Catholics join Mormons in supporting Knight Initiative (Catholic funds back gay-marriage ban)
San Francisco CA Examiner 15Oct99 N1
By Anastasia Hendrix: Examiner Staff

Eight of California's 12 Catholic Dioceses have joined to contribute more than $310,000 to the Knight Initiative campaign, according to filings with the California secretary of state. While the Archdiocese of San Francisco and the Diocese of Oakland had not yet made donations to the Protection of Marriage Committee, both organizations told the San Francisco Examiner that they expected to make donations within a few days.

The donations came to light in an 800-page document released by the secretary of state showing the financial donations made for the campaign. The document also indicates that LDS Church members in California have so-far contributed $3.6 million to support the initiative. In contrast, Californians for Fairness, which is opposing the initiative, has raised about $900,000.

The fight over the initiative took a more personal turn on Thursday when the son of the initiative's sponsor, state Senator William J. "Pete" Knight (R-Palmdale), wrote an editorial in the Los Angeles Times opposing the initiative. David Knight said "I believe, based on my experience, that his is a blind, uncaring, uninformed, knee-jerk reaction to a subject about which he knows nothing and wants to know nothing, but which serves his political career." David Knight is a veteran Gulf War fighter pilot and is estranged from his father.