So far, however, the anti-Prop. 8 campaign has received only a trickle of high-profile entertainment industry money.

In the coming weeks, pressure to donate to anti-Prop. 8 efforts will be intense. Billionaire Ron Burkle is expected to host a large celeb-supported fundraiser at his Green Acres estate next month.

David Blankenhorn, who heads up a think tank in New York, writes in his Sept. 19 Times Op-Ed article that because marriage is historically a means to provide children with legitimacy, it must so always remain. I do not agree that this is the sole reason for the modern institution of marriage.

Nonetheless, applying Blankenhorn's argument further, should we not -- in addition to eliminating the right to marry for gays and lesbians -- also deny heterosexual couples who choose not to have children the right to wed?

However, it is an established fact that gays and lesbians are raising children, biological or adopted.

Do these children not deserve the protections that marriage would afford their families?

Is it not better for these children to be living with married parents instead of two co-habitating adults?

Isn't society's interest served by seeing more stable gay and lesbian families?

Eliminating the right to marry for gays and lesbians would not solve the problems surrounding the state of heterosexual marriage and children in the United States today.

The decline in marriage has been accompanied by an increase in children being born outside marriage.

If Blankenhorn were truly concerned about the state of marriage and children in this country, he would support social policies that would really help protect children.

The biggest threat to our society is not my marriage or any other marriage between two loving, consenting adults.

The 30-second commercial notes that four judges in a recent 4-3 California Supreme Court decision opened the way for same-sex marriage and warns that if Proposition 8 fails, people could be sued over their personal beliefs, churches could lose tax-exempt status and "gay marriage" would be "taught in public schools."

Yes-on-8 campaign manager Frank Schubert said he didn't care whether the spot helps or hurts Newsom's candidacy. But he also said the spot underscores the "arrogance" of same-sex marriage proponents.

"Californians are tolerant," Schubert said. "Tolerance is no longer the construct. Now it is mandatory acceptance."

Steve Smith, managing the campaign to defeat Proposition 8, denounced the proponents' ad as misleading, saying parents could "pull their kid out" of classes where same-sex marriage is discussed.

• Providing a good or service that other people find useful enough they will pay for it.
• Producing enough children to at least replace yourself when you can no longer provide that good or service.
• Spending less money than you make so that you can not only pay your bills, but save, invest, and insure.  This means not buying things you can’t afford, looking for a bargain, considering your investments carefully, and being diverse in your investments.  If all of your money is in real estate, that’s a problem – but it shouldn’t be mine.  If all of your money is in stocks, that is a problem – but it shouldn’t be mine.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Monday will unveil a $5-billion, five-year plan to build housing for the poor and middle class.

The blueprint, which calls for thousands of new homes along subway and bus lines, and developments with people of all incomes living together, would, according to the mayor's deputies, alter the look and feel of the city forever.

But the plan, which many City Council members and business and housing groups said they had not yet seen, is being released while the housing market is a shambles, the state is facing a massive budget shortfall and the economy is teetering -- challenges that lead some to wonder whether it is feasible.

"I know that budgets are tight . . . credit is almost nonexistent," Villaraigosa said Saturday to a room full of community and labor groups pushing for more affordable housing. "But we're going to reject the cynics . . . and build a brighter future for those kids who are in the corner over there."

The mayor got a standing ovation at the union hall near downtown Los Angeles, and chants of "Si, se puede" ("Yes, we can") from the dozens of people in matching red T-shirts in his audience.

Some developers object to a so-called mixed-income provision that would require [subsidized] housing to be included in new housing developments. They say that such a policy -- which labor and housing groups have been pushing for years -- would cast a pall over entrepreneurial efforts.

"It is going to make housing less affordable for everybody," said downtown activist Brady Westwater.

On the other hand, community and labor groups, key players in the city's politics, are lobbying hard for the so-called mixed-income plan.

Los Angeles was designated the least affordable metropolitan area in the country last year, according to the Business Council report, because so many people pay so much of their incomes for housing.

The city also has the largest homeless population in the nation.

In addition, although private developers have built many high-end apartment units and condos over the last few years, there has not been a similar increase for households earning less than $75,000 per year.

Under the mayor's plan, the city would pledge $200 million a year for five years from various sources, including the city's Housing Authority, its affordable housing trust fund and its Community Redevelopment Agency, to build affordable housing.

Sam Thoron's rich history of dedication both to PFLAG and the GLBT community began in spring of 1990 when he became part of the steering committee for the San Francisco Chapter of the PFLAG, Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays.

In September 1992 Sam was honored with an invitation to join the PFLAG National Board as Regional Director for the Mid-Pacific Region. This term of board service ended in 2001. In 2002 he was asked to rejoin the National Board of Directors as National President. He served in this capacity through October 2006 and continues to serve on the National Board.

A retired general commercial insurance broker, Sam is a member of the Equality for All Statewide Campaign Committee, which was established to counter attempts to imbed anti-gay discrimination into the California State Constitution. He serves on Board of Directors of Marriage Equality USA.

Julia and Sam continue to build on their proud history of advocacy for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender equality, working with their deep commitment to justice and fair play for all citizens to realize the vision of PFLAG.

SAMUEL THORON: Julia and I have been married for 46 years.

JULIA THORON: Together we've raised three children - who are now adults.

SAMUEL THORON: My wife and I never treated our children differently, we never loved them any differently and the law shouldn't treat them differently either.

JULIA THORON: If Prop 8 passes, our gay daughter and thousands of our fellow Californians will lose the right to marry. Please don't eliminate that right - for anyone's family.

That's how far the Proposition 4 campaign reached to come up with a poster girl.

There's no evidence that California's teenage girls are harmed by abortions with any frequency, whether or not their parents have been notified.

In fact, under the guise of protecting underage girls, this proposal really is just the latest attempt to impose any obstacle in the exercise of reproductive freedom.

Similar measures were put before the voters in 2005 and 2006 and lost by slim margins both times.

Polls show that the most recent proposal is still struggling to gain support from a majority of voters, but backers such as winemaker Don Sebastiani and publisher Jim Holman say they are determined to accomplish this year what they didn't previously. And they have changed the measure's text to address some criticisms of those earlier proposals.

Opponents argue that parental notification laws can endanger young women who become pregnant.

"They don't increase family communication," ACLU attorney Maggie Crosby said during a legislative hearing last week.

The measure would also require the minor to give consent.

Crosby, the ACLU attorney, said she believes that provision is part of an effort to put abortion clinics and doctors out of business through litigation.

It is shocking to me that in this yearlong study of the history of marriage, Blankenhorn never happened upon the wealth of studies that demonstrate that when it comes to raising children, gays and lesbians are as suited to the task as their straight counterparts.

One need only ask the American Medical Assn., the Child Welfare League, the American Academy of Pediatrics -- the list goes on.

I can agree with Blankenhorn on one thing -- marriage is about protecting children -- but I am saddened that he does not include the millions of children who would be protected if their same-sex parents were allowed to marry. He's tried to explain his position to us. Now try explaining it to them.