PRO-PROP 8 CAMPAIGN GETS UGLY

San Diego -- The campaign to pass Proposition-8 on the November ballot is getting uglier.

Leaders of ProtectMarriage.com have sent letters to businesses which have financially supported the opposition, and are threatening to "out" them.

"Give us money or we'll publicly identify you as opponents of traditional unions," the letters say.

ProtectMarriage.com is an umbrella group supporting the initiative that will overturn the state Supreme Court's ruling legalizing gay marriages by amending the state Constitution.

Certified letters from the group reportedly are asking companies to withdraw their support from EqualityCalifornia.com, the non-profit campaign opposing Prop-8, or to donate.

"Make a donation of a like amount to ProtectMarraige.com," reads the letter. The names or companies and organizations that choose not to donate to ProtectMarriage.com will be published, the letters say.

The letter is signed by four members of the ProtectMarriage.com executive committee; including Mark Jansson, a Mormon. That religious group has contributed massively to the campaign to pass Prop. 8.

San Diego businessman Jim Abbott, who owns a real estate company, received one of the certified letters. His son read it to him.

"He characterized it as a bit Mafioso," Abbott said.
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