Prop. 8 Supporter Claims Gays Want To Legalize Sex With Kids
SAN FRANCISCO -Lawyers in a case seeking to overturn California’s gay marriage ban are presenting statements by a proponent of the measure saying gay rights activists would try to legalize sex with children if same-sex marriages were legal.
The taped statements by Hak-Shing William Tam were presented Wednesday during the civil case being heard in federal court.
The footage was introduced to buttress the contention that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional because it was fueled by deep-seated animosity against gays.
Tam made the remarks during his legal deposition taped last month while discussing a letter he wrote to Chinese-Americans during the 2008 campaign for the ballot measure.
Tam has asked the judge to remove him as a defendant because he feared publicity could endanger him and his family.
Meantime, the Supreme Court has indefinitely blocked cameras from covering the high-profile federal court trial on the constitutionality of California’s ban on same-sex marriage.
The high court split 5-4 Wednesday, with the conservative justices in the majority.
Now in its third day, the trial in federal court in San Francisco is over the state’s voter-approved ban on gay marriage.
The presiding judge, Vaughn Walker, had proposed posting recordings of the trial on the court’s Web site after several hours of delay and allowing real-time streaming of the trial for viewing in other federal courthouses in California, New York, Oregon and Washington.
