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Loading ...Brad Pitt donates to marriage fight; Conservative group fights utility contribution
09.18.2008 11:50am EDT
(Los Angeles, California) Actor Brad Pitt has donated $100,000 to the group fighting a proposed amendment to the California Constitution to ban gay marriage, but a similar check from the state’s biggest utility has raised the ire of conservatives.
The proposed ban, called Proposition 8, will appear on the November ballot.The head of the Pacific Justice Institute has filed a complaint with the California Public Utilities Commission over the $250,000 contribution by Pacific Gas and Electric Company to the group fighting to maintain the right for gays to marry.
PG&E turned the check over to “NO on 8″ in July.
“It is outrageous that a mammoth utility used my money to undermine the values of families in my community,” said Brad Dacus, who is the president of the Pacific Justice Institute.
“Proposition 8 has no relevance to the supply and distribution of energy services to its customers. As a corporation which has been given near monopoly status, its use of money extracted from customers to influence an item appearing on the ballot that does not promote the welfare of customers relative to energy is an abuse of trust,” the complaint states.
It asks the Public Utilities Commission to conduct an investigation and hold hearings as to the lawfulness of the contribution. In addition, the complaint requests that the “Commission take all appropriate actions to remedy this matter, including fines, available under the law.”
Under the California constitution, the commission has the power to conduct such an inquiry.
The commission has not yet responded.
Meanwhile, Pitt’s donation to “No on 8 ” is the largest to date by a major celebrity. Gay rights supporters say they hope it encourages other A-List stars to follow.
In a statement, Pitt said he was contributing to the fight against the proposed amendment “because no one has the right to deny another their life, even though they disagree with it, because everyone has the right to live the life they so desire if it doesn’t harm another and because discrimination has no place in America, my vote will be for equality and against Proposition 8.”
It is called capitalism. You know, right-wingers are always whining that businesses don’t get enough freedom. But then when the corporate elite refuses to support their “culture war” nonsense, convservatives bring in the government to bully them into compliance. Talk about hypocriscy of the highest order.
Pacific Gas & Electric is a private corporation. Its Board of Directors can use that money as they see fit. They’re only responsible to the shareholders. Unless the Pacific Justice Institute owns stock in PG&E, they have no right to demand anything from the company. And if the theocratic masses don’t want to use PG&E’s “queer” electricity, then let them install solar panels on their houses.
and president bush gave my tax dollars to the faith based initiatives ! so,,,,hurray for the P.G.&E.-YOU GO !! And Brad Pitt-love ya, babe !!!
Thank you very, very much Brad Pitt, for your kindness and generosity to our community.
Roger RamJet,
I prefer my gay-friendly and liberal social justice oriented church to your atheism. I prefer the “foolishness of my fairy god” to the “human wisdom” of your atheism. I’ve tried your atheism and found it lacking and unsatisfactory.
And we don’t have anyone handing from the White House handing cash “hand over fist” to us and our church has zero-tolerance for discrimination of any kind on our premises.
Way to go Brad! If it passes or not, we’re still going to be gay and we’re still going to be living together. We are not going away and I think the younger generation is going to have to be the ones to get out and vote to get us the rights we deserve.
Brad Pitt is an atheist, so no surprise he is willing to invest in fighting discrimination caused by religion.
Why can’t we get a religion pill?…Feel the need to wring your hands, hate people and give over your reasoning ability to little men in black robes?..we have a pill for you, just take one a day and you will be able to use your own brain to reason.
Wishful thinking, but I just can’t stop noticing that all the hate filled people around me are religious….I wonder if it is them or the church..are they mean so they go to church, or do they go and learn hate? Based on what I see the average voters worrying about, I think people are very simple minded and easily led, so its the latter.
A woman cut me off today, pushing me into oncoming traffic…but she had that big fat wooden cross on her mirror announcing she’s a good christian. What hypocrisy these idiots live by.
I mean, can you believe people are excited about Palin because of her bigotry, anti-woman stances and her dopey looking red neck husband? They are too dumb to realize liking her makes them look dumb (certainly not aware of their ignorance…..) and just too self absorbed, worrying about things that don’t matter to notice our prestige in the world has evaporated. Maybe they don’t have any savings so don’t care if wall street vanishes. Why would you put all your energy into anti choice and anti equality when the planet is being destroyed, we can’t live without extremists supplying us with their oil drug and our financial system is falling apart? These people have no sense of priority. Her #2 issue in Alaska was denying marriage equality???? NUMBER 2????? Certainly teenage pregnancy should have been higher, but obviously that doesn’t bother her.
Wow…we let everyone vote, I know, for good reason, but sometimes I think about an IQ requirement.
Anyway, Brad gets it…if you relinquish the influence of religion, you start to get pretty sensible in the way you see things.
Thank you Brad……….Your the Best!
I’m happy to hear that more money is being donated to NO on Prop 8 but it seems today that all the news is who can raise the most money. Let’s not lose site of the objective to Stop Prop 8. What is being done other than raising money to stop Prop 8?
“It is outrageous that a mammoth utility used my money to undermine the values of families in my community,” said Brad Dacus. Isn’t it outrageous that public tax money is being used to deny equal rights to its citizens? Kudos to Brad, I live in Canada, and I want to see the acceptance we enjoy shared by everyone.
Hey, maybe Brad will run for public office? Couldn’t he do as well as Ronald or Arnold?
Thanks for the support, Brad, we’ll remember the favor.
Well, there’s a VERY good chance that the dollars Mr Dacus paid for services we used elsewhere by the company, like, payroll, or advertising, or supplies for the next annual report etc.
However, if Mr Dacus asks nicely, perhaps Pacific Gas will refund him dollars paid, disconnect his service, and he can scout around for an alternative energy source more in keeping with sensibilities.
I’m sure enough solar collectors will be sufficient to provide for his energy needs, and he can thank god for creating that big ol’ ball of nuclear explosions so he can do so.
There, problem solved.
As to Brad Dude… thanks man.
Just because people choose to use a companies services and pay for them doesn’t give them the right to denote how said money should be used by the company.
That’s like giving someone a gift, of let’s say flowers, then telling them where they have to display it in their home.
Pacific “Justice for Wealthy White Heterosexualist Konservative Kristianist Krazies” Institute can kiss my superannuated LEGALLY-married homosexual posterior.
Bud Clark
San Diego CA USA
Brad is the Man!
Much more a man than the wimp Brad Dacus who can go cry on a donkey for all we care.
Don’t see him complaining about GW BUSH throwing cash hand over fist at churches to spread their hate via the Faith Based Initiative Program
These filthy people who wish to terminate our rights deserve to be rounded up and sent off to Iran where they can live in a real theocracy. They’ll have to give up their Christianity for Islam, but what the heck – what’s the difference between one invisible fairy god and another. Not much really.
Thank You Brad Pitt!!