GetEqual protests installation of anti-gay Calif. bishop

Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone played central role in passage of California’s infamous anti-gay ballot initiative, Proposition 8. (public domain photo)

SAN FRANCISCO — GetEqual planned to protest, Thursday, the installation of San Francisco’s new Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, because of the central role the cleric played in the passage of California’s infamous anti-gay ballot initiative, Proposition 8.

LGBT news blog, JoeMyGod reports the group — which formed after the 2009 National Equality March on Washington — had created a Facebook event page inviting local LGBT advocates to join the group at St. Mary’s Cathedral during the ceremony to express their displeasure with the selection of the man to lead the Catholic diocese in one of the most gay-friendly cities in America.

“Cordileone played a central role in founding and executing the Protect Marriage campaign, and under his influence, Catholic organizations in California played a leading role in financing the Prop 8 campaign,” the group’s statement reads on the Facebook page. “In fact, it was Cordileone who personally phoned [National Organization for Marriage] co-founder Maggie Gallagher and asked her to get NOM involved in the Prop 8 fight.”

Proposition 8 added prohibitions against state recognition of same-sex nuptials in the California Constitution, after the state had already begun to recognize and perform such marriages.

Cordileone was arrested in his hometown of San Diego in late August on a charge of driving under the influence, after failing a “breathalyzer” test at a police checkpoint, shortly after being named to the Archbishop post.