From: Date: Mon, 23 Jan 1995 12:45:44 -0500 Subject: Fwd: Project Spotlight Hi all. This is an anti-gay plan put out by the American Family Association PAC of Ohio (local branch of the national AFA) which was presented at a national anti-gay organizing conference in Colorado Springs, CO in May of 1993. Many of the strategies discussed in this plan have been adopted by anti-gay groups around the country, though there is disagreement among right-wingers about tactics, and a few groups have rejected all or part of Project Spotlight's recommendations. My office originally obtained this document and mailed it out to all and sundry around the US. I am grateful to whomever took the time to put it on the net though (I hadn't gotten around to it -- my typing is fairly slow!). Thanks! Buzz Harris National Gay & Lesbian Task Force New England office --------------------- Forwarded message: From: OBRIENM@delphi.com Date: 95-01-23 03:27:41 EST My apologies to anyone for whom this is a repeat: ================================================ PETITION DRIVES Pros and Cons By: Phil Burress, Chairman Equal Rights Not Special Rights Cincinnati, Ohio CONFIDENTIAL OPINION PAPER Statement of Purpose: This opinion paper deals with petition initiatives to change city charters or state constitutions or repeal special rights legislation for homosexuals. Rationale: When studying the homosexual agenda and their plan of attack, their entire plan can not be successful unless they win elected positions in order to pass legislation. Their ultimate victory, should that happen, will occur at the United States Supreme Court. Whether through Human Rights Ordinances or domestic partnership laws, in order for homosexuals to fulfill their agenda, they must win city, county, state and federal elected positions. This opinion is based on what we have learned in Cincinnati, Ohio at the grass roots level. We feel very strongly about this issue and wish to share what we have learned and with those who choose to oppose the homosexual agenda through initiative drives or other options. Statement of Facts: * For the first time in our history, in 1991 the Cincinnati City Council was taken over by homosexual-endorsed members. * In 1992 Cincinnati became the 73rd locale to pass a Human Rights Ordinance. * We conferred with many across the country and gleaned valuable information about the problem. * By 1993 election time, there was only one pro-family city council member and eight pro-homosexual city council members, comprising the total of nine council seats. If we look at the bottom line and ask why we were in this position, the facts are we lost our city council to the homosexuals. The local homosexual group, Stonewall Cincinnati, admitted it took them 11 years to take over city council. We acknowledge the lefts' (sic) takeover of the City of Cincinnati promoted by left-leaning 40% Black vote that has enhanced the homosexuals' plan. * In 1993 we placed an initiative on the ballot to change our city charter. Since we believe that the bottom line problem was we lost our city council to pro-homosexual candidates, we placed the initiative on the ballot at the same time city council was being elected. Our goal was to make the homosexual agenda and special rights laws for homosexuals the issue in the election. * A key ingredient to victory is winning the Black vote. Our spokesperson was the President of the Black Baptist Ministerial Association. Even with a Black spokesperson, the Black vote was split evenly which was our goal. * We won the 1993 election by a 62% - 38% margin in favor of changing our city charter to prohibit passage of laws based on sexual orientation. * We spent $505,000 on the campaign. * Unknowingly, at the same time we won our ballot initiative, it appears we elected Cincinnati's first lesbian mayor! * D. James Kennedy has produced a show on our campaign which started airing nationally on March 13, 1994. Lessons Learned: For us, winning the ballot initiative was not as important as winning back city council with pro-family candidates. Our thoughts were, even if we lost the ballot initiative, we win the war if we won back city council. If we could win back city council, our first order of business would have been to repeal the Human Rights Ordinance. Because we made the homosexual Human Rights Ordinance an issue, many voters were educated about the homosexual agenda. We won four pro-family seats. We missed taking back a city council majority by one seat. We will finish the job and take back city council in 1995 by using a plan called "Project Spotlight," which is explained later by the American Family Association's Ohio State Director, Mr. Scott Ross. Since we did fail to win a majority of city council seats, during the next two years, we will work diligently to educate the public about the homosexual agenda and prepare for the 1995 election. The Human Rights Ordinance continues to be in effect. Unfortunately, the pro-homosexual population sought the legal assistance of a liberal judge who has placed a temporary injunction on the citizens' vote. This means that today our organization is in federal court expecting to spend an additional $400,000 to defend 62% of the voters. In addition, we were also forced to create and maintain another local organization or all our work would have been lost. It is our opinion that any other petition drive to change a city charter or state constitution while there are two major court cases pending in Colorado and Cincinnati could have the following impact: 1. Another petition drive could play into the hands of the homosexuals because they could win in court and achieve their goal. Even if a state or city initiative drive to change a constitution or charter is won, it will require a minimum of $200,000 to defend your initiative in court because the homosexuals will sue. Mr. Bob Skolrood, President of the National Legal Foundation, the Washington, D.C. law firm of Shaw, Pittman, Potts & Strowbridge, and 10 other lawyers are helping with this case. The homosexuals have given the court a witness list of 40 persons. If you choose not to intervene with your own lawyers, then your defense will be left to the city prosecutor or the state attorney general. In Cincinnati, like all other cities that have passed special rights laws, homosexuals control City Council. In Cincinnati, the city prosecutor works for the City Council that is not a good combination for victory in court. The effort to change state or city constitutions needs to be thoroughly studied from the legal perspective. There are good reasons to do a petition drive; but from a legal perspective, other cases following the Colorado and Cincinnati court cases could backfire and destroy all work in Colorado and Cincinnati, if not funded properly. We are committed to spend up to $400,000 of our own money to win this case. The Colorado and Cincinnati cases will most likely go before the United States Supreme Court. We must win these cases first, and then decide on other strategy to change state constitutions, city or county charters nationally. 2. There is an extensive financial drain on the pro-family movement to run a petition drive, a media campaign, and a major court case. The cost in Cincinnati for our ballot initiative included more than $800,000 and thousands of manpower hours. With such a heavy emphasis on one issue, other very important pro-family issues have suffered. Changing a state constitution or a city charter does not provide a permanent solution to the problem. The problem can only be resolved by taking control of city councils, as well as county, state and federal elected positions. We do agree with a petition drive that will simply repeal a pro-homosexual law. It is a clean approach that, if done properly, will not require a court battle. Should a repeal of any other form of a petition drive be considered, the complications that can result from violating IRS non-profit codes and state campaign laws could destroy any organization. The homosexuals have challenged Colorado and Cincinnati at the Board of Elections. Additional money has been spent to defend pro-family organizations' tax status and protect donors lists. I recommend that legal advice comes from pro-family lawyers who specialize in this area of the law. The source of the problem of homosexuals obtaining legal control is that pro-family individuals are not involved in the system working to promote and elect pro-family candidates. In my opinion, every pro-family group must spend some of its time working on local, county, state and federal politics. We, in Cincinnati, had to ask ourselves this question: if we could not win back Cincinnati City Council with a majority of pro-family candidates, then what was this all about? If the answer is to stop laws from being passed giving homosexuals special rights, then how do we stop a pro-homosexual majority of city council members from appointing homosexuals to all key positions such as Board of Health, Education and other key administrative positions? The answer is: you can't. Once the homosexuals take over a city council, the battle to win back that city can not be achieved solely through petition drives. It takes direct involvement in politics. We found the Christian Coalition precinct movement to be the best plan and have aggressively joined that campaign. It's working already. If pro-family residents of a city believe city council can not be won, then that is the problem to address. Frankly, I believe the majority of cities in the United States where homosexuals have taken over can be won back. If we join together with a national strategy, a solid plan and empowered people at the grass roots level. Networking pro-family groups locally as well as statewide must be done. Lone rangers become targets. In Cincinnati, more than 30 pro-family groups worked together. Our petition drive was called Take Back Cincinnati and our media campaign was called Equal Rights, Not Special Rights. We used different leaders to speak to different issues so our spokesperson would not become a target. The Cincinnati media was fair throughout the campaign. That was the result of building relationships and having a good plan. We have two other cities in Ohio that have been taken over by homosexual activists. They are Columbus and Youngstown. Our plan is to take back the city councils in each of these cities in 1995 by using "Project Spotlight," rather than a statewide or city initiative. The cities of Dayton, Cleveland and Toledo are headed toward passing a Human Rights Ordinance. Project Spotlight will also be launched in these three cities to head off the homosexual plan. Nationally, we must become pro-active, rather than reactive. We have had several meetings of most pro-family organizations in Ohio. We did not proceed with the Cincinnati ballot initiative until every pro-family group leader in the state had an opportunity to meet and discuss our strategy. Of 231 identified pro-family leaders in Ohio that represents (sic) every major pro-family group, more than 100 state leaders attended meetings and voted to proceed with the city-by-city Project Spotlight campaign. The American Family Association of Ohio has agreed to lead the Project Spotlight campaign to win back Cincinnati, Columbus, Youngstown, Dayton, Cleveland and Toledo city councils. History of Project Spotlight Project Spotlight was birthed as Phase Three of our Cincinnati initiative Issue 3 campaign in 1993. Scott Ross, State Director of Ohio's American Family Association, was a key leader and served on the Board of Directors of the Issue 3 campaign. Scott's two-year plan is enclosed. Pro-Family Team Every city that will implement Project Spotlight has AFA chapters; however, Scott has agreed to work and support the leadership structure that the pro-family leaders agree will be effective. All local and Ohio pro-family forum groups that have met, agree that who runs the campaign and receives the positive (or negative) press is not as important as winning back elected positions. Winning the battle against the homosexual agenda city, county or statewide will take a pro-family team made up of many leaders. This team must be put together and have money in the bank before a campaign is launched. A failed campaign or court case will affect everyone. Compassion Our campaign in Cincinnati included a three phase campaign. Phase One had two parts: the Petition Drive and the Media Campaign. Phase Two was Operation Hope. Phase Three is Project Spotlight. No one involved at the leadership level in the initiative campaign wanted to proceed unless we had an outreach program to the homosexuals and others with sexual addictions. Operation Hope, with a budget of $30,000, originated through Citizens for Community Values (CCV) and continues to operate under CCV. Operation Hope's Executive Director, Roger Russin, brought together all Christ-centered counseling agencies and most agreed to be part of a telecommunication system outreach and referral service. The tape of the phone message and general guidelines for setting up an Operation Hope outreach can be received by writing: Operation Hope, P.O. Box 62895, Cincinnati, Ohio, 45262. Please include a check for $25.00 to cover expenses. Make the check payable to: Citizens for Community Values. If you choose, call our Operation Hope line by dialing (513) 483-HOPE. The opening message takes 4 minutes and the menu of eight choices takes about 2 minutes each to listen and record information, if you choose. We grant permission to copy and use any part of Operation Hope. We strongly encourage anyone who is going to launch a campaign to stop the Homosexual Agenda to establish a "Operation Hope" style outreach. Homosexuals really believe we hate them. They really believe we are bigots and homophobic. They do not make this up. for those of us who are Christians, and most who are involved in these campaigns are, how can we proceed with a political campaign without reaching out to someone who thinks that we hate them? We know we do not hate them. What we think is not as important as what they think or perceive to be the truth. I have talked with most national leaders who have been engaged in resisting the homosexual agenda. There is a powerhouse of dedicated, intelligent and committed people who have worked on this issue. For those who choose to network together, the need to discuss different options and develop a national plan based on the larger picture is necessary. Colorado for Family Values has been an incredible help and resource. Through this opinion paper, I wish to thank them for their work, vision and leadership. For those who choose to proceed with petition drives, we have radio and television ads on tape for your use. Photos of our billboard campaign are also available. We stand ready to help in any way we can. We can be reached at: Equal Rights Not Special Rights, Inc., P.O. Box 62686, Cincinnati, Ohio, 45262; (513) 733-8908. PROJECT SPOTLIGHT A PLAN FOR THE NATION April 20, 1994 AMERICAN FAMILY ASSOCIATION PAC of OHIO P.O. Box 118, Bethel, Ohio 45106 (513) 734-AFAP (2327) Scott Ross, Director SYNOPSIS OF PROJECT SPOTLIGHT The name "Project Spotlight" defines our two-fold goal: 1) Educate the public about the homosexual agenda. 2) Educate voters about every candidate who is pro-homosexual by identifying which candidates have been endorsed by the homosexuals and the values these candidates advocate to receive this endorsement. Project Spotlight is a four step plan that will begin in mid-1994 in six cities in Ohio, targeting November 1995 city council elections. City councils in Cincinnati, Columbus and Youngstown have been taken over by pro-homosexual activists. Homosexual special rights legislation has already been passed in each of these cities. Additional cities Dayton, Toledo and Cleveland are close to passing special rights legislation. FOUR STEP PLAN 1) First and most important, educate voters about the homosexual agenda through a well-organized educational program that begins far in advance of the city council election (minimum one year). 2) Use every opportunity to register people to vote. 3) Through each educational meeting and other channels, start a petition drive to gather signatures of registered voters. Suggestion petition language is: "I pledge I will not vote for any candidate who has accepted a political endorsement from homosexuals. I am opposed to elected officials promoting the homosexual agenda in government and schools. I am for equal rights for all. Therefore, I am opposed to special rights laws that promote homosexuality." 4) Two weeks before an election, mail to every person who signed the petition a list of candidates who have been endorsed by the homosexuals and a list of those who have not. Very Important: Items 1 and 2 above are 501(c)3 tax-deductible, non-profit activities. Item 3 is a Political Action Committee (PAC) activity. Item 4 could be considered 501(c)3 or PAC activity depending on how the information is presented in a bi-partisan, educational format or a political format in an attempt to influence an election. It is important that you understand and clear these activities with your board before proceeding. There are two considerations you must explore: the IRS Codes and State Election Laws. Not doing your homework in these areas could cause your organization and its supporters great damage. OBJECTIVES 1. To hold candidates accountable for promoting the homosexual agenda through public policy. 2. To elect a majority of city council positions with candidates who oppose the homosexual agenda. Once accomplished, repeal the Human Rights Ordinance or any other homosexual special rights legislation in each of the three cities. This plan has already been effective to varied degrees in Louisville, Kentucky, and Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1991, Louisville city officials defeated an attempt to pass a Human Rights Ordinance by a city council vote of 8 to 4. Since then, the local American Family Association (AFA) chapter led by Dr. Frank Simon has targeted those who promoted the Human Rights Ordinance. Only one identified pro-homosexual candidate won an elected office. The total budget in Louisville was $15,000 and included more than 1,000 precinct captains and two electronic phoning machines. Cincinnati voters approved Issue 3 in November 1993 by a large of (sic) 62% to 38% margin. Issue 3 repealed the protected class status special rights for homosexuals which city council passed one year earlier. While doing so, voters also elected four council members (from a total of nine) who opposed the homosexual agenda. Clearly in both Louisville and Cincinnati, elected officials have distanced themselves from the homosexuals and their endorsement. Every city must implement a plan to find candidates who are pro-family and willing to run for city council. One of the early leaders in Cincinnati who led the public campaign against the Human Rights Ordinance was an African-American named Rev. Charles Winburn. Mr. Winburn decided to run for city council and finished sixth in a nine seat race. This was the highest finish for a first time candidate in Cincinnati history. He was highly visible and outspoken against special rights legislation for homosexuals. IMPLEMENTATION Phase One - Research Identify all candidates who have been endorsed by the homosexuals over the past five years. Identify existing candidates who are endorsed. Phase Two - Team Building Part 1: Our plan in Ohio involves many pro-family organizations. Most plans fail because of lone rangers working solo, or organizations that fail to build a pro-family team of several leaders to work together. AFA of Ohio will assist anyone in Ohio who wants to implement this plan. We do not claim ownership. This plan will only work through servant-style leadership. One person who works with a leadership team must be the coordinator in each city. This person must have the ability to coordinate a plan, gather and process all data. Part 2: Dealing with the media is extremely important. If managed properly, the press can assist to advertise your plan. Leaders from six cities in Ohio will be trained to speak and hold news conferences. They will then simultaneously hold news conferences, making the same statement and answering questions uniformly. Part 3: Stay on the offense to neutralize the homosexuals and stop further implementation of the homosexual agenda. The mere public announcement of Project Spotlight in Cincinnati has placed pro-homosexual elected officials on the defense. Phase Three - Education Part 1: Purchase a quantity of Gay Rights/Special Rights video tape totaling 10% of those who voted in the last election. Establish a speakers bureau, using the Gay Rights/Special Rights video tapes to educate citizens about the homosexual agenda. The video will be edited to promote Project Spotlight. These tapes can be purchased at a discounted price with a minimum order and resold at a modest profit per tape. We plan to use a minimum of 10,000 tapes in each of the cities in Ohio. Part 2: During speaking engagements educate people about the homosexual agenda, sell video tapes, distribute petitions, register people to vote, and encourage attendees to do the same by using the video in small group meetings to educate, circulate petitions, and register people to vote. Part 3: Distribute the 62 Homosexual Demands from the 1993 March on Washington. Part 4: Show the video on network television from revenues received from video tape sales. Phase Four - Action Steps Part 1: Circulate petitions to collect one-fourth of the number of voters in the previous election. These voters will pledge not to vote for candidates who have been endorsed by homosexuals. For example: 100,000 voters voted in Cincinnati in the last city council election. Before the 1995 election, we will collect 25,000 names of these voters on petitions who will not vote for homosexual-endorsed candidates. (One Cincinnati reporter asked, "Do you realize the impact this plan will have on local politics?") This is political activity. Part 2: Use a 900 number (charging $2.00 per call) on billboards and other advertising methods to inform the voting public of the candidates who are endorsed by the homosexuals. Part 3: One week before the election - mail a list of candidates who is now or ever has been endorsed by the homosexuals to every person who signed the petition. CONCLUSION This plan is inexpensive. In fact, the plan creates revenue. Approximately $5000 seed money will be needed to buy the original video tapes. You control the press and timing of the project. The homosexuals are powerless to attack or prevent this plan from working. Networking is essential for this plan to work. More than 100 leaders from across Ohio have been involved in the decision process. This plan is a product of that work. Leaders who wish to combat the homosexual agenda will find help from other pro-family organizations if they are included in the decision-making process. Working to develop a plan, then calling and asking others to join your group or plan usually fails. People must have ownership. Every person who participates in the plan must be willing to let the best qualified person(s) fill key position(s), especially media spokesperson.