The (straight) parents of two children featured in a new ad supporting Prop 8 held a press conference announcing that not only do they not support Prop 8, but they are outraged that footage of their children was used without their permission in a misleading and manipulative ad. They demanded that the ad be taken off the air immediately.
I actually saw this particular ad (which can now only be viewed on the Yes on 8 donation page) during The Daily Show yesterday. It describes how a first-grade class was required to attend a lesbian wedding as a "teachable moment." Right away something sounded fishy about this.
As it turns out, the ad used footage from the San Francisco Chronicle website without requesting permission from either the newspaper or the parents of the children depicted in the video. The children, along with several parent chaperons, were invited to attend the wedding of their teacher to her longtime partner. Take a moment to watch the original video. It is just about the most adorable scene the Internet can provide.
Several parents did choose not to have their children attend, which is permitted under California's "opt-out" law, which allows parents to pull their children from any instruction they feel violates their religious beliefs. In fact, Brad Dacus, one of the leading spokespeople of the Yes on 8 campaign, is a champion of the "opt-out" law and would clearly have known that it would apply here, making this ad an intentional and blatant lie.
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