Petrelis Files

After Prop 8 Defeat:
Transparency From No Campaign

When we wake up on November 5, after celebrating the hard-fought defeat of Prop 8, I'd like a few accountability and transparency concerns addressed by the No on 8 leadership.

I believe the community needs a constructive dialogue about the structure of the campaign, the leadership circle and the decision-making process, to heal some of the psychological hurt done to us by degaying the campaign and TV ads.

We should start with how gay leaders promised a big ol' homo campaign, reflecting the diverse breadth of our community and loving relationships, but didn't deliver anything close to a gay visibility or educational campaign.

Like millions of other gays and our allies, I'll be celebrating the election of Barack Obama and the defeat of Prop 8, but I also know we need to immediately start a conversation about what led us to this point and how to proceed forward.

Here are some of my top questions, that should be addressed after Prop 8 goes down the drain:

• Who decided on the leadership circle and how important decisions were to be made?
• What research led to the invisibility of gays in TV commercials?
• Why were the benefits of gay marriage to society not part of the discussion?
• Why didn't we see televised debates between the Yes and No leaders?
• Why did we lack a state-wide tour of married gay couples, promoting voter registration?

And this is my list of documents I'd like to see released to the community, in order to provide real accountability and transparency to the campaign:

1. Transcripts of all focus groups conducted up and down the state.

2. Findings from the focus groups showing degaying the campaign would sway voters.

3. Internal polling data regarding independent and undecided voters.

4. Market research behind the creation of TV spots, radio ads and online banner ads.

5. Contracts for the TV and radio commercials with broadcast outlets.

6. Contracts for all consultants, pollsters and campaign managers.

On Wednesday, when the road before us includes gay marriage equality in California, let's continue on our path to full civic and legal equality in the United States of America, with on honest community-wide chat about the Prop 8 effort and how we beat back the measure.