge No on Prop. 8

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Mayor, DA, Families Urge No on Prop. 8

"This is about equality, this is about fairness," said San Diego County district Attorney Bonnie Dumanis. "Prop. 8 would take away the right Denise and I waited so long to have."

The two were married in September.

"Stand up against those who say some big bad gay tide is sweeping this state, " said Dumanis' spouse Denise Nelesen.

Pastor Jim Garlow of the Skyline Wesleyan Church said, "Once you make it law, the homosexuals become a protected class. Speaking against it becomes hate speech. It's very intriguing when you talk about rights. It's the rights of the children or gay rights."

Spending for and against a ballot initiative has surpassed $73 million, almost twice the total that was spent in the 24 states where similar measures were put to voters since 2004. Campaign finance records show that opponents of Proposition 8 had a slight lead in contributions as of Monday, having raised $37.6 million. Supporters of the ban on gay marriage had raised $35.8 million.