An anti-Prop 8 group on Wednesday announced it has targeted the Salt Lake City-based Ken Garff automotive dealerships in retaliation for $100,000 donated by the CEO’s wife to supporters of a California ballot proposition eliminating same-sex couples’ right to marry.

Fred Karger, founder of Californians Against Hate, said the boycott will use an Internet campaign to ask people to boycott the automotive’s 40 dealerships in Utah, California, Texas and Iowa.

Karger accused CEO Bob Garff of “hiding behind his wife’s skirts” by claiming the $100,000 donation was a personal gesture. At a news conference in Salt Lake City, Karger also said the cash was “a family contribution” that was derived from dealership revenues.

 See Gay group boycotts Ken Garff dealerships
Salt Lake Tribune, United States 

Proposition 8, the State Constitutional Amendment recently passed by California voters, was arguably one of the most divisive pieces of public policy placed before the voters since Proposition 187, the anti-illegal immigrant initiative which was passed by voters in 1994.

Proposition 8 is the Constitutional Amendment that eliminated the right of same-sex couples to marry in California and established that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.

Proposition 8 passed by the narrow margin of 6,838,107 votes in support, or 52.3%, to 6,246,463 votes against, or 47.7% in the State. In San Mateo County, Proposition 8 failed by a wide margin of 114,695 votes in support, or 38.3%, to 185,127 votes against, or 61.7%.

Since its passage, many of those of donated in support of the measure have been subject to unpleasant phone calls and letters, some of which contained foul language and physical threats. Web sites like AntiGayBlacklist.com posted donors’ names and home addresses on Google maps and there have been calls for boycotts of the businesses of donors.

 See Gay marriage fault lines in San Mateo County
Examiner.com -

An anti-Prop 8 group on Wednesday announced it has targeted the Salt Lake City-based Ken Garff automotive dealerships in retaliation for $100,000 donated by the CEO’s wife to supporters of a California ballot proposition eliminating same-sex couples’ right to marry.

Fred Karger, founder of Californians Against Hate, said the boycott will use an Internet campaign to ask people to boycott the automotive’s 40 dealerships in Utah, California, Texas and Iowa.

Karger accused CEO Bob Garff of “hiding behind his wife’s skirts” by claiming the $100,000 donation was a personal gesture. At a news conference in Salt Lake City, Karger also said the cash was “a family contribution” that was derived from dealership revenues.

 See Gay group boycotts Ken Garff dealerships
Salt Lake Tribune, United States 

Proposition 8, the State Constitutional Amendment recently passed by California voters, was arguably one of the most divisive pieces of public policy placed before the voters since Proposition 187, the anti-illegal immigrant initiative which was passed by voters in 1994.

Proposition 8 is the Constitutional Amendment that eliminated the right of same-sex couples to marry in California and established that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.

Proposition 8 passed by the narrow margin of 6,838,107 votes in support, or 52.3%, to 6,246,463 votes against, or 47.7% in the State. In San Mateo County, Proposition 8 failed by a wide margin of 114,695 votes in support, or 38.3%, to 185,127 votes against, or 61.7%.

Since its passage, many of those of donated in support of the measure have been subject to unpleasant phone calls and letters, some of which contained foul language and physical threats. Web sites like AntiGayBlacklist.com posted donors’ names and home addresses on Google maps and there have been calls for boycotts of the businesses of donors.

 See Gay marriage fault lines in San Mateo County
Examiner.com -

A group of gay skiers plan to resume their trips to Park City in 2010, saying the ill will between gays and Utah stemming from California’s gay-marriage ballot measure will likely have subsided by next year.

Next year’s Utah Gay & Lesbian Ski Week is tentatively scheduled Jan. 6-10. An Internet site indicates the skiers plan to visit each of the three local resorts, hold cocktail and social hours and have a party. A dinner is scheduled at the Wasatch Brew Pub.

The 2010 event is scheduled one year after organizers were forced to cancel this year’s annual visit.

They said few gay skiers signed up for the 2009 trip because they were unhappy with the role The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints played in the passage of Proposition 8, the California ballot measure. After Election Day, gays and their supporters called for a boycott of Utah. This year’s trip would have been the ninth consecutive year visiting Park City.

One of the organizers, John Harriott, a bisexual who lives in West Hollywood, Calif., said there remains a possibility of the 2010 event being canceled. He said, though, there is a three-in-four chance that it will be held. A decision will not be finalized until early December.

Much depends on the political climate by early 2010, he said. Similar boycotts typically do not last longer than a year, he said.

“I have a feeling this will be a lot of water under the bridge,” he said, adding, “I have a feeling Prop. 8 will be a distant memory by next year.”

California courts are expected to consider the validity of the ballot measure in 2009, likely shifting some of the emotions from Utah to the state where Proposition 8 passed.

 See Gay skiers want to return to Park City
Park Record, UT

Despite threats of boycotts and a grim financial future for independent film, Sundance kicked off last night in Park City, Utah, continuing its tradition of being the place that high-art cineastes peddle their wares to mainstream distributors. This year includes an especially strong roster of LGBT-interest films, including, this year’s gay-for-Oscar Jim Carey vehicle, I Love You Phillip Morris. What are the gay films premiering in Utah that you’ll want to see– and in one instance, that you can see right now? Let’s find out @ Sundance: Still in Utah, Still Totally Gay
Queerty, NY